What was your first job as a journalist?
My first journalism gig was covering town council and school board meetings along Philadelphia's Main Line for $25 an article.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes! I own a vintage one. But back in my big sister's undergrad, her friends would drink wine and pass a typewriter around all night.
How is social media changing news?
My generation squandered the promise of social media on our own shameless self-promotion and, in the process, lost the public's trust.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Fictional journalists annoy me, which is likely because the Washington press corps annoys me...
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Inquisitively humble listeners, gripping storytellers and meticulous editors who adapt and evolve with new mediums of their era.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
I love it when writers casually run ideas past me before formally pitching, so then I get to help them think through and refine their idea.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Perplexity/Comet, Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Adobe Audition, Adobe Podcast (beta), Photoshop, Riverside, AP Styleguide, Congress Handbook, etc
What's your favorite social network?
I despise all social media (even as I'm on every "social" network...).
Who do you wish followed you?
My interactive political journalism startup, www.AskaPol.com, is aimed at the unnewsed, i.e., the 90 million who sat the 2024 election out.
Why did you become a journalist?
I wanted to fight injustice through storytelling.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
I was a pothead in high school and ran away at 15 (Chicago to Santa Cruz, CA) before becoming a homeless cokehead at 19...
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
My data privacy coverage for WIRED is cited in 20+ law reviews (from Duke to Harvard), assigned in syllabi, quoted in FCC filings & books.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Regaining public trust starts with listening. Before generative artificial intelligence comes for your job, use AI to expand your audience.
When's the best time to pitch you?
When I ask for pitches.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
As a veteran magazine feature writer, I love the ever-so-rare times editors pitch me, like when Playboy tapped me to profile Sen. Gardner.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
False advertising: Someone pitched lively story of a great New Orleans monkey escape but then turned in a bland story with no chimp scene!
What's your favorite drink?
Senate Beer
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
If you need me, I'm likely walking the marble halls of the US Capitol (my record is 70+ interviews in one day on Capitol Hill...).
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
Roll Call, NOTUS and WIRED magazine
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That I have a beat! As a general assignment reporter, I've covered artificial intelligence, marijuana, data privacy, AI, policing, guns, etc
