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Chris Smith on Muck Rack

Chris Smith

San Francisco
As seen in: Amazon Web Services, The Daily Mirror, The Independent (UK), The Telegraph, California, SAGE Publishing, SFGate, Slate, Substack, Vanity Fair and
Covers:  politics, culture, music, history, science
Writer, journalist, poet || music, surfing, giallos, cats || Working on Divest Now! Fighting Apartheid at America's Most Radical University, for UC Press
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Chris Smith’s Journalist Portfolio

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"Southern Cross"

"Southern Cross"

One Sentence Poems — A short poem.
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The Last Normal Day

The Last Normal Day

substack.com — An essay on my last "normal" day before the pandemic hit, for Luke O'Neil's Welcome to Hell World (with an intro by Luke).
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The Ward

The Ward

Monnath Books — A modern ghost story published in the short story anthology, Through Death's Door.
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The Strange Case of Ex-Radical David Horowitz

The Strange Case of Ex-Radical David Horowitz

California magazine — Feature profile for California magazine. Most people don't change their political stripes. David Horowitz isn't most people.
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Welcome to Zamrock! 1972-1977: How Zambia's Liberation Led to a Rock Revolution

Welcome to Zamrock! 1972-1977: How Zambia's Liberation Led to a Rock Revolution

Now-Again Records — Contributing author to this short book released by Now-Again records on the musical, political, and cultural history of Zambia's 1970s psychedelic rock scene.
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Coded and Loaded: How Politicians Talk About Race and Gender Without Really Talking About Race an...

Coded and Loaded: How Politicians Talk About Race and Gender Without Really Talking About Race an...

California magazine — Reported essay for California magazine on "dog whistling"--the ways in which politicians use coded language to discuss race and gender.
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His Truth is Marching On

His Truth is Marching On

California magazine — Profile for California magazine of R.J. Rushdoony, the founder of the Christian Reconstruction movement and a prime mover in the rise of the Christian right. This article won a CASE "Gold" award.
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Earthbound

Earthbound

Potato Soup Journal — Essay on growing up skating in the suburbs of Detroit.
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Housing a Movement: Adverse Possession in California - Arts & Culture - Utne Reader

Housing a Movement: Adverse Possession in California - Arts & Culture - Utne Reader

Utne Reader — Profile of Steve DeCaprio, Oakland squatter guru and housing justice advocate. This story was reprinted in Bohemian Bridges, an anthology of writing on American (especially Californian) social, cultural, and political change. (Originally published in California Northern magazine.)
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We're a Zambian Band-The Appendix

We're a Zambian Band-The Appendix

The Appendix — Profile of Jagari Chanda, "Zambia's Mick Jagger," and the rise, fall, and rebirth of Zambia's pysch-rock scene.
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Into the Deep Freeze: What Kind of Person Chooses to Get Cryonically Preserved?

Into the Deep Freeze: What Kind of Person Chooses to Get Cryonically Preserved?

California magazine — A deep dive into the culture of the cryonics community. This won a CASE "Bronze" award for feature writing.
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How a Palestine Tourism Poster, Designed by a Jewish Artist in the 1930s, Took On New Meaning

How a Palestine Tourism Poster, Designed by a Jewish Artist in the 1930s, Took On New Meaning

Slate — Short piece on the half-life of a 1930s Palestine tourism poster.
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Angels, Protesters and Patriots: What a Long-Ago Skirmish Says About Love of Country

Angels, Protesters and Patriots: What a Long-Ago Skirmish Says About Love of Country

California magazine — Reported essay on the political uses of patriotism. (Reprinted in Utne Reader.)
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Radio Freedom: A History of South African Underground Radio

Radio Freedom: A History of South African Underground Radio

The Appendix — Historical piece on the South African liberation movement's underground, anti-apartheid radio station.
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Rules of the Tribe: Hardcore Punks and Hair Metal in the 1980s-The Appendix

Rules of the Tribe: Hardcore Punks and Hair Metal in the 1980s-The Appendix

The Appendix — Feature on the rise and fall of Discharge, an English hardcore punk band who tried to go hair metal--with disastrous results.
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Lighting Up Soweto

Lighting Up Soweto

In These Times — Feature on grassroots resistance to the post-apartheid South African government's economic reforms.
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DNA's Identity Crisis

DNA's Identity Crisis

San Francisco magazine — Investigative piece on prosecutors' misuse of DNA statistics.
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The New Face of South Africa

The New Face of South Africa

AFAR magazine — Feature profile of a Soweto activist and member of South Africa's first post-apartheid generation.
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Famous Enough

Famous Enough

California magazine — Profile of Rod Benson, sports social media pioneer and arguably the most famous pro basketball player never to have made it to the NBA. This story won a CASE "Bronze" award.
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The War Department's WWII Advice Booklet for Soldiers Headed to Syria

The War Department's WWII Advice Booklet for Soldiers Headed to Syria

Slate — Short piece on a long-forgotten American mission in Syria, circa World War II.
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Once Found, Now Lost

Once Found, Now Lost

Long Shot magazine — Essay for a literary magazine on the relationship between international reporters and their fixers.
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Ask Me About Psych Rock in Zambia

Ask Me About Psych Rock in Zambia

Symbolia magazine — Profile of Keith Kabwe, singer for Zamrock band Amanaz, for the debut issue of Symbolia magazine.
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A violent cease-fire in Gaza

A violent cease-fire in Gaza

San Francisco Chronicle — Reportage from Gaza during the Second Intifada.
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Economic Leverage

Economic Leverage

California magazine — Historical piece on the campus anti-apartheid movement.
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