Goldberg graduated from Goucher College in 1991. His was the second class at Goucher to admit men. He was active in student politics at Goucher and was the co-editor of the school newspaper, The Quindecim Quindecim, for two years. He and Andreas Benno Kollegger were the first men to run the paper.

Goldberg interned for Scripps Howard News Service, United Press International, and other news organizations. He also worked for Delilah Communications, a publishing house in New York.

After graduation, he taught English in Prague for under a year before moving to Washington to take a job at the American Enterprise Institute. While at AEI he worked for Ben J. Wattenberg. He was the researcher for Wattenberg's nationally syndicated column and for Wattenberg's book, Values Matter Most. He also worked on several PBS public affairs documentaries, including a two-hour special hosted by David Gergen and Wattenberg. Goldberg also served for three years on the Board of Trustees of Goucher College.

In 1994 he was a founding producer for Wattenberg's Think Tank with Wattenberg. That same year he moved to New River Media, an independent television production company, which produced "Think Tank" as well as numerous other television programs and projects. Goldberg worked on a large number of television projects across the United States, as well as in Europe and Japan. He wrote, produced, and edited two documentaries, Gargoyles: Guardians of the Gate, and Notre Dame: Witness to History.

Goldberg joined National Review as a contributing editor in 1998. By the end of that year he was asked to launch National Review Online as a sister publication to National Review. He served as editor of National Review Online for several years , and then became editor-at-large.

Goldberg's career as a pundit was launched following his mother Lucianne Goldberg's role in the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, when he wrote about the "media siege" on his mother's apartment in The New Yorker. Salon Media Circus | The jester of Monicagate

Goldberg has spoken of his mother and the Lewinsky scandal:

My mother was the one who advised Linda Tripp to record her conversations with Monica Lewinsky and to save the dress. I was privy to some of that stuff, and when the administration set about to destroy Lewinsky, Tripp, and my mom, I defended my mom and by extension Tripp...I have zero desire to have those arguments again. I did my bit in the trenches of Clinton's trousers. Jonah Goldberg's Goldberg File on National Review Online

These tapes became the focal point of the Lewinsky scandal. Goldberg was privy to the tapes and the conversations his mother had with Tripp because he served as a vice president of his mother's now-defunct literary agency. When the scandal broke, Goldberg defended his mother and Tripp during the ensuing media firestorm.

Goldberg has twice-weekly column at National Review Online, which is syndicated to numerous papers across the United States, and at Townhall.com. He also writes an occasional "Goldberg File" column at National Review that is typically longer, and more culture or interest oriented. Goldberg is also a frequent poster at National Review Online's blog The Corner.

Aside from being a member of the USA Today Board of Contributors, he has written for The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, Commentary, The Public Interest, The Wilson Quarterly, The Weekly Standard, the New York Post, The Women’s Quarterly, and Slate. The Los Angeles Times added Goldberg to its editorial lineup in 2005.

His book The Secret History of the American Left, from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning (ISBN 0-385-51184-1) was published in January 2008. It reached #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list of hardcover nonfiction in its seventh week on the list. While in preparation, the book had a number of different subtitles, including "The Totalitarian Temptation From Hegel to Whole Foods" and "The Totalitarian Temptation From Mussolini to Hillary Clinton". After being published in paperback, the subtitle was changed to "The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Change", a reference to the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States.

Frequent topics

Some frequent topics of his articles include censorship, meritocracy, liberty, federalism and interpretation of the Constitution, his attacks on the ethics and morals of liberals and Democrats, and his disagreements with libertarians also appear often in his writings.

Goldberg is a supporter of the Iraq War and has advocated for American military intervention elsewhere in the world. He has defended historical colonialism in places such as Africa as more beneficial than it is generally given credit for; in one column, he suggested that U.S. imperialism on the continent could help solve its persistent problems. Jonah Goldberg's Goldberg File on National Review Online When he wrote in October 2006 that invading Iraq was a mistake, he called it a "noble" mistake and still maintained that liberal opponents to the war policy wanted America to fail: "In other words, their objection isn't to war per se; it's to wars that advance U.S. interests... I must confess, one of the things that made me reluctant to conclude that the Iraq war was a mistake was my distaste for the shabbiness of the arguments on the antiwar side." Jonah Goldberg on Iraq on National Review Online

He popularized and expanded on a commentary by the late Time writer William Henry III. Henry had written on the subject of multiculturalism and cultural equality, stating that "[i]t is scarcely the same thing to put a man on the moon as to put a bone in your nose." Goldberg stated that "[m]ulticulturalism — which is simply egalitarianism wrapped in rainbow-colored paper — has elevated the notion that all ideas are equal, all systems equivalent, all cultures of comparable worth."

