Journalism Land

Maddy Crowell is a Brooklyn-based freelance journalist. Her work has appeared in The Atavist, The Guardian, and Virginia Quarterly Review, among other places. In this episode, we talk about her Columbia Journalism Review piece published earlier this year, "The Hacker." Check out her website for more information on Maddy and her work.  

Nicolas Niarchos is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, and the New York Times, among other places.   In this episode, we talk about his Nation piece published earlier this year, "Dirty Nickel, Clean Power: Making the Ocean Bleed Red." 

Sarah Topol is a Lisbon-based writer and a writer-at-large for the New York Times Magazine. Her work has also appeared in Harper's, GQ, and The Atlantic, among other places. In this episode, we talk about her magazine piece published earlier this year, "The Battle for the Mural — and the Future of Belarus." Check out her website for more information on Sarah and her work.  

Sean Williams is journalist based in Berlin. He's written for Harper's, GQ, The New Republic, and The New Yorker, among other places. He's also co-host of the Underworld podcast.  In this episode, we talk about his recent Rolling Stone piece, "Guns, Rhymes, God, and Politics: Shyne's Epic Fall and Rise," in which he profiles former rapper and current Belize politician Shyne Barrow.   

Lauren Markham is a California-based writer whose work has appeared in Harper's, The New Yorker, and The Virginia Quarterly Review, among other places. Here is a link to her website, and to The Guardian Longreads piece we discussed.   

Zack Kopplin  is a journalist for The Government Accountability Project. His investigative work has been published in the New Republic, The Daily Beast, and The Guardian, among other places. Here are links to the stories we talked about https://prospect.org/world/the-real-war-dogs-of-iraq/ https://newrepublic.com/article/158609/iraq-barzani-pentagon-oil-beverly-hills-mansion  

Joshua Hammer is a journalist based in Berlin. His stories have been published in The New Yorker, and Smithsonian among others outlets. Here is a link to his GQ article, "The Sopranos of Berlin: A Brutal Crime Family and a Billion Dollar Jewel Heist," along with his Twitter account, below.  https://www.gq.com/story/the-dresden-job https://twitter.com/Joshuaiveshamme  

Justin Ling is a freelance journalist based in Montreal. He's been published in The Guardian, and Vice among others. Here is a link to his Walrus article, "The Rise and Fall of a Double Agent," along with his website, below.  https://thewalrus.ca/the-rise-and-fall-of-a-double-agent/ https://justinling.ca/

Chris Pomorski is a freelance journalist based in Asheville, North Carolina. His stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Guardian, The New York Times Magazine, and Bloomberg Businessweek, among other places. https://www.chrispomorski.net/ https://www.huffpost.com/entry/opioid-doctors-philadelphia-william-obrien_n_5f99c7f5c5b6c7fe582b5e31?jyl  

Ariel Sabar is a magazine journalist and author. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Smithsonian Magazine, and Harper's, among other places. He is also the author of four works of non-fiction, the latest of which is, "Veritas: a Harvard professor, a con man and the gospel of Jesus's wife." Here are links to his website and work:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081M89S56/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 http://www.arielsabar.com/home-1.html https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/museum-of-the-bible-obbink-gospel-of-mark/610576/ https://www.amazon.com/Ariel-Sabar/e/B001JS9724?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2&qid=1626449415&sr=8-2  

Matthew Bremner is a journalist who focuses on long-form features. His work has appeared in the The Financial Times, Slate, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Men's Journal, among other places. Here are links to his website and work:  https://matthewembremner.com/ https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/apr/01/death-truck-mexico-morgue-crisis-guadalajara

Avi Asher-Schapiro is a journalist covering tech & rights for Thomson Reuters Foundation. He wrote "Skin in the Game" for Harper's. He's also written for The Intercept and Vice, among other publications. Here are links to his Twitter feed and article: https://harpers.org/archive/2020/12/skin-in-the-game-wall-street-student-debt-crisis/ https://twitter.com/AASchapiro  

