Journalism

Editor, Story Consultant, Mentor

• Today, Explained

  • Ecstasy Therapy: Penicillin for the Soul

  • Ecstasy Therapy: How MDMA Became Medicine

  • Ecstasy Therapy: Bad Trip

  • How UFC Explains USA

  • When Docs Cry

• On With Kara Swisher

  • Can Kara Save the Washington Post?

  • Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson: Less Obstruction, More Government

• Stay Tuned with Preet Bharara

  • AI on Trial: Bot Crossed Lovers

  • AI on Trial: Deepfakes v. Democracy

  • AI on Trial: Bot Bharara Steals Stay Tuned

  • Up Against the Mob

• Little America (Apple TV+)

  • The Dog Trainer

  • St. Patrick’s Day Parade for All

  • Weddings in One Minute or Less

  • Engineering the Perfect Strawberry

  • Remembering a Forgotten Life

• Hell or High Water: When Disaster Hits Home (Audible)

• Land of the Giants: The Google Empire

• Tabloid: The Pam and Tommy Sex Tape (New York magazine & Luminary)

Editorial Lead

Language, Please is style guidance for the people — a free resource for anyone seeking to thoughtfully cover evolving social, cultural, and identity-related topics. It's funded by the Google News Initiative, produced by Vox Media, nominated for a Webby, and recognized by Anthem and Fast Company awards. I joined in 2021, when Language, Please was getting off the ground, and I now serve as the project's editorial lead. Our guidance is rooted in journalism and relevant for communications professionals, community-based storytellers, and independent content creators. Across seven parent topics spanning hundreds of terms, we offer context for writers to consider in choosing their words. Inclusive language can't be reduced to a one-size-fits-all set of edicts. It's about tuning into dynamics of meaning and impact to ensure that people and communities are represented in the fullest, truest ways.

Visit the project site and related Poynter course, Become a Trusted Editor, accredited by ACES: the Society for Editing.

Producer, Editor

Some stories:

• First, We Open Up on Mental Health. Then What? (NPR)

• Surveillance U (YR Media) Part 1 and Part 2

• In Their Own Words: Beyond the Binary (NLGJA winner)

• Students Drive New Policies on Sexual Assault (NPR, Gracie winner)

• After 20 Years, Leaving Foster Care on His Terms (NPR, Third Coast winner)

• First Encounters with Racism (NYT)

• West Side Stories (featured on Vox, The Atlantic’s CityLab, NPR)

• Double Charged (Marketplace, The Atlantic, BuzzFeed)

• Trafficked (NPR, Peabody winner)

• In the Kennel (NPR, Kennedy winner)

• Going Out Living (This American Life Prologue)

• Oakland Scenes (NPR, Third Coast winner)

Awards: 

• NLGJA Excellence in Journalism Award (2019) 

• Edward R. Murrow Award (2018, 2005, 2001) 

• Gracie Allen Award (2018, 2015 & 2005) 

• George Foster Peabody Award (2011 + 2002), 

• Third Coast International Audio Festival Award (2017 + 2003)

• Media for a Just Society Finalist (2019 + 2015)

• Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award (2010)

• Investigative Reporters and Editors Award (2010)

• National Association of Black Journalists Award 2003 

I edited the first season of Golda Arthur’s OVERLOOKED podcast, which was nominated for a Webby and won awards from New York Festivals and The Newswomen’s Club of New York. 

I give talks on journalism and media, like: 

• So you want to make a narrative podcast?, SXSW 2022

• No one’s source, Third Coast International Audio Festival 2017

I’m a Senior Civic Media Fellow at the University of Southern California Annenberg Innovation Lab