Alice Driver
- Writer, Freelance
- Writer, All the Hustle and Glory
- Author, non-fiction
Little Rock, Mexico City, Mexico
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writer & translator | The Life & Death of the American Worker @astrahousebooks (2024) Artists All Around @PApress (2025) | rep @thestormboy 🥇 @beardfoundation
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Articles by Alice Driver
My year-long investigation of the sextortion of minors involving AI-generated imagery
I spent the past year investigating the sextortion of minors involving AI-generated imagery and AI nudify apps. You can read more here: “The Nudity is Fake. The Sextortion is Real.” In the fall of 2025, I began requesting public records from Arizona police departments, but because sextortion using AI-generated imagery is relatively new, it was a challenge to get related records.
The Return of Child Labor
An idea haunted my dreams: this is the origin story of my New York Review of Books article on child labor. In 2023, I saw a video of immigrant children in Arkansas working as chicken catchers, and they began to appear in my dreams. I spent two years working on the article, including taking a road trip across Arkansas with Mexican photographer Jacky Muniello to visit poultry towns.
The Return of Child Labor
The Return of Child Labor Published October 18, 2026 This story was produced in partnership with the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and supported with a residency from The Bellagio Center. For years I have been haunted by a grainy video I saw in 2023, when I was interviewing poultry processing workers in Green Forest, Arkansas.
The Return of Child Labor
For years I have been haunted by a grainy video I saw in 2023, when I was interviewing poultry processing workers in Green Forest, Arkansas. In those months I spoke often with the organizer Magaly Licolli, who directs Venceremos, a grassroots organization dedicated to protecting the rights of poultry workers.
The Return of Child Labor
For years I have been haunted by a grainy video I saw in 2023, when I was interviewing poultry processing workers in Green Forest, Arkansas. In those months I spoke often with the organizer Magaly Licolli, who directs Venceremos, a grassroots organization dedicated to protecting the rights of poultry workers.
To Italy/ My Work in Translation
“the precise point where profit meets the living flesh of labor” - Maurizio del Conte, professor of labor law at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy The view from the Bellagio Center where I met my Italian publisher. Next week, I will be in Milan, Italy, giving a talk at Bocconi University on October 13. Law professor Maurizio Del Conte, who wrote the preface to the Italian translation of my book, invited me to speak to his law students.
3D printers create new safety threat in schools
At an age when most kids are learning long division, some Arizona students are learning high-tech methods to manufacture weapons. In April 2025, a group of seventh-grade girls at Casteel Junior High in Queen Creek, saw a boy playing with a knife in class. “I showed my buddy my 3D-printed switchblade,” the boy said, according to the school incident report. He later told administrators that he had printed the switchblade because he was bored after his parents took away his Spotify account.
Talking Chicken Catchers with Big Chicken on Netflix
Behind the scenes with the Netflix documentary Big Chicken: A Fast Food Conspiracy I was up at midnight last night when Big Chicken: A Fast Food Conspiracy came out on Netflix. I couldn’t remember what I had said in my interview, and so I went to sleep without watching it. The interesting (nail-biting) thing about being interviewed for a documentary is that you usually don’t see a preview of the work.
3D printers create new safety threat in schools
At an age when most kids are learning long division, some Arizona students are learning high-tech methods to manufacture weapons. In April 2025, a group of seventh-grade girls at Casteel Junior High in Queen Creek, saw a boy playing with a knife in class. “I showed my buddy my 3D-printed switchblade,” the boy said, according to the school incident report. He later told administrators that he had printed the switchblade because he was bored after his parents took away his Spotify account.
A Netflix chicken documentary
Last year, I did some interviews for the documentary Big Chicken: A Fast Food Conspiracy. It will launch worldwide on Netflix on the 5th August 2026. Made by the Mindhouse team, the people behind Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere, the doc follows British comedian Mo Gilligan as he tries to understand our obsession with fried chicken.
Calling from the Landline
I returned to Kentucky to visit friends from Berea College a few weeks ago. I was flooded with memories of that time - living in a cabin in the woods, thinking I could make extra money selling my plasma, working at a coffee shop, waitressing, all the while burning to be a writer. While at Berea, I took a class on the Harlem Renaissance with poet Nikky Finney. In the 25 years since I studied with her, I have reread one email she sent me thousands of times.
Calling from the Landline
And when I read, I want to be in relation with a human being. That’s why I read. Likewise, a machine instructed to make love to me might technically be excellent at making love to me, but that won’t do either. – Zadie Smith I got the idea for the article while I was driving around rural Arkansas in 2023. There is something to be said for wandering whether in body or mind. I pitched the idea to an editor the summer of 2025. At the same time, I applied for a grant for the project and a residency.
Should Canada approve lab-grown meat?
