Journalism and editing

Visual arts, tech, books, photography, theatre and classical music are my main beat as a writer, but in 20 years as a journalist I've tackled topics as diverse as why wood is the architecture of the future, how museums tried to capture covid, the world of live coding and “algorave” and the remarkable career of Malian photographer Malick Sidibé (a New York Times front-page story). I have a keen interest in global culture, and an eye for big stories of all kinds.

I’ve profiled and interviewed many major cultural figures, including Marina Abramovic (another NYT front page), Tom Stoppard, Cate Blanchett, Svetlana Alexievich, Grayson Perry, Toby Jones, Kirill Serebrennikov, Cornelia Parker, Ian McEwan and Martin Parr. As well as contributing to outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Financial Times, Prospect magazine, and The New Yorker, I’ve reported from countries including the US, China, Russia, Germany, Japan, India and Belarus. 

I'm also a hugely experienced commissioning editor, and worked most recently on the longform desk at the FT, editing some of the paper’s most impactful Big Reads and visual investigations.

If you’d like to discuss a piece I could write – or commission me! – do get in touch.

 

Long reads and interviews

I love long-format storytelling, and have contributed in-depth reported pieces to the Guardian Long Read section, The New Yorker, the FT Magazine, The New York Times and Prospect magazine, as well as a wealth of other feature-writing.

 

Tom Stoppard Faces his Family’s Past [New Yorker]

I interviewed one of our greatest living playwrights as he prepared to bring his latest – and darkest – play to Broadway. We talked about loss, guilt and why it took him decades to face his family’s history during the Holocaust.

 

The Museum of 2020
[New Yorker]

I shadowed curators at the Smithsonian in Washington DC as they tried to work out what future generations would make of the pandemic and Black Lives Matter – all while attempting to stay afloat.

 

How to Move a Masterpiece [Guardian Long Read]

I spent seven months digging into the secretive world of art handling, finding out how priceless art works travel the globe … and what happens when someone puts a forklift through your Picasso.

 

Features and reporting

In 20 years as a journalist, I’ve covered a huge array of cultural subjects – from how an opera company is helping long covid patients breathe again to the history of Italian design.

 

On Strippers and Revolutionaries [FT Weekend]

In early 2025, I profiled the wonderful documentary photographer Susan Meiselas, who has showcased everyone from striptease artists to victims of conflict.

 

Is the Future of Building … Wooden? [FT Magazine]

A reported feature exploring how timber is redefining architecture. Can an ancient building material really be the way forward?

 

Terrible Beauty [Guardian]

A profile of the remarkable Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky, whose epic, intricate work explores how humans have ravaged the Earth.

 

Editing

I’m a hugely experienced desk editor who’s worked at some of the most prestigious media outlets in the UK.

I spent nine years on staff as a desk editor at The Guardian, commissioning coverage of all kinds and across all platforms – print, digital, video, audio and interactives. I then covered for the deputy editor at Prospect magazine in 2017–18, before spending three years as a freelance senior editor on the FT Magazine and FT Weekend, putting together numerous weekly issues, commissioning special supplements and much more.

Most recently, I was a longform editor on the FT’s Big Read desk (2024–25), editing stories on everything from economics to geopolitics, social trends to science, health and tech.

How we fell out of love with dating apps

I commissioned and edited this FT Big Read on why online dating companies are in crisis, as women and younger users look elsewhere. It was one of our most read stories of 2024.

 

Can the US turn deep-sea mining into reality?

I edited this investigative story on how Donald Trump’s enthusiasm for undersea minerals has encouraged mining companies — even as critics say it will damage the environment and struggle to make money.

 

How extremist West Bank settlers became the law

I co-edited this Visual Investigation, nine months in the making, transforming it from a collage of video, data, geolocation into a tightly reported feature that was published as an FT Big Read in the print edition.