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Latest Work
For The Washington Post, I visited the home and ecological sanctuary of poet laureate W.S. Merwin on Maui.
For Slate’s Fast Food Week, I counted all the sad ways that Canadian McDonald’s surpass American ones.
For The Atlantic, I covered how food delivery apps have taken over the restaurant industry.
For The Atlantic, I wrote about the rise of 15-minute groceries and history of fast delivery in the U.S. across the decades.
Over at WIRED, I wrote about the unholy union between Uber and taxi cabs and the trouble with disruption culture.
For Vox’s truly wonderful Best Money I Ever Spent series, I wrote about the surreal joys of surveilling a stranger’s purchases.
For The Atlantic, I wrote about the rise of online sports betting and the experience of falling into a digital gambling vortex.
For The Washington Post, I wrote about the 50th birthday of the Egg McMuffin and the decline of American entrepreneurship.
I wrote about the myth surrounding pandemic unemployment benefits and labor force participation for The Washington Post.
Here’s a deep dive I wrote for Marker on the eerie, wild rise of ghost kitchens during the pandemic.
For Marker, I dove into Japan’s konbini culture and the future of 7-Elevens and convenience stores.
Latest News
I had a long chat on NPR 1A with Todd Zwillich about AI and technology in the service industry.
I popped in on The Today Show to talk about the post-pandemic popularity of drive-thrus.
I talked with Steve Inskeep on NPR Morning Edition about McDonald’s corporate layoffs and the broader economic landscape.
Season 4 of The Food That Built America is now airing! Check me out across a handful of episodes here.
I joined Boston Public Radio to talk about my work on the gig economy, Uber, and the impact of tech disruption.
Catch me talking business and convenience culture in the new History Channel series The Fast History Of... Now streaming here.
I joined Nuala McGovern at BBC Context to talk about the Super Bowl and the online sports gambling trend.
I’m talking fast food and 1980s trends on the reboot of the National Geographic’s The ‘80s. (Now streaming on Disney+.)
I joined Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street podcast to talk about the sad tale of defunct fast-food chains.
I appeared on The History Channel’s latest season of Modern Marvels. Check it out here!
I talked about the good and bad of fast food with Dr. Marcia Chatelain on Ed Levine’s Special Sauce podcast.
Dr. Marcia Chatelain and I discussed the fast-food franchises that disappeared for the America’s Test Kitchen podcast Proof.
I spoke with Tracy Smith for CBS Sunday Morning about drive-thru culture in the time of coronavirus.
I joined the Gastropod podcast to talk about how McDonald’s became a juggernaut and fast food’s unlikely place in civil rights movement.
Drive-Thru Dreams made NPR’s list of favorite books.
Smithsonian Magazine picked Drive-Thru Dreams as one of the best food books of the year.
Amazon named Drive-Thru Dreams a Best Book of the Year.
Sarah Gonzalez and I talked about the history, technology, and future of french fries for NPR’s Planet Money.
I joined the legendary Ed Levine for the Serious Eats podcast Special Sauce to talk food and writing. Part I | Part II
The great Houston Matters had me on to discuss the cult of Whataburger and America’s affection for fast food.
I drove around with Derrick Shore of KPRC’s Houston Life and visited Whataburger, Taco Bell, and McDonald’s.
I joined NPR/KCUR’s Central Standard to chat Kansas history and how White Castle transformed the hamburger into the national meal.
Louisa Torres of NPR’s The Salt and I discussed the intricacies and complexities of America’s relationship with fast food.
Drive-Thru Dreams has been selected as one of the 10 Best Books of the Month by Amazon Book Review.
I joined NPR/KBUR’s On Point to talk Drive-Thru Dreams, American mobility, fast-food history, and Taco Bell.
Kate Bernot and I caught up about the culture and criticism of fast food for The Takeout.
Over at Vox, Rachel Sugar and I discussed how fast food explains national divides and offers unlikely meeting places.
I also talked about Drive-Thru Dreams and American history with Anna Diamond over at The Smithsonian.
Just ahead of its release, Drive-Thru Dreams was named a
Publishers Weekly Pick of the Week.