Director of responsible research & innovation, Canada, New Harvest With the global population projected to reach 10 billion by 2050, and with natural resources finite, creating sustainable food solutions is critical. This challenge, however, presents an opportunity to innovate and enhance food production through technologies such as cellular agriculture, which uses cells from animals, plants or even microbes (like those for brewing beer) to produce food, including animal-cell-derived meat.
Calling from the Landline
On this postcard that poet Allen Ginsberg sent to my mom in 1975, he wrote, “Oh Dakini!” Like many people, I ended up back home living with my parents during the pandemic. The unlikely result of this time with my parents is that I have developed an expertise in letters, literary estates, and copyright law. I discovered that my mother, in her youth, was a poet groupie. And she maintained an epistolary friendship with several poets.
Calling from the Landline
Dolores Huerta turned 96 on a Friday. I interviewed her 24 hours into her 96th year, and she looked strong in body and spirit, her lips red. She told me she wanted to help save democracy and planned to go door-knocking to get out the vote. I felt emotional during the interview (did I cry?). Since then, I’ve thought about her every single day: my model for aging, for being, for moving through this life, is Dolores Huerta at 96.
Dolores Huerta Was Always a Hero Original
6 min read Dolores Clara Huerta sits in a recliner in her living room, wearing bright red lipstick, with a grandchild and two great-grandchildren running behind her as she speaks. Clocking in at just 5 feet tall, the labor organizer has been a force for decades, organizing national boycotts, getting arrested for nonviolent protest, negotiating historic union contracts, and coining the phrase “Sí se puede,” which former President Barack Obama famously borrowed for his 2008 campaign.
Calling from the Landline
EVENTS Register for free and join me today at 6:30 pm EST for “Food Literacy for All,” hosted by the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan. I will be back in my home state to participate in the ArkaText Festival - Film, Theater, and Creative Writing in Conway, Arkansas, on April 6. On April 13-14, I will be in NYC at the Local Journalists Workshop hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations.
Calling from the Landline
Last week, my Italian editor sent me examples of potential book covers. I have to keep writing books so I can continue living my dream of having them translated into every language. I love working as a translator and the relationships I have developed with writers. I began translating my first book, Abecedario de Juárez, in 2013 after meeting photojournalist Julián Cardona in Juárez, Mexico.
Write What You Have
A photo from Art Week in Mexico City. I haven’t been writing the thing I am supposed to write. The draft has been sitting for months, lurking in my mind. It is like a mountain in the distance, and every day I wake up, look at it, and think it is impossible to climb. It’s strange because I’ve done the reporting, which was hard. I’m almost done, and yet I’m going nowhere. I know that I need to write what I have.
Pace Yourself
I went to Mexico City for Art Week. I returned from Art Week in Mexico City to find a handwritten letter from a painter. We met in Santa Fe at a reunion for the Yaddo Artist Retreat. I walked in to see him wearing a three-piece suit and a pocket square, and it turned out he was from Arkansas, too. Like me, he had run away from the state to make art. Born in 1943 in rural Arkansas, he had always wanted to be a painter.
On Research
Arkansas photographer Liz Sanders working in the Ozark Mountains to photograph a postcard that poet Allen Ginsberg wrote to my mom. I am nostalgic for the days of letter writing. To know someone through letters is a tender, surprising, intimate knowing. I have spent the past several years visiting the New York City Public Library archives while working on a project about writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak.
things i have done while trying to make a living as a writer
Mexican photographer Maya Goded, who shot the cover of my first book, has a new photo book out, The Serpent’s Tail/El rasto de la serpiente.
My crush list
“My lunch was delicious - even off the floor” - Tien, when faced with a choice after spilling food on the floor The chainsaw sculptor I met, who burnishes her art with a blow torch “Maximum fun!" - Ceci on her plans for 2026 Receiving a business card of handmade paper with only the artist’s name on it (oh, the texture of that paper and the mystery of no contact information!) “My tío Pepe, he was not a good person.” - Gabriel sharing his dreams as poetic as they come “She was exiled to Texas...
Artist Residencies
At Yaddo, I lived with visual artists like Drea Cofield, whom I often saw painting outdoors during my daily run. I’m often thinking about writing and good places to write. I finished my last book at Yaddo, where I lived in Truman Capote’s room for six weeks. While there, I went on long runs and would often find painter Drea Cofield in the forest at her easel. I love feeling connected to the writers and artists who have come before me, sharing the same physical space.
My Story Ideas
I was tearing the pages out of an old notebook when I came across this list of story ideas. It reminded me of a time when I pitched an editor a story about men in Mexico who keep pet tigers. Ok, the pitch might have been titled “The Tiger Men.” The editor, a man, wrote back, “It feels a bit small and offbeat, even though you mean to get at some larger issues.” The thing is, I don't mind small, offbeat story ideas. I think it is important, in fact, to have those ideas and let them simmer.
