New Features and old favorites
Where does all the cardboard come from?
The New York times Magazine / November 2022
Entire forests and enormous factories running 24/7 can barely keep up with demand. A trip inside a very unexpected boom industry.
How Cities Make Money by Fining the Poor
The New York times Magazine / January 2019
In many parts of America, like Corinth, Miss., judges are locking up defendants who can’t pay — sometimes for months at a time.
‘Something Extremely Bad is Happening Here’
Esquire / October 2020
Teens are dying by suicide at an alarming rate. Public health officials call it a crisis. Researchers have identified several clusters nationwide. The survivors in this Arizona community are fighting back.
Inventing the ‘Salvator Mundi’
New York Magazine / April 2019
Or, how to turn a $1,000 art-auction pickup into a $450 million masterpiece.
Does the Tech World Still Need Silicon Valley?
California Sunday Magazine / March 2018
Start-up founders in the Midwest are doing something new. Staying.
States of Denial
The New Republic / October 2017
The president insists climate change isn't real. From crop failures to killer storms, his supporters are paying the price.
The Long, Lonely Road of Chelsea Manning
The New York Times Magazine / May 2017
Her disclosure of classified documents ushered in the age of leaks. Now, freed from prison, Chelsea Manning talks about why she did it — and the isolation that followed.
A Monster Among the Frum
NEW YORK MAGAZINE / DEC 2011
The hunt for the killer of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky.
The Fast and the Furious Michael Avenatti
The New York times Magazine / July 2018
In representing the porn star Stormy Daniels, the lawyer thinks he can bring down a president — one cable-news appearance at a time.
The Holocaust's Great Escape
Smithsonian Magazine / May 2017
A remarkable discovery in Eastern Europe brings a legendary tale of survival back to life.
M.I.A.
The Atavist Magazine / JANUARY 2017
Half a century ago, an American commando named John Hartley Robertson vanished in the jungles of Laos. In 2008, he reappeared in Vietnam, reportedly alive and well. But nothing was what it seemed.
Sneaker Wars
GQ / Sept 2015
Inside the battle between Adidas and Nike.
The Sinking of the Bounty
THE ATAVIST MAGAZINE / FEB 2013
The story of a tragic shipwreck and its aftermath. A finalist for a National Magazine Award in Reporting and a Livingston Award for Young Journalists. Anthologized in Best American Magazine Writing 2014.
The Story is Their Lives
The New Republic / Oct 2013
Covering the war in Syria is becoming increasingly dangerous for professional journalists. That’s where these guys come in. A dispatch from the makeshift media capital of the Middle East.
Bangkok Prison Blood Sport
Men’s Journal / Apr 2014
Killers, armed robbers, and drug dealers in Thailand’s notorious Klong Prem prison have one shot at honor, money, and maybe even freedom – fighting Western pros in jail-yard matches.
Dragonslayer
FORTUNE MAGAZINE / APR 2013
Ilya Zhitomirskiy was supposed to be the next Mark Zuckerberg. He had the startup, the crowdfunding, the loyal following. And then everything fell apart.
Winds of Change at Dyson
Fast Company / October 2015
Can the pioneering vacuum-cleaner maker transform itself into a full-blown tech company? An exclusive look inside the house that suction built.
Reddit in the Flesh
New York Magazine / Jul 2012
An afternoon in the park with the true believers of the web's most influential community.
The Boss Stops Here
NEW YORK MAGAZINE / JUN 2013
A nonhierarchical workplace may just be a more creative and happier one. But how would you feel if the whole office voted on whether to hire you—and when to give you a raise?
The Controversial Afterlife of King Tut
SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE / DEC 2014
A frenzy of conflicting scientific analyses have made the famous pharaoh more mysterious than ever.
Abercrombie Loses Its Shirt
New York Magazine / Feb 2014
No one knew teenagers like Abercrombie and its eccentric CEO, Mike Jeffries. But taste can be so fickle.
This is What $90 Million Looks Like
New York Magazine / Oct 2012
Will One57 become the tallest ghost town in the world?
From the archives
A reasonable doubt
The Atlantic / May 2016
Forensic DNA testing is becoming ever more common. And ever less reliable.
The family that feels no Pain
Smithsonian / June 2019
An Italian clan’s insensitivity to pain has piqued the interest of geneticists seeking to understand physical suffering.
