Selected Writing
Tens of millions of records show that racial disparities are widening, police compliance is falling, and the state has done little to reverse the trend (WBEZ/Investigative Project on Race and Equity)
How allegations of sexual abuse exposed cracks in the foundation of Young Chicago Authors, Free Write Arts & Literacy, and the city’s spoken word community (Chicago Reader)
Tests performed for thousands of Chicago residents found lead, a neurotoxin, in amounts far exceeding the federal standards (The Guardian)
FEATURES & INVESTIGATIONS
Illinois traffic stops of Black drivers reach a 20-year high — WBEZ/Investigative Project on Race & Equity ⭐ Winner of the Driehaus Foundation Award for Investigative Reporting & the Chicago Headline Club Watchdog Award
Revealed: the ‘shocking’ levels of toxic lead in Chicago tap water — The Guardian ⭐ Finalist for Best Public Service, Peter Lisagor Awards
CPD requested thousands of vaccine exemptions — Chicago Reader
A silence louder than words — Chicago Reader
What happened to YOUmedia? — Chicago Reader
The Life and Death of an American Indie Press — Literary Hub ⭐ Finalist for Best Literary Coverage, Peter Lisagor Awards
GOVERNMENT, POLITICS & SOCIAL JUSTICE
Analysis: Is Mayor Johnson really less popular than measles or is that poll a classic case of disinformation? — The TRiiBE
Grocery Store Workers Across The City Are Unionizing. Tony’s Workers Are The Latest To Organize — Block Club Chicago
Chicagoans Rally For Ukraine After Trump, Zelensky ‘Fiasco’ At White House — Block Club Chicago
Federal Employees Rally Against ‘Billionaire Takeover’ Of Government By Trump Administration — Block Club Chicago
Hundreds Protest Lurie Children’s Hospital’s Pause Of Gender-Affirming Surgeries — Block Club Chicago
University of Chicago faculty, alums protest in support of Gaza Scholars at Risk program — Chicago Reader
100 Days In, Brandon Johnson Is Steadily Shifting Chicago’s Political Terrain — In These Times
This Conservative Pseudo-Democrat Could Become Chicago’s Next Mayor — The New Republic
Cinnamon rolls and campaign petitions — Chicago Reader
A rush to be first (Illinois’ 1st Congressional District race) — Chicago Reader
The Obama library is coming to Chicago. Will local residents be displaced? — The Guardian
'We Were Out of Options': Chicago Tenants Are Refusing to Pay April Rent — VICE
A New Crisis Hotline Could Serve As an Alternative to Policing in Chicago — In These Times
Guess Who’s Rallying for Medicare for All? Senior Citizens — In These Times
In Chicago, a Billionaire-Backed Candidate and Police Are Trying To Oust a Progressive Prosecutor — In These Times
The Guide for the Zoning Perplexed — South Side Weekly
Can Chicago’s New Mayor Revive The CTA? — Block Club Chicago
ENVIRONMENT
The Chicago plant that sparked a hunger strike amid environmental racism claims — The Guardian
‘How is it sustainable if only 1% can afford your food?’: the man on a quest to change farming — The Guardian
Here's How Carbon Offsets Can Live up to Their Bold Promises — TIME
Risk is in the Air: On industrial pollution and COVID-19 — South Side Weekly (en español)
MEDIA
Inside Stories: On a program for incarcerated journalists — Columbia Journalism Review
ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Inside the Design Evolution of the Modern Zoo — CityLab ⭐ Republished by Pacific Standard
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Affordable Housing Project — South Side Weekly ⭐ Republished by Belt magazine
The South Side’s wealth of architectural beauty highlighted in Lee Bey’s latest book — Curbed Chicago
Explore the Midwest through sci-fi buildings, grain silos, and imaginary skyscrapers — Curbed Chicago
ARTS & CULTURE
Alum Wafaa Bilal’s First Major Survey Debuts at MCA — SAIC Magazine
Restoried Bookshop Opens In Albany Park With Focus On Asian American Lit — Block Club Chicago
How Will History Museums Remember COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter? — Chicago Magazine
Why the Poetry Foundation Shake-Up Is One to Watch — Chicago Magazine
Finding Yingying Honors the Life of U. of I. Student — Chicago Magazine
History Lesson: The Field’s First Major Exhibit by an Indigenous Curator — Chicago Magazine
Behind the Lens of a Trailblazing Chicago Photojournalist — Chicago Magazine
Glass house people: On the lost history of Luxembourgers in Chicago — Chicago Reader
Through the play Tangles & Plaques, the Neo-Futurists demystify memory loss — Chicago Reader
The Activist Legacy of Frederick Douglass — Chicago Review of Books
BOOKS
ESSAY: Finally, Transracial Adoptees Can See Ourselves Reflected in Literature — Electric Literature
PROFILE: Cathy Park Hong, Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning — ZORA
PROFILE: Kathleen Rooney, Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey — Chicago Reader
REVIEW: Michelle Zauner, Crying in H Mart — The A.V. Club
REVIEW: C Pam Zhang, How Much of These Hills Is Gold — The A.V. Club ⭐ Featured in Lit Hub’s Top 10 Best Book Reviews 2020
Q&A: Michael Zapata, The Lost Book of Adana Moreau — Chicago Magazine
Q&A: Charles Yu, Interior Chinatown — Chicago Review of Books
Q&A: Kristen Arnett, Mostly Dead Things — Chicago Review of Books
Q&A: Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing — Chicago Review of Books
Q&A: Nicole Chung, All You Can Ever Know — Chicago Review of Books
Q&A: Daniel Kay Hertz, The Battle of Lincoln Park — Chicago Review of Books