Lesley Arfin

Arfin was born in 1979 on Long Island, New York to a Jewish family.^[1][2] She grew up in the same residential complex in Woodbury, Nassau County, New York, as writer Gabe Rotter and they both attended Syosset High School.^[3] She attended Hampshire College.^[4]

Arfin contributed to Vice beginning in 2001,^[5] and left in 2007, following the publication of her book Dear Diary,^[6] based on a column she wrote for Vice magazine and published by Vice Books.^[7][8] In 2008, she became editor-in-chief of Missbehave.^[9]

She later worked as a staff writer on the HBO TV series Girls.^[10] She also wrote for the TV series Brooklyn Nine-Nine, receiving sole writing credit for a Halloween-themed episode in its first season.

Together with Paul Rust and Judd Apatow, she co-created the Netflix series Love.^[11][12][13] In developing the series, she drew on her own experiences with alcohol addiction.^[14]

Arfin has hosted the Earios podcast Filling the Void,^[15] which focuses on hobbies that bring people joy.^[16] She also wrote and executive produced the first season of the HBO series Betty, released in 2020.^[17]

In Dear Diary, Arfin wrote about her past heroin addiction and experiences in rehabilitation.^[18]

She married actor and writer Paul Rust in 2015.^[19] In October 2017, she gave birth to their daughter, Mary James.^[20]

• Dear Diary, ISBN 978-1-57687-383-0