David Dayen is the Executive Editor at The American Prospect. This episode features David talking about his recent cover story, "Islands in the Stream."   David has also written a number of books, the most recent of which is, “Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power.“   https://prospect.org/power/islands-in-the-stream-spotify-youtube-music-monopoly/   https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VPL2VPW/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1    

Joshua Hunt is a freelance magazine journalist who was previously a foreign correspondent in Japan for Reuters. His work has been published in GQ, Bloomberg Businessweek, Wired, and The Atlantic among other places. He also wrote a book, "University of Nike: How Corporate Cash Bought American Higher Education.” Here are links to his website and work:  http://www.viajoshhunt.com/ https://www.amazon.com/University-Nike-Corporate-American-Education-ebook/dp/B077LVCFQ6 https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2021-sneaker-investment/?srnd=businessweek-v2

Yudhijit Bhattacharjee is an award-winning writer whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and National Geographic among other places. He's also written two books, "The Spy Who Couldn't Spell," and, "The Dinner Set Gang." Links to his website and his works are below: http://www.yudhijit.com/ https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/magazine/scam-call-centers.html https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Dinner-Set-Gang-Audiobook/B088XY3TGY https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BK0WSGC/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1      

Darren Loucaides is a writer based in Barcelona. He's published pieces in WIRED, The Guardian Long Reads, and Slate, among others.  Here are links to the two stories we discuss in the interview:  https://www.wired.com/story/italy-five-star-movement-techno-utopians/ https://www.wired.com/story/brazil-hacker-bolsonaro-car-wash-leaks/ Here is a link to his portfolio: https://darrenloucaides.journoportfolio.com/

Seth Hettena is a freelance journalist based in San Diego. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone, and The New Republic among other places.  Here's a link to the article: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/erik-prince-libya-blackwater-roger-stone-trump-2020-election-1077089/ Here's a link to his book and website: https://trump-russia.com/  

Justin Rohrlich is an Emmy-winning journalist. His work has appeared in the Daily Beast, Vice News, Foreign Policy, and Quartz, among other places.  Here's a link to the article: https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-fake-cia-spy-garrison-courtney-fooled-everyone-and-swindled-millions For more information on Justin, here's a link to his Authory page: https://authory.com/JustinRohrlich 

In this episode, journalist Sierra Crane Murdoch talks about her recent Harper's piece, "Perfect Storm."  Sierra's journalism has been published in the Virginia Quarterly Review, The Atlantic, and High Country News, among other places. She recently published her first book: "Yellow Bird: Oil, Murder, and a Woman's Search for Justice in Indian Country." Here is the "Perfect Storm": https://harpers.org/ For more of Sierra's work, check out her website: https://www.sierramurdoch.com/

Michael J. Mooney is a best-selling author. He has written for ESPN the Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, GQ, and Outside to name a few. On this episode, he discusses his Atlantic piece, "The True Story of the Married Woman Who Smuggled Her Boyfriend Out of Prison in a Dog Crate." Here’s a link to his website for more information: http://michaeljmooney.com/ And here is the Atlantic piece: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/10/toby-dorrs-great-escape/615487/

David Gauvey Herbert is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in Bloomberg Businessweek, Longreads, and New York Magazine, among other places. On this episode, he discusses his New York Magazine piece, "Boss of the Beach." Here's a link to his website for more information: http://www.davidgauveyherbert.com/ And here is his New York Magazine piece: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/06/peter-stein-nyc-lifeguards.html

This episode features journalist Oliver Franklin-Wallis discussing his British GQ piece, "In search of Inigo Philbrick, the disappearing art dealer." Oliver is a magazine journalist whose work has appeared in WIRED, The Guardian, and the New York Times among other places.  Here is a link to his website for more information: https://oliverfranklinwallis.com/ And here is a link to the piece: https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/inigo-philbrick

Samanth Subramanian is a journalist and author. On this episode, he discusses his New York Times Magazine piece, "Two Wealthy Sri Lankan Brothers Became Suicide Bombers. But why?" Aside from the New York Times Magazine, his work has also appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, and Harper's.  Here's a link to his website for more information: http://samanth.in/  And here is his NYT Mag piece: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/02/magazine/sri-lanka-brothers-bombing.html

