What was your first job as a journalist?
I’m unpublished currently.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes.
How is social media changing news?
Social media has escalated our moral decay, how is it not?
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Mark Z. Danielewski
What does it mean to be a journalist?
It means paying attention when everyone else looks away—and asking questions even when the answers ruin the story you wanted to tell.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
Probably , but for the news. ‘Local man defeats corruption, immediately resigns in shame.’ Twitter was funnier before it became a press release graveyard.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Email and with feeling.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
✍️ Writing & Editing
• Google Docs – collaborative drafting and commenting
• Microsoft Word – formatting, revision tracking
• Grammarly or ProWritingAid – grammar/style assistance
• Scrivener – (if longform or book projects)
• Notion or Obsidian – idea organization and research vaults
⸻
🔎 Research & Annotation
• Zotero or Mendeley – citation management
• Hypothesis – web annotation for article reading
• Pocket or Instapaper – saving longreads to revisit later
⸻
📆 Pitching & Publishing
• Muck Rack – pitching, media tracking
• Submittable – if submitting to literary mags or journals
• Email (Gmail/Outlook) – direct contact with editors
⸻
🎧 Music & Media Analysis
• Spotify or Bandcamp – discovering and analyzing music
• YouTube – live performances, subculture deep dives
• Audacity – if doing any audio commentary or clips
⸻
🌐 Web Presence
• WordPress, Medium, or Ghost – personal blog or portfolio
• Canva – clean visuals for online sharing
• Twitter (X) / Bluesky / Instagram – audience building & commentary
What's your favorite social network?
Zero.
Who do you wish followed you?
Theodore Dalrymple.
Why did you become a journalist?
I became a journalist because it was either tell the story or let it eat me alive. This felt slightly less crazy.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
No.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
Why Ambition Shouldn’t Be a Virtue Anymore
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
You don’t need a byline to start being a journalist. Start asking questions that scare you. Write things down before they make you explode. Stay curious, stay skeptical, and don’t wait for permission.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Morning.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
None so far.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Haven’t received one yet, try me.
What's your favorite drink?
Half/half guinness/harp
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Outside or at work… sometimes both.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
I don’t have a favorite publication—I have a favorite attitude: honest, unsentimental, and allergic to bullshit. Wherever that shows up, that’s what I read.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That you need a defined beat to matter. In reality, the best stories happen in the cracks, where no one’s looking yet.
