I initially pursued journalism because I didn’t see stories that mattered reflected in print.

photo by Daniel White

As a kid, I wrote occasional op-ed pieces (published in my town newspaper and once in the Boston Herald) arguing that existing coverage excluded too much from the narrative. In high school, after serving as an editor at the official school newspaper, I quit to co-found an independent, underground student paper.

I guess it isn’t surprising that I ended up in the alternative press, where I spent 7 years knocking down conventional wisdom, uncovering important buried stories, and helping my neighbors better understand where they live through news and cultural coverage. I later served as the interim news editor at INDY Week, the third alternative weekly I’ve worked at.

I want to keep telling stories that expand people’s understanding of their community and their world. That could mean talking on the podcast Criminal about the 1979 Greensboro Massacre or something as innocuous as contributing to the book Where to Eat Pizza. When people read or listen to my work, I want them to think ‘Wow, I had no idea.’

When I’m not working on a freelance piece (about anything from North Carolina barbecue to a historic labor uprising in West Virginia), you can find me daydreaming about getting a corgi, traveling to Vietnam, or meeting Michael Jordan.