Selected Writing

The Boston Globe

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Downtown Boston is trying to find its post-pandemic identity. It’s fighting an uphill battle.

People in Greater Boston are less likely to spend time in neighborhoods not like their own than they were five years ago. Here’s why that’s a problem for downtown.

‘We really never came back to each other’: Five years after COVID, we’re more divided than ever

After a brief moment when Americans came together to battle a virus, the pandemic accelerated divisions of all kinds. If it happens again, could we unite again?

You’ve heard of the ‘urban doom loop.’ Nearly five years after the pandemic, are humans in one, too?

The beginning of the pandemic was nearly five years ago, but we’re just beginning to understand the many ways it has changed our behavior. New England Emmy Award

A ‘doom loop’ narrative has taken over San Francisco. Here’s what it means for Boston.

How the City by the Bay has fallen since COVID and hopes to bounce back, and what the capital of the Bay State could learn from watching

At Barbara Lynch’s restaurants, growing concern over a toxic culture

Two deaths on the staff at Menton, and the famous chef’s response, are triggering a reckoning in one of Boston’s best-known restaurant groups

‘People are leaving’: Massachusetts has lost 110,000 residents since COVID began. Is life better out there?

Citing housing costs and remote work, among other factors, 110,000 more people have moved out of Massachusetts than moved in since the start of COVID. SABEW Award

Whales are dying. Ropes from lobster traps are partly to blame. That’s put lobsters — and the people who catch them — in the crosshairs of conservation groups.

A key seafood industry watchdog group urges consumers not to eat lobster because of the impact on endangered right whales. SABEW Award

Millennial. Mom. Mayor. Another way Michelle Wu reflects a changing Boston

In male-led brewing world, a #MeToo moment

From Maine’s warming waters, kelp emerges as a potentially lucrative cash crop

Boston doesn’t work if the T doesn’t work

With the MBTA engulfed by delays, staffing shortages, and service interruptions, a city recovering from a pandemic struggles to bounce back. And everyday riders are feeling the pain. Editor and Publisher EPPY Award

A downtown full of delivery warehouses? ‘Dark stores’ are coming to Boston

Fueled by billions in investment, a wave of 15-minute delivery startups are moving into vacant downtown storefronts in Boston and other cities.

Death, disrupted: How the Boston-based ‘Warby Parker of caskets’ aims to upend the funeral business

Caskets are a big business for funeral-home operators. Titan Caskets is selling them direct-to-consumer for less.

‘September has been rough.’ School districts are scrambling to find food for student meals

Supply chain and staffing shortages combined with vast expansion of free lunch programs are overwhelming cafeterias this fall

In a hairier, scarier world, Gillette embraces the beard

‘No longer a wet shave business,’ the Boston-based razor maker is branching out to a wide range of grooming products as more men let their facial hair be

Massachusetts restaurants received nearly $1 billion in federal relief aid, but many were shut out

‘There will be extraordinary spending’: Retailers anticipate a post-pandemic consumption boom

One Block, One World

The pandemic crushed businesses on Boston's Water Street. Even more devastating: The effects ripple around the world. Online Journalism Award Finalist

In tackling the pandemic, Chelsea finds new strength

The On the Street series looks at the past, present, and future of neighborhoods in Greater Boston.

Coming to a grocery store near you: meat shortages

The meatpacking industry is reeling from coronavirus infections, forcing stores to limit sales.

Boston Globe Magazine

Featured

And Still We Ride: MBTA Riders are the 2023 Bostonians of the year

MBTA riders are tired, fed up — and essential. They’re our 2023 Bostonians of the Year.

I broke up with plastic, and you can too

“Zero Waste” is a worthy goal—and a hot hashtag—but a giant leap for most of us. Is it possible to do your part to save the planet without going off the deep end?

Boston Magazine

Featured

The Making of a McTopia: Ayr Muir and Clover Food Lab

Armed with a chickpea fritter and mountains of data, Ayr Muir, of Cambridge’s Clover Food Lab, is just a few thousand restaurants short of saving the world.

Bob Swartz: Losing Aaron

After his son was arrested for downloading files at MIT, Bob Swartz did everything in his power to save him. He couldn’t. Now he wants the institute to own up to its part in Aaron’s death.

George Howell Coffee: Back to the Grind

Nearly two decades after selling his iconic Coffee Connection chain to Starbucks, George Howell is about to attempt a comeback. Can the café visionary retake the coffee world, or has his time passed?

Elizabeth Warren: Stumped

She was supposed to be the Great Liberal Hope, the one Democrat tough enough to evict Scott Brown from Ted Kennedy's Senate seat. Then Warren started campaigning.