Selected projects
State, a Los Angeles-based news
analysis nonprofit meant to fill
the void created by the retreat of
the Los Angeles Times’ Opinion
section.
project featuring videos and essays
from L.A. Times readers who survived
the Holocaust, asking them to share
their concerns about the state of
American democracy in 2022.
classrooms around Los Angeles asking
students to give video interviews and
contribute letters for a project
focusing on a graduating high school
class shaped by COVID isolation.
Selected essays, commentary and reporting
Can any American parent honestly say school massacres are ‘unimaginable’?
Los Angeles Times
Published May 26, 2022
In this essay, I react as the parent of 4th-grade children to the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
Those ‘Neighbors First’ mailers are just another clunky astroturf campaign
Golden State
Published April 21, 2026
A reported commentary piece on a dark-money group’s astroturf campaign against against a progressive L.A. City Council member.
San Francisco Chronicle
Published April 21, 2026
An L.A. Times managing editor called this a “masterpiece”: an op-ed on my takeaways from reading a million letters to the editor over the years.
My grandfather’s teacher, murdered for resisting Nazis, has lessons for Americans today
Los Angeles Times
Published Oct. 26, 2024
Before the 2024 election, I wrote an essay based on hard-to-find records on the torture and murder of my Norwegian grandfather’s teacher.
Does the Forest Service hate the San Gabriel Mountains?
Golden State
Published Sept. 26, 2025
In 2025, the U.S. Forest Service hastily reopened hiking trails and other areas near Los Angeles that had burned in a major fire less than a year earlier. I explored the potential consequences.
Altadena calls BS on fire report. For good reason
Golden State
Published Oct. 3, 2025
L.A. County’s after-action report on its Eaton fire response failed to address key questions on emergency alerts. I asked Altadena residents and a local California senator how state officials should respond.
A good death on hospice for my mom after the horror of brain cancer
Los Angeles Times
Published Aug. 19, 2023
I spoke with palliative care experts about end-of-life options in the wake of my mother’s sudden illness and death from brain cancer.
Selected videos and interviews
Los Angeles Times
Posted Sept. 24, 2021
L.A. Times Studios produced this video to kick off our “Hear Me Out” series focusing on the newspaper’s letters writer. I was featured discussing some of the peculiarities of reading hundreds of submissions every week, whittling it all down to publishable material.
Los Angeles Times
Posted Feb. 7, 2025
In this videos I co-executive produced with L.A. Times Studios, I read several of the letters sent from around the world to the newspaper expressing solidarity with survivors of the January 2025 Los Angeles fires.
Golden State
Posted Jan. 26, 2026
Shot, edited and reported solely by me using an iPhone, basic sound equipment and free software, this video explored the overuse and trashing of the vast high country in the San Gabriel Mountains just north of Los Angeles.
Golden State
Posted Feb. 26, 2025
Also shot, edited and reported solely by me, this video explored congestion as Los Angeles International Airports and the efforts over the years that have tried, and failed, to fix the problem. It was a follow-up to my earlier essay, “Congestion pricing can save LAX – and the rest of L.A. too.”
Golden State
Posted March 26, 2026
This interview with former Biden administration official Ann Carlson ran in conjunction with my review of her book, “Smog and Sunshine: The Surprising Story of How Los Angeles Cleaned Up Its Air.“