My Projects
Past and present, in roughly chronological order
Planet Money
I have collaborated with the NPR podcast Planet Money since 2017. I'm now working with them to write a Planet Money book, which will be published by W. W. Norton.
American Vintage
For Smithsonian Magazine, I wrote about an obsession of mine: how the wine industry is dismissing and ignoring an entire flavor frontier by only growing European grapes. I profiled a museum designer who has spent decades restoring a lost American wine culture.
Gastro Obscura
I was hired as the founding editor of Gastro Obscura in 2017. In its second year, Gastro Obscura was one of three publications nominated for a James Beard Award in Best Food Coverage in a General Interest Publication. (Huzzah!) We published a bestselling book, Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventurer's Guide, in October 2021.
You Are Under Arrest For Masterminding the Egyptian Revolution
When the Egyptian Revolution erupted, a storyline emerged: It was the spontaneous result of young Egyptians organizing on Facebook and Twitter. This was, well, wrong. By chronicling Ahmed's life—his political upbringing, his incarceration in a secret prison, his decade of in-the-streets activism—I tried to dispel this myth, and capture a life story that is astonishingly cinematic.
How Subarus Came to Be Seen as Cars for Lesbians
This is by far the most popular article I've ever written, and one of my favorites. I've written about many cynical marketing campaigns, but this one was heartwarming.
Priceonomics
I joined Priceonomics—a Y Combinator-backed tech startup—as its third employee and first writer. In the following years, we pivoted and built a media startup that published a mix of data-driven analysis and longform storytelling. My only regret is that I couldn't convince a content-marketing client to use my suggested headline of "How the Panama Canal Got Its Groove Back."
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