Michael Weiss is a journalist based in New York. On this episode, he talks about his Atlantic piece, "The Hero who betrayed his Country," about a seemingly model Estonian soldier who spied for Russia. Michael writes for The Daily Beast and has covered the wars in Syria and Ukraine.  https://michaelweissjournalist.com/ https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/06/estonia-russia-deniss-metsavas-spy/592417/

In this episode, journalist McKenzie Funk talks about how he reported and wrote his New York Times Magazine story, "How ICE Picks its Targets in the Surveillance Age." McKenzie has written for Harper's, National Geographic, and Outside Magazine, among others.   https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/02/magazine/ice-surveillance-deportation.html https://www.mckenziefunk.com/

In this episode, journalist Jesse Hyde talks about his recent Vanity Fair piece, "The Girl who Played with Fire," which was written with help from the Pulitzer Center. Jesse has written for places like Rolling Stone, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Playboy. Links to his work are below: https://pulitzercenter.org/projects/can-amazon-rainforest-be-saved https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/03/massacre-in-the-amazon http://jessehyde.com/

In this episode, freelance journalist Francesca Mari talks about her recent long-form investigation, "The Great Wall Street Housing Grab," which she wrote for The New York Times Magazine. Francesca has also written for Texas Monthly and The Atlantic, among others.  https://francesca-mari.com/ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/magazine/wall-street-landlords.html    

In this episode, ProPublica journalist Alec MacGillis discusses his story, "The Case Against Boeing."  Alec covers politics and government for ProPublica. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/11/18/the-case-against-boeing https://www.propublica.org/people/alec-macgillis

In this episode, writer Zach Dorfman discusses his Politico story, "How Silicon Valley Became a Den of Spies."  His work has also appeared in The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, and the Atavist, among others. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/07/27/silicon-valley-spies-china-russia-219071 https://www.zachdorfman.com/

In this episode, writer Jesse Barron discusses his GQ story, "How Puerto Rico Became the Newest Tax Haven for the Super Rich," and his New York Times Magazine story, "The Curious Case of Aurelius Capital v. Puerto Rico." Jesse is an LA-based writer who has written for The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, and GQ, among others.  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/26/magazine/aurelius-capital-v-puerto-rico.html Here's a link to his website: https://jessebarron.com/

In this episode, writer Josh Dean discusses his Business Week story, "Hooked." Josh is a Brooklyn-based writer who has written for the GQ, Rolling Stone, and Esquire, among others.  Here's a link to his website: https://joshdean.com/ https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2019-anthony-hathaway-hooked-on-bank-robbing/

In this episode, writer Ben Mauk discusses his New York Times Magazine story, "Trillion-Dollar Nowhere." Ben is a Berlin-based writer who has written for the Virginia Quarterly Review, Granta, and Harper's, among others.  Here's a link to his website:https://www.ben-mauk.com/

In this episode, journalist Jake Halpern discusses his New Yorker story, "The French Burglar Who Pulled Off His Generation’s Biggest Art Heist,". Jake is a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and writer, who has written for all the top places, such as the New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, and Outside Magazine. Here's a link to Jake’s website: https://www.jakehalpern.com/  And here's a link to the New Yorker piece: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/14/the-french-burglar-who-pulled-off-his-generations-biggest-art-heist  

In this episode, writer Micah Hauser discusses his Harper's cover story, "The Deportation Racket," about con-artists who prey on undocumented immigrants. Besides Harper's, he's written for The New York Times, The Guardian, and Slate, among others. He's also a New Yorker fact checker. Here's a link to Micah's website: http://micahhauser.com And here's a link to his Harper's piece: https://harpers.org/archive/2018/09/the-deportation-racket/  