Workers’ Hands Tell a Story. What If We Listened?
“Migration is one of the great events of our times and it deserves to be understood in all its complexity.” —Yuri Herrera I’ve thought a lot about hands in my work as an investigative journalist covering the meatpacking industry. Workers’ hands are dry and scarred, hardened territories. If we are willing to hold those hands, to read them like maps, they have a story to tell us.
On Staying Calm
I received this postcard from myself this week. I wrote it when I was at the Bellagio Center in Italy last March. I wanted to remind myself to stay calm, which, frankly, is hard these days. If I’ve got one thing going for me in my creative work, it's this wild feeling that I must find more time to write. Either I have time or I have money, but I rarely have both. That seems to be the way of the creative life, and so I’ve had to become less precious about my work.
On Grant Writing
This week, I edited a grant application for a friend, a wildly talented photographer. Like many photographers, this friend gets intimidated by writing and waits until the last minute to do it. I love writing grants because I view them as an opportunity to present my vision for an artistic project. Here is the advice I gave to the photographer: Do not take up any space stating what you are not doing or what you are fighting against.
Happy birthday, dear book!
In honor of the first birthday of my book and the release of the paperback, I’m sharing some of the quotes I keep in my notebooks: “Keep a disciplined practice: if not an hour each day for writing, then certain days: Wednesday and Saturday, for instance, just for your writing.” - writer Amitava Kumar “If you are already keeping things from yourself, it is not going to be as good of a book.” - writer Sloane Crosley “We have little time on earth and a tiny bit of energy to do it, let’s not...
Tomorrow I fly to NYC to participate in a reading with Pulitzer Prize-winner Mosab Abu Toha and Windham Campbell Prize-winner Alexis Pauline Gumbs at The Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize Shortlist Reading & Panel. On Saturday, I will do a live in-studio interview with a national TV network. I love public speaking and, over the years, have taken several media training courses.
Celebrate the paperback release of my book on Sept. 23
I’m a long-time reader of food and culture writer Alicia Kennedy’s newsletter (and I quote her in my book). In a world where it is hard to build any successful model for writing (and by success, in the most basic sense, I mean having time to write), she had done that. In the process, she has built a vibrant community and shared her knowledge, path, and process.
Come see me in NYC for the Brooklyn Library Book Prize Shortlist Event
Tonight I am thinking of Nikky Finney, my poetry professor at Berea College, who told me many years ago, “You are always full of words that drive and latch on and into the heart.” Thank you to the librarians who read my book and loved it, and who selected it for the shortlist with the work of two poets, Pulitzer Prize-winner Mosab Abu Toha and Windham Campbell Prize-winner Alexis Pauline Gumbs.
Eating Meat While Deporting Those Who Produce It
August 20, 2025 Eating Meat While Deporting Those Who Produce It The people who do the dirty work of killing and processing animals hold up our food system. Trump is putting them in danger. Ad Policy Workers prepare turkeys to be chilled in Orefield, Pennsylvania. (Hannah Beier / Bloomberg via Getty Images) President Donald Trump famously likes his steaks well-done. Health Secretary Robert F.
The Brooklyn Public Library Prize for Nonfiction Longlist
I woke up this morning to find my book on the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize Longlist. Growing up in the Ozark Mountains, there was no public library, but a bookmobile drove down our dirt road once a month or so. It was bigger than a VW van but smaller than a mobile home, and I loved the feeling of walking inside and being surrounded by books. That feeling has not left me, and my love of libraries and respect for librarians has only grown.
Life and Death of the American Worker: The Immigrants Taking on America’s Largest Meatpacking Company
. Sept. 2024. 5:25 hrs. ISBN 9781668120620. $18.99. SOC SCI COPY ISBN Journalist Driver’s ( More or Less Dead) shocking exposé explores the complex nature of the American meatpacking industry from the inside out. Combining research and firsthand accounts conducted in many of the workers’ native Spanish and gathered over four years, the author gets to the root of the treatment—or rather, mistreatment—of workers in this brutal line of work.
The Italian translation
Last week, I signed the contract for the Italian translation of Life and Death of the American Worker. I will go on a week-long book tour in Italy in the spring of 2026. I thought for sure that a Spanish translation would come first, and so the Italian translation was a surprise. I dream that it will be published in Spanish so that the poultry processing workers in the book can read it.
Happy birthday to Maurice Sendak and his wild things
My mom writes me letters, vulnerable and funny ones. I am nostalgic for the days of letters, for communication that takes months instead of seconds. My mom is one of the few people who can read Maurice Sendak’s handwriting, a skill she developed over the decades they exchanged letters. He would have been 97 today. When I read the letters Maurice wrote to my mom, I can feel the emotion in his handwriting. He illustrated some letters with a wild thing, an alligator, his dog Jennie, an angel on a cloud.
