Comprehensive Publication Record, If You’re Looking For It
Criticism
“In Pieces” — Review of Battle Songs by Daša Drndić for New Left Review (2024.)
"Self and Simulation”— Review of The Dimensions of a Cave by Greg Jackson for The Baffler (2024.)
"Morning Star”— Review of Sublunar by Harald Voetmann for The Baffler (2023.)
“No Man’s Land”— Review of Barron Bagge by Alexander Lernet-Holenia for Bookforum (2022.)
“Net Loss” — Review of The Internet Is Not What You Think It Is by Justin Smith for Bookforum (2022.)
“Climacteric!” — Review of Broken Dreams by Mark Jackson for The Hedgehog Review (2022.)
“American Delirium” — Review of American Delirium by Betina González for The Believer (2021.)
“They’re Using You to Kill People” — Review of Rational Fog by M. Susan Lindee for Virginia Quarterly Review. (2020.)
“Children of Doubt” — Review of Unbelievers by Alec Ryrie and Unfollow by Megan Phelps-Roper for Virginia Quarterly Review (2019.)
“A Literature Worth Loathing” — Review of Paraliterary by Merve Emre and The Hatred of Literature by William Marx for Virginia Quarterly Review (2018.)
“What Kind of Creatures Are We?” — Review of What Kind of Creatures Are We? by Noam Chomsky for Rain Taxi (2016.)
“Abstract Journalism” — Review of The Song Machine by John Seabrook for 3:AM Magazine (2016.)
“The Criticism of Exhaustion” — Review of Why I Read by Wendy Lesser for Virginia Quarterly Review (2014.)
“Sacred Fever” — Review of Paper Lanterns and Ecstatic Cahoots by Stuart Dybek for L.A. Review of Books (2014.)
“The New Atheist Trounce” — Review of Waking Up by Sam Harris for New Republic (2014.)
“Shortchanged” — Review of How to Write Short by Roy Peter Clark for Columbia Review of Journalism (2013.)
“Blurry Verge” — Review of The House of Journalists by Tim Finch for Columbia Review of Journalism (2013.)
“Flesh and Statue” — Review of Both Flesh and Not by David Foster Wallace (posthumous) for Boston Review (2013.)
“Christopher Hitchens’ Very Personal Handbook on Cancer Etiquette” — Review of Mortality by Christopher Hitchens for Harper’s (2012.)
Journalism
“The Triumph of the Breweries” — Reportage on art in Asheville, NC, brewery culture and gentrification for Real Clear Politics (2022.)
“Up for Debate” — Reportage on Steven Bonnell A.K.A. “Destiny,” internet debate culture and political radicalization on Youtube for WIRED (2020.)
“Before the Shaking Starts” — Reportage on seismic risk in Salt Lake City, the mass-psychology of fear and ‘prepping’ for Guernica (2019.)
“Sovereignty Under the Stars” — Reportage on the Thirty Meter Telescope, native Hawaiians and political resistance for Virginia Quarterly Review (2017.)
“Glass House” — Reportage on Boston Mensa, psychometrics and the sociality of intelligence for Five Dials (2014.)
“How Texas Lost the World’s Largest Supercollider” — Reportage on the cancellation of the Superconducting Super Collider, big science and eminent domain (2013.)
Essays & Arguments
“The Dome of Heaven” — Critical essay on John Barth’s nihilism and postmodern turn for The Point (2024.)
“The Ambitions of Ted Chiang’s Science Fiction” — Essay on the appeal of the short stories of Ted Chiang for Washington Examiner (2023.)
“Tryhard” — Essay on the Appalachian writer Naton Leslie, the personal discovery of literature and the publishing industry for Triangle House (2023.)
“No Literalists in Foxholes” — Retrospective essay on The Great War and Modern Memory by Paul Fussell for Washington Examiner (2022.)
“Specialists without Spirit” — Essay on the ‘technical disaster movie,’ science communication and technocracy for The Point (2022.)
“Out There” — Critical essay on conspiracy theories, explaining conspiracy theories and the epistemology of the Internet for Guernica (2022.)
“Grace Under Pressure” — Essay on the Canadian rock trio ‘Rush,’ the dangers of intellectual ambition and suburbia for The Believer (2021.)
“Dubious Gifts” — Essay on obsessive-compulsive disorder, neurodiversity and the anti-psychiatrists for The Point (2020.)
“The Pieces Fit” — Essay on the progressive metal of “Tool,” nihilism and secular spirituality for The Point (2018.)
“The Problem with Science Writing” — Essay on didacticism in science writing and the perils/benefits of encouraging independent readers for Nautilus (2016.)
“Source of Light” — Essay on astronomy and truth for Five Dials (2012.)
“Talking Genomics” — Essay on the dangers of direct-to-consumer genetics for The Scientist (2012.)
“Writers Should Not Fear Jargon” — Essay defending the merits of technical jargon for Nature (2012.)
Interviews
“You Could Look It Up” — Interview with John Koenig, author of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, for Bookforum (2022.)
“William Deresiewicz on Excellent Sheep” — Interview with Deresiewicz about his book Excellent Sheep for Harper’s (2014.)
“The Accidental Universe: The World You Thought You Knew” — Interview with Alan Lightman about The Accidental Universe for Harper’s (2014.)
“A Few Questions for Trevor Quirk” — Interview about astronomy, wonder and knowledge, Given to Five Dials (2012.)
Fiction
“The Numinaut” — Short Story published in Five Dials (2023.)
