Writing
Narrative nonfiction, inspired by history.
Selected recent works
The Guardian, “This man saved his town from deadly floodwaters. Why did the government try to stop him?”
Through the story of a renegade levee builder, we plunge into the nuances of funding and designing climate change-related infrastructure that necessarily relies on federal dollars as well as local expertise and needs — which can, at times, appear at odds. (4,100 words)
Rolling Stone, “Jesus, Take The Dial”
In this investigative and narrative feature, I write about the little-known, billion-dollar nonprofit corporation behind Christian rock’s radio stranglehold — and the implications of such a takeover on culture and on local media. Featured in the Feb. 2024 print magazine. (6,000 words)
The Guardian, “Desperate Long COVID Patients Turn to ‘Miracle Cures’”
Part reported feature, part personal essay, I write about living with a so-called “contested illness” – and how many of us with such diseases are watching as thousands of Americans struggling with long COVID are hitting familiar dead ends or receiving skepticism from doctors, opening up a dangerous market for minimally tested alternative treatment options. (3,200 words)
The Guardian, “How New Year’s Eve — And Confetti — Transformed Times Square”
This history-rich feature spans porn theaters, confetti, and how a quiet group of Manhattan property owners transformed New Year’s Eve — and wielded their surprisingly far-reaching and undemocratic municipal power — to make the annual celebration a crucial part of peep show-filled old Times Square’s demise. (1,300 words)
More Writing
The Guardian, “NFL Cheerleaders Fight For Justice” (Apple News featured investigation and Weekend Read)
The Guardian, “The Battle for America’s Last Live Nation-Free City”
The Atlantic, “Why We Wear Black to Mourn”
Rolling Stone, “For Independent Venues, Noise Complaints Can Be a Killer. Can Cities Help?”
The Guardian, “New EVs Won’t Have AM Radio. Rightwingers Claim Political Sabotage”
The Guardian, “Green Bay: Where Fans, Not Billionaires, Are the Owners”
CityLab, “How the Amusement Park Conquered America”
National Geographic History, “Death Train Out of London”
National Geographic History, “Ada Lovelace”
National Geographic Traveler, “Obsessions: Cemeteries”
Washington Post, “In Reimagining a New Deal Program, Biden Can Eliminate Its Racism”
Wildsam Field Guides, “Streets, Skyways, and Shopping Malls”
The Guardian, “How Fox Uses the World Cup and Masked Singer to Keep Fox News On Air”
Mother Jones, “How America’s Broken Promise to Millions of Students Became the Status Quo”
Bloomberg’s CityLab, “An Iowa Town’s $60 Million Plan to Span the Broadband Gap”
The Guardian, “‘No Rings, No Guests;’ Supreme Court Fears Spur LGBTQ ‘Shotgun’ Weddings
National Geographic Travel, “This 1882 Surveying Error Saved a Patch of Forest from Logging”
National Geographic, “Women Campaigned for Prohibition — Then Many Changed Their Minds”
National Geographic, “Why Cemeteries are a Surprising Source of Life”
National Geographic, “What to Eat at the Minnesota State Fair”
Atlas Obscura, “Researchers at This Base in Antarctica Eat Better Than You Do”
Atlas Obscura, “The Grim, Depression-Era Origins of Dance Marathons”
Atlas Obscura, “Are Double-Sided Graves the Solution to London’s Burial Crisis?”
Audio
Historically grounded, story-driven reporting.
Recent Selected Features
WNYC’s On the Media, “The Divided Dial” (Series)
My Peabody Award-winning series on the political business of talk radio was released in late 2022 and ran on the airwaves across the country in spring of 2023. The series reveals how one side of the political spectrum came to dominate talk radio — and how one company is quietly launching a multimedia empire from the airwaves.
99% Invisible, “New Year, New Neighborhood”
The story of how a small group of business owners used the biggest party of the year — and a little-known but very widespread private, undemocratic urban planning tool known as a “Business Improvement District” — to help transform Times Square from its pornographic past to an urban Disneyland.
99% Invisible, “The Frankfurt Kitchen”
The first modern kitchen was also designed to be a feminist kitchen — to be so efficient that women could get their housework done quicker, and get on with their lives. But could a kitchen ever be liberatory for women? Many feminists didn’t think so — and some, as far back as the 1860s, had been working for the total abolition of the home kitchen.
More Audio Work
99% Invisible, “Beneath the Skyway”
99% Invisible, “The Future of the Final Mile”
99% Invisible, “The Divided Dial”
99% Invisible, “The Infantorium”
99% Invisible, “99% Vernacular”
99% Invisible, “Life and Death in Singapore”
NPR’s Only a Game, “Eternal Fandom”
BBC, “What is Death in the Digital Age?”
Lantigua Williams & Co.’s 1 in 5, “Meet Lori and Anthony Barr”
WNYC’s Science Diction, “Mesmerize”
KFAI-FM and Minnesota Public Radio, “A Brief History of Women in Bars: A Minnesota Story in Three Rounds”
KFAI-FM, “James Garrett Jr. On Why Black Architecture Matters”
KFAI-FM, “Interview with John Doe of Seminal L.A. Punk Band X”
KFAI-FM, “Why She Skateboards, Despite the Pain”
Photo
People and their environments.
In May 2019, National Geographic UK published a web article about my Death in the Digital Age project, including a gallery of my images. See them here.
EDUCATION
Audio storytelling for all.
In 2021, I partnered with the National Geographic Society and Adobe to instruct this free online storytelling class for youth. The self-paced course shares behind-the-scenes, how-to videos that show every step of the process I undergo to create an audio story: from researching your story, to conducting pre-interviews and interviews, compiling your story, capturing quality audio, scripting, revising, technical editing, and seeking feedback. This behind-the-scenes video class is available now.
(I also self-shot these videos in lockdown. That was fun!)