What was your first job as a journalist?
A crummy house newsletter for a CPA firm.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes--in college!
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Don't have one.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
You're out there all alone.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Word, Substack, the NASA website.
Who do you wish followed you?
Slow and deep readers!
Why did you become a journalist?
Sheer inertia.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
No--uninterested at the time.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Pick a good model for your work.
When's the best time to pitch you?
No preference.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
To write a piece I had already started.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Please write my life story.
What's your favorite drink?
Belgian beer.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Walking around my beautiful Washington DC neighborhood.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That it's insignificant.
