Radiolab March 4, 2022
We flip the Disney story of life on its head thanks to a barrel of seawater, a 1970s era computer, and underwater geysers. It’s the chaos of life. (Story begins at 18:00)
Life in a Barrel →
in Radio
Flop-Off
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Radiolab December 31, 2021
In 2005, a group of young women from Northwestern University won the lacrosse championship. A few months later they went to the White House wearing flip-flops. One of those facts made the national news, and the fact that it was the story about flip-flops can tell us a lot about gender, the presidency, and what we wear on our feet. (Story starts at 33:00)
Everybody's Got One →
in Radio
Radiolab, Aug 20, 2021
We all think we know the story of pregnancy. Sperm meets egg, followed by nine months of nurturing, nesting, and quiet incubation. But pregnancy may not be the nursery tale we think it is. In a way, it’s a struggle, almost like a tiny war. And right on the front lines of that battle is another major player on the stage of pregnancy that not a single person on the planet would be here without. An entirely new organ: the placenta.
The Great Vaccinator →
in Radio
Radiolab, December 3, 2020
Until COVID, the fastest vaccine ever made - for mumps - took four years. And while the effort to develop a covid-19 vaccine involves thousands of people working around the clock, the mumps vaccine was developed almost exclusively by one person: Maurice Hilleman. Hilleman cranked out more than 40 other vaccines over the course of his career, including 8 of the 14 routinely given to children. He arguably saved more lives than any other single person. And through his work, Hilleman embodied the instincts, drive, and guts it takes to marshall the human body’s defenses against a disease. But through him we also see the struggle and the costs of these monumental scientific efforts.
An Interview With Damon Locks →
in Interviews
The Believer, November 25, 2020
On Chicago, teaching, the Black Monument Ensemble, and working inside the Black nod
Read at The Believer
Once Upon A Time, When America Paid Its Writers →
in Interviews
LitHub, July 29, 2020
An interview with Jason Boog on the struggle to find security and creativity in the same life.
What She Deserves →
in Writing
Can You Hear Me Now? →
in Writing
The American Scholar, April 16, 2020
On brain-frying telephone calls, close friendships, and alchemy
An Interview With Lulu Miller →
in Interviews
Man Against Horse →
in Radio
RadioLab, December 28, 2019
This is a story about your butt. It’s a story about how you got your butt, why you have your butt, and how your butt might be one of the most important and essential things for you being you, for being human. Heather Radke and Matt Kielty talk to two researchers who followed the butt from our ancient beginnings, through millions of years of evolution, and all the way to today, out to a valley in Arizona, where our butts are put to the ultimate test.
Consider the Butt →
in Writing
Paris Review Daily, September 16, 2019
On corporate butts, vegetal smells, and the utility of shame
Race and Revolution: Reimagining Monuments →
in Writing
Brave Beautiful Outlaws →
in Writing
Horse Girl →
in Writing
The Believer, February 1, 2019
On Misty of Chincoteague, Saltwater Cowboys, and the transcendent power of loving ponies (honored as a Notable Mention in Best American Travel Writing 2020 and Best American Sports Writing 2020)
The Magic Bullet →
in Writing
Topic Magazine, October 2018
How a drug called Miltown ushered in an age of pill-popping for anxious Americans.
A Beginner’s Guide to Fly Fishing With Your Father →
in Writing
Longreads, June 15, 2018
On chocolate-chip pancakes, A River Runs Through It, and discovering gender (honored as a Notable Mention in Best American Essays 2019 and Best American Sports Writing 2019)
The Jumpsuit That Will Replace All Clothes Forever →
in Writing
Paris Review Daily, March 2018
On clothing, capitalism, political art, and utopias
American Sounds →
in Writing
Paris Review Daily, July 2017
On the old, weird days of National Public Radio.
Reel Life →
in Writing
The National, Spring 2017
Learning to cast with Joan Wulff, the 90-year-old First Lady of Fly Fishing.
Take Comfort →
in Writing