The secret world of stolen smartphones
Wired / December 2014
From multinational cartels to credit-muling schemes, smartphone theft is on the rise. Can it ever be stopped?
Whatsoever Things Are True
The Atavist / October 2015
Thirty-three years ago, a Chicago man was sentenced to death for a double murder on the city's South Side. In 1999, another man confessed to the crimes. Why are both men now free?
A shetl Divided
Harper's / January 2011
Brawling Hasidim, vigilantes, and the fight for the soul of Jewish Brooklyn (subscribers only).
'The Media Doesn't care what Happens here'
The New York Times Magazine / January 2015
Can amateur journalists bring justice to the favelas of Rio?
cinderella Story
Smithsonian / February 2015
In Russia’s Far East, an orphaned female tiger is the test case in an effort to save one of the most endangered animals on earth.
Into Thin Air
Smithsonian / March 2016
Tracking snow leopards in the Tien Shan mountains of Kyrgyzstan.
91 MINUTES WITH DAVID MILIBAND
NEW YORK MAGAZINE / SEP 2013
The Parliamentarian learns to blend into a crowd.
Sticky Business
New York Magazine / Feb 2012
Building a better shame-delivery system.
Picture Day
New York Magazine / Nov 2012
How a Chabad class picture gets made.
SURVIVOR, LAST PULLED OUT
NEW YORK MAGAZINE / SEP 2011
An entry in an ASME-winning 9/11 encyclopedia.
Ponce De Leon Never Searched for the Fountain of Youth
Smithsonian Magazine / Jun 2013
How did this myth about the Spanish explorer even get its start?
Dead Books Club
New York Magazine / Aug 2012
Pulping’s history.
Fowl Thoughts
New York Magazine / Apr 2011
Saving Prospect Park’s geese, preemptively.
Bull’s Best Friend
New York Magazine / Jan 2012
Lorax for a loaded symbol.
Book Reviews And Essays
The King’s Messenger, by David B. Ottaway
The Washington Post, May 2009
The Informers, by Juan Gabriel Vásquez
Bookforum, September 2009
Chasing the Rising Sun, by Ted Anthony
The Los Angeles Times, June 2007
The Long Goodbye, by Meghan O’Rourke
Bookforum, April 2011
Human Specimen
The life and times of Ota Benga, resident of the Bronx Zoo.
The Daily, December 2011
Scott and Hem
Inside a famous friendship.
The Los Angeles Times, June 2009
The Provocateur
How should we read Knut Hamsun?
The Los Angeles Times, October 2009
The Long War
The trials and tribulations of the German writer Hans Fallada.
Tablet, February 2009
Kill Screen
Are hyperrealistic military games driving home the reality of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, or simply exploiting them?
Foreign Policy, October 2010
Die, Pitchfork, Die!
The music site that everyone loves to hate.
Slate, November 2006
The Quest for the Perfect Video Game Face
Crossing the uncanny valley, slowly.
Salon, February 2008
Selected shorts and older features
Agents of Change
Meet the two guys who are about to blow up Washington’s book industry.
Washingtonian, February 2015
Never Stop
The creative life and untimely death of Ace Hotel founder Alexander Calderwood.
Fast Company, August 2014
Never Full
Knocking back sliders with competitive eater Miki Sudo.
Mental Floss, August 2014
The Yogurt That Ate New York
The unlikely rebirth of a dairy town in the dumps.
New York Magazine, September 2013
The Republic of Red Hook
Sandy hit hard. But neighborliness is waterproof. A feature-length entry in the 2012 Reasons to Love New York issue.
New York Magazine, December 2012
The Rise of Northside
How the eight-day, multi-venue music festival whistled past the ‘graveyard.’
New York Magazine, June 2013
Not Quite Copenhagen
Inside the bike lane wars.
New York Magazine, March 2011
The Lawsuit(s) Against Law Schools
Disgruntled lawyers take to the courts.
New York Magazine, March 2012
The Zuckerbergs of Dobbs Ferry
The social network did not fall far from the tree.
New York Magazine, May 2012
Cage Match
The science of fighting.
Popular Science, August 2012
The Detectives’ Lunch Club
When cops hit a dead end and a case goes cold, there’s just one dining club to turn to.
Mental Floss, May 2013