Documentary
In Pittsburgh | New Hampshire Public Radio, June 2021
My full-episode audio documentary aired in the slot between Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me and This American Life. It’s a story of learning about—and then learning to live with—industrial air pollution. Come for the three-year-old saying “shit” on the radio! Stay for the melancholy reflection on lax environmental regulation!
Editing + Producing
I’m a freelance editor and producer of Vox’s Longform Podcast, a weekly conversation with nonfiction writers, journalists, podcasters and filmmakers about how they do their work. I love getting to edit some of my nonfiction heroes, like Michael Pollan and Mary Childs.
Episodes
#568: Zoë Schiffer | February 2024
#564: Rob Copeland | January 2024
#560: Mosi Secret | December 2023
#566: Jesse David Fox | November 2023
#552: Azam Ahmed | October 2023
#548: Susan Burton | August 2023
#544: Casey Newton and Kevin Roose | August 2023
#540: Heidi Blake | June 2023
#536: Lisa Belkin | May 2023
#532: Kevin Kelly | May 2023
Polk Award Winners: Clarissa Ward | April 2022
Polk Award Winners: Lynsey Addario | April 2023
Polk Award Winners: Terrence McCoy | April 2023
#527: Mary Childs | March 2023
#524: Eric Lach | March 2023
#521: Jonah Weiner | February 2023
#521: Jonah Weiner | February 2023
#496: Michael Pollan | July 2022
Journalism
I reported for 90.5 WESA, Pittsburgh’s NPR affiliate, producing features and spot news. Allegheny Front syndicated a number of my energy and environment stories.
Features
‘A real love affair’: Pitt polymer physicist tells her story of science, romance and loss | 90.5 WESA, February 2024
In 2016, Anna Balazs became the first woman ever to win the prestigious Polymer Physics Prize. But days before she was to accept the honor, her husband and closest collaborator Steven Levitan died unexpectedly. This is her story of accepting a tremendous honor in the midst of a devastating loss.
Stormwater infrastructure hidden beneath the grass of two new East End parks | 90.5 WESA & Allegheny Front, August 2021
Pittsburgh’s sewer system was built in the 1800s for a much smaller city, and it’s notorious for overflowing. But there’s a new way to capture stormwater, hidden beneath the green grass of two new parks.
2nd Place, Public Media Journalists Association, 2021
Local organic farmers face an uncertain 2022 as they battle inflation | 90.5 WESA & Allegheny Front, December 2021
Many local organic farmers had their best season ever in 2020. But with this year’s inflation at its highest since 1990, farms are facing uncertainty in 2022 as they grapple with rising costs of farming inputs like fertilizer, seed, propane and greenhouse plastic.
Spot News
More than 500 Allegheny County kids have elevated blood lead levels | 90.5 WESA, November 2021
Behind the City of Pittsburgh’s plans to outfit 35,000 streetlights with LEDs | 90.5 WESA, November 2021
Mon Valley on pace for twice as many hydrogen sulfide violations as last year | 90.5 WESA & Allegheny Front, August 2021
Downtown Pittsburgh office occupancy is way down, but energy use? Not so much. | 90.5 WESA & Allegheny Front, September 2021
City installs first raised crosswalk in Squirrel Hill as part of ongoing efforts to slow drivers | 90.5 WESA, November 2021
Environmental groups push for Pittsburgh ban on plastic bags | 90.5 WESA, September 2021
Pittsburgh pilots new smart loading zones to ease congestion and air pollution from delivery vehicles | 90.5 WESA, September 2021
Self-driving tech company Aurora names Pittsburgh as official corporate headquarters | 90.5 WESA, September 2021
Black leaders say federal COVID funds have passed over hardest-hit communities | 90.5 WESA, July 2021
Pittsburgh International Airport completes gas- and solar-powered microgrid | 90.5 WESA, July 2021
Heinz Endowments announces $10 Million for Black arts in Pittsburgh area | 90.5 WESA, July 2021
Pennsylvania could face new wave of abandoned and hazardous coal mines | 90.5 WESA & Allegheny Front, July 2021
Pittsburgh Episcopal Diocese elects first Black woman bishop | 90.5 WESA, July 2021
Casey unveils new legislation to expand access to home care | 90.5 WESA, June 2021
Pittsburgh tech company wins $500K in artificial intelligence competition | 90.5 WESA, June 2021
Oral History
I was an interviewer and audio producer for an innovative oral history project for the University of Pittsburgh. I did more than 20 interviews with faculty and alumni and crafted non-narrated audio vignettes, StoryCorps-style, for each of them. I was especially proud of this story of love, grief and polymer science that surfaced from an interview with Anna Balazs, the first woman to win the Polymer Physics Prize.
Stories
It was a real love affair | Anna Balazs
It was time | Elayne Arrington
You had to prove yourself at every turn | Elayne Arrington
A tough job | Stephen R. Tritch
I just realized how little I knew | Daniel Armanios
I can’t believe I did this | Emily Klonicki
They had the power of Hoover Dam in that little tin can | John Swanson
I didn’t know for 15 years that I was an entrepreneur | John Swanson
I wanted to tackle the grand challenges | David Sanchez
It takes a village | Robert Copeland
Pitt was the working man’s school | Ruthann Omer
Man of the Year | Carol Christobek
We met at freshman orientation | Mark Christobek
I was interested in getting As | Robbi Luxbacher
We miss him | Jeff Mascaro
I was always tinkering | David Tannenbaum
Master of my own destiny | Mary Tannenbaum
A very good friend | Tom Cain
I was an accidental graduate student | Kim Needy
The process of change does not come easily | Mark Nordenberg
Essays
Babysitter, The Rumpus, November 2018
“Pink short-short athletic shorts announced the beginning of her smooth, golden legs, and white anklets and sneakers defined the end. And the arrival of this nubile young woman made it clear on which side of the maiden/ma’am fence I had landed.”