In this episode, writer Seyward Darby talks about her Harper's cover story, "The Rise of the Valkyries," about the women of the alt-right. She’s also been published in Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, The Washington Post and is the editor in chief of The Atavist.  https://harpers.org/archive/2017/09/the-rise-of-the-valkyries/    

In this episode, Daily Beast reporter Kate Briquelet discusses her three longform pieces about a slew of killings in a rural, picturesque Kentucky town.  https://www.thedailybeast.com/a-dead-cop-was-the-first-unsolved-murder-then-came-four-more https://www.thedailybeast.com/prom-sweetheart-and-mom-victims-in-unsolved-murder-spree?ref=topic https://www.thedailybeast.com/americas-most-beautiful-small-town-is-murder-usa?ref=topic  

In this episode, freelance journalist Amitha Kalaichandran discusses her long-form Atavist story, "Losing Connor's Mind". Amitha has been published in The New York Times and New York Magazine among other places. This is her first piece for the Atavist. https://magazine.atavist.com/losing-conners-mind-batten-disease-brineura  

In this episode, freelance journalists Lisa Riordan Seville and Lukas Vrbka talks about their December 2017 Buzzfeed story, "They Lost Their Homes. Now A reality TV Star is Selling them."  https://www.buzzfeed.com/lisariordanseville/they-lost-their-homes-now-a-reality-tv-star-is-selling-them?utm_term=.ttEaRo5AD#.glP5XEGdP  

In this episode, freelance journalist Jeff Maysh talks about his September 2017 LA Magazine story, "The Cop who Became a Robber." You can find out more about Jeff by visiting his website: http://jeffmaysh.com/ http://www.lamag.com/longform/snowbird-bandit-randy-adair/  

In this episode, freelance journalist Kerry Howley talks about her recent New York Magazine story, "Who is Reality Winner?” The story takes a close look at Reality, an NSA contractor who allegedly leaked a classified memo to The Intercept.  Kerry has written for Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, and Granta among others. She is the author of the critically acclaimed Thrown. You can find out more about Kerry by visiting her website: http://kerryhowley.com/ http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/12/who-is-reality-winner.html    

In this episode, freelance journalist Sam Knight talks about his 2016 New Yorker story, “The Bouvier Affair,” The story takes a close look at how a Swiss art shipper took advantage of a Russian oligarch doing business in the unregulated art market. Sam is a London-based freelance writer. He’s written for The New Yorker, Harper’s, and The Financial Times, among others. You can find out more about him by visiting his website: https://samknight.net/  

In this episode, freelance journalist Annie Hylton talks about her story, “Dirty Laundry: An Investigation,” which was published last year in Dissent Magazine. The long form investigation exposes grave abuses in New York's commercial laundry industry.  “It’s a crucial time to look at how various policies coming out of the Trump administration or even at the state level are impacting excluded communities.”  “Even the most mundane situation can turn into a reporting opportunity.” Annie is an international investigative journalist. She's covered human rights abuses in Guatemala, women's health and abortion rules in Ethiopia, and unaccompanied children fleeing gang violence to the U.S. among other issues.  Here is her website: https://www.anniehylton.com https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/dirty-laundry-investigation    

In this episode, journalist Amos Barshad talks about his story, “Why are the Soccer Hooligans of Argentina killing each other?” which was published last year in The Fader Magazine. The story peeks into the lives of the most diehard fans of Newell’s Old Boys, Leo Messi’s hometown team. “The best thing you can do is to start with an idea. If you believe it’s worth pursuing, keep pursuing it no matter what. Don’t let the fact that your pitch gets rejected by a bunch of places dissuade you, don’t let the fact that it’s hard to find someone to talk to dissuade you, don’t let the fact that of course, the writing is hard, dissuade you. Just make sure you finish the piece. Then you’ll look back and you’ll be proud no matter what.” Amos is a staff writer at The Fader. Prior to the Fader, he wrote for Grantland. He’s also been published in The New York Times Magazine, and New York Magazine and a slew of other places.  You can find more of his work at his website: http://amosbarshad.com/ http://www.thefader.com/2016/06/01/argentina-soccer-hooligan-murders-old-boys-barra-brava

