I am a journalist, author, and podcast host based in Brooklyn, New York. Over the years I’ve written for dozens of national magazines, including Rolling Stone, New York, and Esquire. I am a correspondent for Outside, and a regular contributor to Bloomberg Businessweek, GQ, and Popular Science, among others. I was one of the founding editors of PLAY, The New York Times Sports Magazine and am almost certainly the only person in history to play in both the Elephant Polo World Championships and the Quidditch World Cup.
I am the author of SHOW DOG, published by HarperCollins/IT Books in February of 2012, and THE TAKING OF K-129,” published by Dutton/Penguin in September 2017. My next book, tentatively titled THE IMPOSSIBLE FACTORY, is about aerospace designer Kelly Johnson and his legendary Skunk Works design shop. It should arrive sometime in 2022, also from Dutton/Penguin. The Clearing, a podcast produced by Jonathan Menjivar and me, is a collaboration between Pineapple Street and Gimlet, and launched in July 2019. And Chameleon: Hollywood Con Queen, co-created with journalist Vanessa Grigoriadis, was the first show from my new narrative podcast company, Campside.
And if my face looks familiar, yes, that was me on Joe Berlinger’s Netflix Series, “Crime Scene: Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel.” The series was inspired by my reporting on Elisa Lam and her tragic story, which was published by Medium’s now defunct Matter, back in 2015. If you’re interested in Elisa’s story, I’d encourage you to check it out.