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Featured From The Blog | July 21, 2026
Sharing information with law enforcement is usually good. Sharing information in order to cut a deal is an invitation to corruption—and can even send innocent people to death row. I reviewed a new book about an epic snitch, by a crackerjack investigative reporter.
Article | July 30, 2025
Immigrants & Politics in Aurora
Doorbell cam video of a pack of young men with guns, on a murderous hunt, gave a big boost to Donald Trump’s crusade against immigrants—and his presidential campaign. But how much truth lay behind the politics? I spent a lot of time in Aurora, Colorado, one of my original journalism training grounds, finding out for The New York Times Magazine.
Article | February 22, 2024
“Please I Will Give Anything for You to Come Back”
“Why Rebecca Vance’s Off-Grid Move Resulted in Tragedy.” Outside Magazine, February, 2024.
Book Review | January 27, 2022
One New York girl and the precarious lives of the poor
Invisible Child, by Andrea Elliott, Washington Post, December 3, 2021
Article | July 18, 2019
The Last Frontier: Homesteaders on the Margins of America
“The Last Frontier: Homesteaders on the Margins of America,” Harper’s Magazine, August 2019.
Article | January 19, 2018
The Strike That Brought MLK to Memphis
“The Strike That Brought MLK to Memphis” Smithsonian Magazine, January, 2018.
Article | November 20, 2016
“A Death on the Tracks,” newyorker.com, November 20, 2016.
Article | November 3, 2016
The History of Southern Africa, by Train
“The History of Southern Africa, by Train,” T Magazine, November 3, 2016.
Article | October 28, 2016
“My Guantánamo, and Theirs” (behind the scenes on press tours of Guantánamo), Off Assignment, August 2016.
Article | May 12, 2016
To the Traveler Who Hid Cash in Her Underwear
“To the Traveler Who Hid Cash in Her Underwear” (essay for “Letter to a Stranger”), Off Assignment, May 2016.
Article | September 16, 2015
Cattle Calls: The Vanishing Breed of the Country Vet
“Cattle Calls: The Vanishing Breed of the Country Vet,” Harper’s Magazine, October 2015.
Book Review | June 27, 2015
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, by Bryan Stevenson, New York Times Book Review, October 17, 2014
Article | June 16, 2015
The Allure of the Prison Break
“The Allure of the Prison Break” (about the escape from New York’s Clinton prison), New York Times op-ed page, June 16, 2015.
Introductions & Forewords | February 1, 2015
Fifty Years in Sing Sing, A Personal Account, 1879-1929 [Foreword]
Fifty Years in Sing Sing, A Personal Account, 1879-1929, ed. Penelope Kay Jarrett, State University of New York Press, 2015. [foreword]
Article | January 27, 2015
From Gitmo to an American Supermax, the Horrors of Solitary Confinement
“From Gitmo to an American Supermax, the Horrors of Solitary Confinement,” Vanity Fair, January 2015.
Article | July 27, 2014
“This Is How We Roll” (teaching my son the family business), Outside, July 2014.
Article | October 19, 2013
“The Way of All Flesh” (about two months as a USDA meat inspector), Harper’s Magazine, May 2013.