In this episode, freelance journalist Laura Kasinof talks about her longform Virginia Quarterly Review feature, "The New Berliners." The story looks at how Syrian refugees are adjusting to new lives in Germany through the prism of one family.  “I was honest with what I wanted to do. This story is important. I want to watch and record what it’s like for you because I think it’s important to tell the story of Syrian refugees.” Laura has extensively reported for The New York Times, along with Harper's, Guernica, The Atlantic, and Foreign Policy, to name a few. She is also the author of the reporting memoir, Don't Be Afraid of the Bullets: An Accidental War Correspondent in Yemen.   Find more of her work at her website: http://laurakasinof.com http://www.vqronline.org/reporting-articles/2017/04/new-berliners    

In this episode, Paris-based journalist Scott Sayare talks about two longform pieces he wrote, "The Ultimate Terrorist Factory, Are French prisons incubating extremism?" which he wrote for Harper's, and, "The Untold Story of the Bastille Day Massacre," which he wrote for GQ.  "Think about where people’s interests lie. Go to the people whose interests are closer to your own, which is to say, for having the information made public. Chances are good that the lawyers defending terror suspects are going to be much more amenable to the notion of public access to the information than the prosecutors would be." Besides Harper's and GQ, Scott has also written for The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Atlantic, among other places. For more information about his work, check out his website.  https://harpers.org/archive/2016/01/the-ultimate-terrorist-factory/ https://www.gq.com/story/nice-france-bastille-day-attack-untold-story  

In this episode, freelance writer Bridget Huber talks about her longform California Sunday Magazine piece, "The Living Disappeared." The piece tells the story of people who were killed by Argentina's military dictatorship in the late 1970s and early 1980s, along with what happened to their children. Thirty years later, people are working to reunite lost children with their biological families. She also produced a radio adaptation.  Bridget talks in-depth about how she learned of the topic, how she pitched the story to editors, and then how she reported and wrote the story.  “The search for these people is still very much alive. In fact, the grandmothers who spent all these years searching are getting old now, some are dying. So it’s even more urgent now.” Besides California Sunday, Bridget has written for The New York Times, The Associated Press, and Mother Jones.  https://story.californiasunday.com/the-living-disappeared http://www.npr.org/2017/07/21/538575576/the-stolen-child-searching-for-118 http://www.bridgethuber.info/    

In this episode, New York Magazine staff writer Reeves Wiedeman talks about his piece, "The Dirtbag Left's Man in Syria." Reeves goes into detail explaining how he reported and wrote the piece.    "He had opened up his life to me, which is not something I take likely."   Besides New York Magazine, Reeves has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and Men's Journal, among other places. You can find out more of his work at http://reeveswiedeman.net/.      http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/04/brace-belden-pisspiggranddad-syria-isis.html  

In this episode, Texas-based freelance writer Rachel Monroe talks about her Bleacher Report piece, "The Life of a Smoke Jumper." Rachel goes into detail explaining how she reported and wrote the piece.  “Maybe we don’t all talk about how often we face rejection, even people who have careers that seem pretty solid. Pitches get rejected, editors don’t reply to emails, stories get written and killed, all of this happens all the time to everybody.” Rachel has written for The New Yorker, New York Magazine, Outside Magazine and a slew of other places. You can find out more about her work at http://www.rachel-monroe.com.    http://thelab.bleacherreport.com/life-of-a-smokejumper/  

In this episode, freelance environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb discusses his recent Mother Jones story, The Deliciously Fishy Case of "the Codfather." Ben tells how he first found the story, and techniques he used in his writing and reporting of the story.  “Get out there and meet the people. It’s really easy to do everything over the phone… but all of my best reporting experiences have come when I’ve gotten out into the field.” Ben has written for High Country News, Pacific Standard, Modern Farmer, and Boston Magazine among other places. Check out his website for more information about his work: http://bengoldfarb.com/ http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/03/codfather-carlos-rafael-fish-fraud-catchshares