David Shenk is an American writer, lecturer, and songwriter.

He has contributed to National Geographic, Slate, The New York Times, Gourmet, Harper's, Wired, The New Yorker, The New Republic, The Nation, The American Scholar, NPR, and PBS. In mid-2009, he joined The Atlantic as a correspondent. Shenk graduated from Brown University in 1988.

Shenk was also a panelist on the VH1 music review television series Four on the Floor.

Shenk has published the following books:

In 2004, PBS broadcast the Emmy award-winning "The Forgetting," which was inspired by Shenk's book of the same name. The film was directed by Elizabeth Arledge. Shenk appeared in the film and served as a writer and consultant.

In 2006, "The Forgetting" was featured on-screen and read aloud in the Sarah Polley film Away From Her. Polley said that the book was "hugely influential" to her in making the film.

In 2007, Shenk wrote, produced and directed four short films on Alzheimer's disease.