Writing

Reporting and Opinion

"How Jell-O wrestling destroyed the moral fiber of America--or did it?"

The Takeout, Jan 2021

"How Overdoses and White Supremacy are Linked in the U.S."

Teen Vogue, Aug 2020

"How White People Used Tuberculosis to Settle the Southwest"

Teen Vogue, July 2020

"New York is Proposing the Creation of a 'Public Venmo'"

Motherboard, Jan 2020

"Drag Queens and Firefighters are Teaming up to Save Rural America"

MEL Magazine, Dec 2019

"Racism is a Public Health Crisis"

Elemental, Dec 2019

"The People Who Send Nudes Before the First Date"

GQ, Sept 2019

"Are Volunteer Fire Departments Still Viable?"

Belt Magazine, April 2019

"True Crime Stories about Women Murderers are Rare but Necessary"

Bustle, March 2019

"Extremely Online Preachers are Waging a War Against Masturbation"

MEL Magazine, Feb 2019

"The Historic Roots of Antisemitism and How they Play out Today"

PublicSource, Jan 2019

"From Holocaust Survivor to Jewish Millennials, Three Generations of a Squirrel Hill Family Reflect on the Tree of Life Shooting"

PublicSource, Nov 2018

"Could Fewer Independent Police Forces Reduce Police Brutality in Pittsburgh?"

The Nation, July 2018

"College degree? Many Pittsburgh-area jobs in the next decade may not require one"

PublicSource, June 2018

"More than a third of workers in Pittsburgh's metro area have jobs at high risk of automation"

PublicSource, June 2018

"Another Black Teen's Death by Police Brutality Drew Hundreds to Protest in Pittsburgh"

The Nation, June 2018

"At the University of Pittsburgh, Grad Students are Organizing to Survive"

The Nation, June 2018

"Remembering Nate Smith, Pittsburgh's Prizefighting Labor Activist"

The Nation, May 2018

"After Parkland, Students Across the Country are Walking Out in Solidarity"

The Nation, Feb 2018

"These Students Used Twitter to Make a Racist Group Chat Public"

The Nation, Feb 2018

"Tarana Burke talks to Pittsburgh crowd about the roots of #MeToo and her response to its viral takeoff"

PublicSource, Feb 2018

"In the Legal System, Talking White is a Precursor to Justice--and That's Wrong"

The Nation, Jan 2018

"Pittsburgh's Water System is Why We Shouldn't Run America Like a Business"

The Nation, Nov 2017

Essays

"Honoring the Dead from a Distance"

On burial rituals over Zoom in the pandemic

Jewish Currents, May 2020

"Washing the Dead in Pittsburgh"

On burial rituals, care work, and antifascism

Jewish Currents, Nov 2019

"The History of Being Horny for Nazis"

On hot Nazis and eroticizing fascism

The Outline, July 2019

"The Jewish female songwriter who connects me to my late mother and gives me permission to be strange"

On Laura Nyro

HelloGiggles, June 2019

"Uniforming the Nation"

On the history and meaning of standardized clothing sizes

Popula, April 2019

"A Good Place: I found my higher power in mold"

On wonder, sobriety, and slime molds

The Outline, March 2019

"Crocodile Tears"

On the history and politics of tear gas

Popula, Feb 2019

"I thought to myself: 'God, I love leaving social gatherings alone'"

On a day in my life

Popula, Dec 2018

"Dark Crusts"

On how white supremacy influences appetites

Dirty Spoon, Jan 2019

"Could my family's history of antisemitic violence explain the intensity of my grief over the Tree of Life Attack?"

On intergenerational trauma

PublicSource, Nov 2018

Criticism

"History of a Prison: a review of The Don: The Story of Toronto's Infamous Jail"

Briarpatch Magazine, Jan/Feb 2021 Print Issue

"The Hidden Cost of Medical Implants" a review of Lightning Flowers: My Journey to Uncover the Cost of Saving a Life

Undark, Dec 2020

"The Tension at the Heart of Pop in Warhol's Mother's Pantry"

Chicago Review of Books, Nov 2020

"Is spiritual growth possible without confronting whiteness?" a review of White Utopias: The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals

High Country News, Sept 2020 Print Issue