Francophobia, and anti-Europeanism

Goldberg has publicly admitted to disliking France or, as he writes, being in the "frog-bashing business," using the derogatory term "frog" to designate the French: "the frog-bashing business has changed a lot since I first started just a few years ago". He has also called for "the total destruction of France"; he later clarified his statement as meaning "the destruction of France as an idea". Some commentators, like Brian Dunaway, consider that Goldberg's attitude towards the French is francophobic: "The poor souls that visit Goldberg’s columns know that he has made Francophobia a favorite pastime". Other commentators, such as Timothy Garton Ash, explain Goldberg's attitude, among others, by a deeply rooted "anti-Europeanism" in the United States.

Goldberg also is given credit for making "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" an internet meme, often using the phrase in his NRO writings. The phrase was invented and popularized by the television show, The Simpsons, which Goldberg cited in a column on racism.

Relations with other writers, public figures

On the political left, Goldberg has publicly feuded with Juan Cole over U.S. Iraq policy and Air America Radio commentators such as Janeane Garofalo, who has accused him of being a chickenhawk on the Iraq War. On February 8, 2005 Goldberg offered Cole a wager of $1,000 "that Iraq won't have a civil war, that it will have a viable constitution, and that a majority of Iraqis and Americans will, in two years time, agree that the war was worth it." Cole refused to accept and the wager was never actually made; Informed Comment Goldberg later conceded that if Cole had accepted the bet, Goldberg would have lost it.

Goldberg and Peter Beinart of The New Republic host a conservative vs. liberal webtv show called What's your Problem? which originally could be found on National Review Online What’s Your Problem? on National Review Online but is now appearing on Bloggingheads.tv as of 2008.

Goldberg had a friendly but sometimes-contentious relationship with Andrew Sullivan that became increasingly acrimonious over ideological differences.

In October 2006, Goldberg wrote of Dick Morris, "I do not trust Dick Morris. Period."

Goldberg and others at National Review Online (including Rich Lowry) broke with conservative writer Ann Coulter over statements she made about the September 11, 2001 attacks that they considered irresponsible. Coulter stopped writing for National Review Online after the publishing of her column on September 13, 2001, opining that "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity."

While writing Liberal Fascism, Goldberg declared that his book would be "[not] like Dinesh's latest book. It isn't like any Ann Coulter book. It isn't what the Amazon description says or what the Economist claims it is. Or what Frank Rich imagines it is. It is a very serious, thoughtful, argument that has never been made in such detail or with such care". The latter phrase met with some critical mockery, and became a catchphrase used to describe other political work. He was additionally criticized for stating that he was writing a chapter on Herbert Spencer, but did not have time to read relevant literature..

The Media

Regarding Fox News, Goldberg said, "Look, I think liberals have reasonable gripes with Fox News. It does lean to the right, primarily in its opinion programming but also in its story selection (which is fine by me) and elsewhere. But it's worth remembering that Fox is less a bastion of ideological conservatism and more a populist, tabloidy network." RealClearPolitics - Articles - Fox, John Edwards and the Two Americas

Goldberg also criticizes liberals for disliking Fox News, claiming they have no "problem with the editorializing of MSNBC's Keith Olbermann or Chris Matthews, they think it's just plain wrong for conservatives to play that game." Goldberg has referred to Olbermann as "MSNBC’s answer to a question no one asked." Townhall.com::If Limbaugh is the Kettle, Democrats Are the Pot::By Jonah Goldberg

Humor and lighter topics

The "Goldberg File" frequently involves attempts at humor, often at the expense of liberals. Alec Baldwin, who Goldberg insinuates cannot read, has been a frequent target of such jibes. Goldberg also makes occasional allusions to Star Trek. More recently, Battlestar Galactica has become a favorite topic. Goldberg also likes to link to "timewaster" online games in his postings at "The Corner".

Jonah Goldberg is married to Jessica Gavora, former chief speechwriter and a senior policy adviser to former Attorney General John Ashcroft They have a daughter together. Goldberg has a brother, Joshua John Goldberg. Their late father, Sidney Goldberg (1931—2005), was Jewish, and their mother, Lucianne Goldberg, is Episcopalian.