A podcast episode timeline
I am often surprised by the amount of time it takes to complete a project. In the initial stages, it might seem like you need one or two interviews, but often a story makes unexpected demands. I listen closely to the people I’m interviewing and structure projects around their needs. An interview might require a six hour round trip driving. An interview subject might have little time and require multiple visits. An interview subject might cry and need a break.
"24 Chickens Per Minute" on Radio Ambulante
Hi friends, I am finishing a book manuscript, so I will keep this brief. I produced the Spanish podcast “24 Chickens Per Minute” for Radio Ambulante with Pablo Argüelles. For the podcast, I spent several months driving across Arkansas to interview poultry workers. It is rare to hear them tell their own stories because of the power of the meatpacking industry.
How long do books, podcasts & investigations take?
I love big projects and big wave surfing. I’ve been watching the new season of HBO documentary 100 Foot Wave, and a lot of the advice from the big wave surfers feels applicable to my writing life. They spend their lives chasing the ever-elusive 100-foot wave. No matter how many waves crush them or how old they get, you can see the gleam in their eyes to keep chasing gigantic waves. My favorite big wave surfer is Justin Dupont, a French woman delighted by daily life.
On meeting Min Jin Lee, the author of Pachinko
PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL NEWS On May 6th, I will be in NYC for the 2025 Lukas Prizes Award Ceremony at Columbia Journalism School. Adam Lowenstein at The Ink interviewed me about Life and Death of the American Worker.The illustrated letters Maurice Sendak, the author of Where the Wild Things Are, wrote to my mom, have been acquired by the New York City Public Library Archives.
The Maurice Sendak Letters
The illustrated letters that Maurice Sendak, the author of Where the Wild Things Are, wrote to my mom, Louise Halsey, are now available at the New York City Public Library archives. My mom met Sendak when she was seven, and he was 28. He dedicated the book Very Far Away to her when she was eight. The dedication reads: "For Louise Halsey, who has lots of time for everybody." That same year, Maurice began writing her letters.
How to Deliver a Book Manuscript
PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL NEWS On April 9th, I will speak at NYU with New Yorker contributor Eyal Press and historian Roger Horowitz. The event begins at 5:30pm and is free. You can register here. On Saturday, April 19th, at 3:15 p.m., I will be on a panel at The Unbound Book Festival in Columbia, Missouri, with authors Crystal Hana Kim and Aisha Abdel Gawad. On May 6th, I will be in NYC for the 2025 Lukas Prizes Award Ceremony.
My Book Writing Process
Arkansas photographer Liz Sanders in the Ozarks photographing letters written by Maurice Sendak. I thought my third book, a memoir, would be easier to write. It is based on decades of letters that Maurice Sendak, the author of Where the Wild Things Are, wrote to my mom. The letters are illustrated, and even the envelopes are works of art. It would be a cakewalk to write compared to my previous book about the meatpacking industry. Wrong!
On being tender & weird
I love calling friends from the landline at home in the Ozark Mountains, where there is no cell phone service. I like being nostalgic and out of touch. I like the sound of my friends’ voices and their handwriting. I want all your tender, weird little things. Your poetry scratched into the dry earth, That note you carved into a tree, The tattoo you drew for me in the middle of the night.
Make Child Labor Great Again
In these dark and distressing times, I have started a new project investigating child labor in Arkansas. Arkansas is ahead of the curve when it comes to child labor. In 2024, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families published a report noting that child labor in Arkansas increased 266% between 2020 and 2023. Does any state in the union have a more significant increase in child labor than Arkansas? I wish more people wanted to talk to me about it, but they don’t.
On Maurice Sendak & the artists in my life
This week has been bad. It is hard to work on a book or anything when faced with…the reality of this country. And yet, I am writing the manuscript for a book about Maurice Sendak, which I am supposed to finish. Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, one of the most popular children’s books ever, was subject to book bans. But Sendak remained irreverent, playful, and deeply committed to his work in the face of those bans.
rooted
I feel rooted in my writing. The books I will write are mapped like a constellation I can see when I close my eyes at night. The will to write has oriented me for as long as I can remember.
Walk on
I have been wandering the streets of Mexico City. I love getting lost, going to the Cineteca, eating elote, chatting up booksellers, petting dogs in coats, being the first to see a forthcoming photo book, and having coffee with someone I met because their work speaks to me. I fell in love with these movies: one for its lightning energy and wildness (La Cocina), one for its tenderness (Malta), and one for the delight of surreality and costuming (El Jockey). Driver is a reader-supported publication.
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