John Leland (born 1959) is an author and has been a journalist for The New York Times since 2000. Leland began covering retirement and religion in January, 2004. During a stint in 1994, he was editor in chief of Details magazine. Leland was also a senior editor at Newsweek, an editor and columnist at Spin magazine, and a reviewer for Trouser Press. Leland wrote Hip: The History and Why Kerouac Matters: The Lessons of On the Road (They're Not What You Think). In 2018, his book Happiness is a Choice You Make was released.