writer / editor / journalist
On April 25, 2019, Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke visited the University of Nevada-Reno as part of a campaign tour of Northern Nevada. While Beto once was a media darling, of late he’s struggled to break through the crowded Democratic field. Will his presence in Nevada change that?
Here’s my creative nonfiction take on the proceedings, available on my blog on Medium.
Thanks for reading!
This week, The Nassau Weekly, a weekly newspaper at Princeton University, published an issue honoring its 40th anniversary. The Nass was founded in 1979 by three students, including David Remnick, current editor of The New Yorker. I became a contributor to the Nass in my senior year, and I’m glad it was part of my undergraduate experience.
I’m pleased to have an essay published in this issue, concerning a particular running accident I experienced as a freshman member of the Princeton Running Club in 2013. Though I suffered a severe injury, the event was infused with a humorous irony which made it quite revealing of human nature. Thanks to the ‘Nass’ for letting me share my story, available at this link.
Why is climate change so hard to write about?
Half a century ago, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring catalyzed the budding environmental movement. Since then, most environmental communicators, particularly those dealing with climate change, have followed the rhetorical model of Silent Spring.
But Silent Spring is a terrible model for talking about climate change. In my essay for Anthroposphere: The Oxford Climate Review, I explain why that is—and what might be necessary to change the way we talk about climate change.
Available in print for purchase on Anthroposphere’s web site, and now available online at this link.
Many thanks to the editors from The Oxford Climate Society at Oxford University for making this article possible.
Two years ago, I and five other Princeton journalism students had the opportunity to report on the refugee crisis in Greece. My main project—an investigation into Greek language education for refugees—was never published. Since then, recent NYTimes and WashPost reporting has revealed the situation has only become worse at the Athenian and island camps we visited.
I share my old project now as a historical document and as a call to action. While America seethes in intra-political turmoil, there are bigger things happening all over the world.
(For more reporting on this issue, check out NYTimes’ latest piece on Moria: https://www.nytimes.com/…/europe/greece-lesbos-moria-refuge…)
On August 9, Vice President Mike Pence announced that the U.S. will proceed with President Trump’s plan to create the United States Space Force, the sixth branch of the U.S. military. As you might guess, the announcement was met with controversy.
It’s a good thing that we have so many sci-fi stories that have considered the possibility of the militarization of space. In this blog post, I look at seven sci-fi stories with different takes on what a real-life Space Force might entail.
Last June, I had the opportunity to visit Vergina, a small village in Northern Greece that is home to the tomb of Philip II, Alexander the Great’s father. It was a tremendous experience, full of the power and splendor of ancient Macedonia. In terms of the difficulty in navigating Greece’s public transit options, however, it amounted to a modern odyssey. The perfect exp
To read my travelogue of my visit to Vergina, full of awe, frustration, and some witty observations, check it out on Medium:
“The elusive star of Vergina: To visit the tomb of Alexander the Great’s father, a modern odyssey”
More summer travel memoirs forthcoming on Medium. If you’re looking for a hint—next up will be along the lines of “Coming into the country with ‘Coming into the Country’.”
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Photo of fields of Vergina by Harrison Blackman.
In honor of the theatrical release of Solo: A Star Wars Story, I’ve posted two relevant blog posts on Medium.
The first is “Other ‘Star Wars’ stories yet to be told,” a humor article detailing speculative treatments of other potential Star Wars spinoff films.
The second is my review of Solo: A Star Wars Story: “With ‘Solo,’ Star Wars rediscovers its offbeat sense of humor.” In this post, I explain how Solo follows a Star Wars tradition of placing tropes from the cultural zeitgeist through the warped mirror of the Star Wars universe.
As always, thanks for reading!
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Featured photo by Mohdammed Ali on Unsplash.
