Essays & Criticism
By making a provocative argument about a book, film, or cultural trend, I hope to help readers reach a deeper understanding of our ever accelerating world.
Featured Articles
The Baffler, March 2026
“The crisis of the salt lakes has much to do with the fact that their flora and fauna aren’t charismatic—not in the botanical or zoological sense of the word, at least, and probably not familiarly, either. Brine shrimp, alkali flies, phalaropes, and eared grebes don’t appear on postage stamps or sell well as stuffies at the zoo. Nevertheless, it is through developing an appreciation for the intrinsic weirdness of these creatures, from how alkali flies have evolved to birth in “a bubble made of amino acids” to the polyandry of female phalaropes, that Caroline Tracey begins to understand her own experience more clearly, the unconventional nature of salt lake ecosystems opening her eyes to her own queerness.”
Troubled Salt Waters
The Nation, August 2025
“For a time, El Paso was the ‘Queen City of the Southwest,’ a bustling industrial center where Hollywood stars passing through on the Union Pacific would lay over in the first Hilton Hotel, many walking across the nearby bridge for a taste of nightlife in Mexican El Paso, now renamed in honor of the liberal reformer Benito Juárez. Today’s city fails to conjure up a similar sense of glamour. Though still an important trade hub, the city is among the poorest of its size in the country, its only economic lifeline the massive Fort Bliss, a military complex that accounts for roughly one out of every three jobs there. Most disturbingly, the Rio Grande is no longer a point of connection between peoples but instead a concrete ditch walled off by concertina wire.”
The Story of America Can Be Found on the Banks of the Rio Grande
Mountain Time is the Best Time Zone in America
New York Times Magazine, August 2020
“Rural grandeur is all that comes to mind when most outsiders think of the Mountain West. For the rest of the country, the fact that people actually live there seems somewhat inexplicable — especially when they find themselves in the improbable position of placing a call to Denver or Salt Lake City. ‘Wait,’ these coastal suits are forced to ask their assistants, ‘what time is it there again?’”
New York Times, August 2021
“Going to a National Park in 2021 doesn’t mean losing yourself in nature. It means inching along behind a long line of minivans and R.V.s on the way to an already full parking lot.”
Give the People What They Clearly Need: More National Parks
More Clips
“The Rise and Fall of the Marvel Cinematic Universe,” The Nation, July 2024
“Hanging in the Balance Sheets,” The Baffler, August 2023
“The New York Times Book Review at a Crossroads,” The Nation, April 2022
“Princes of Infinite Space,” The Baffler, January 2022
“The Alternatives to Instagram-Ready Desert Art,” High Country News, February 2021
“The Short Story Priesthood,” The Baffler, March 2021
“News of Life,” The Believer, October 2020
“Dinner with Schmucks,” The Baffler, March 2020
“This Website Was Free,” Real Life, February 2020
“Sinking In,” The Nation, September 2019