[some stuff i wrote]
[essays / book reviews]
No, Raising the Minimum Wage Does Not Hurt Fast-Food Workers
Jacobin / October 25, 2024
Caught Employing Slaves, McDonald's Promises to Do Better
Jacobin / October 5, 2024
Untangling the Roots of Empire
Africa is a Country / May 3, 2024
Africa is a Country + The Elephant / June 22, 2023
'Freakonomics' Was Neoliberal Bullshit
Current Affairs / June 16, 2023
Delivering Restaurants to Wall Street
Compact Magazine / January 31, 2023
The Conversationalist / December 23, 2022
Globalised food systems are making hunger worse
Al Jazeera English / December 16, 2022
The Wartime Roots of the Global Fast Food Boom
The Conversationalist / September 1, 2022
What's the matter with private equity in Africa?
Africa is a Country / June 10, 2022
Africa is a Country + The Elephant / June 1, 2022
What's good for investors isn't good for Africa
Africa is a Country / May 30, 2022
Who Actually Owns Corporations, Anyway?
Current Affairs / December 13, 2021
The new US nutrition aid strategy undermines Africa's hungriest
Al Jazeera English / December 10, 2021
Probing the depths of the CIA's misdeeds in Africa
Africa is a Country + Jacobin / October 15, 2021
African agriculture without African farmers
Al Jazeera English / October 9, 2021
Current Affairs / June 8, 2021
Pariah nations and the illusion of isolation
Current Affairs / May 9, 2021
The true story of the Rwandan genocide
Current Affairs / March 30, 2021
What fast food tells us about the world
Current Affairs / January 25, 2021
Structural adjustment comes home
Africa is a Country / September 10, 2020
The blankest spot on Trump's world map
Africa is a Country + Jacobin / June 26, 2020
John Bolton's African power play
Africa is a Country / December 21, 2018
Why Western donors love authoritarian leaders
Africa is a Country / December 20, 2018
How the fast-food industry courted African American customers
The Washington Post / June 11, 2018
When Melania Trump went to Africa
Africa is a Country / May 5, 2018
Constructing markets for value chains: for whose benefit?
European Centre for Development Policy Management / January 5, 2014
[long investigations]
In Fast Food, Worker Stress Is the Business Model
Jacobin + The Economic Hardship Reporting Project / August 2, 2024
A dispatch after working at a McDonald's for six weeks.
Revealed: How Development Banks Underwrote Fast Food's Global Takeover
DeSmog / April 19, 2024
From South Africa to Ukraine, five industrial chicken companies that supply KFC have benefited from financing from the World Bank Group and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
How the State Created Fast Food
Current Affairs / January 25, 2022
At every turn, governments have aided the globalization of fast food. It's why fast food is a metaphor for our times, the perfect encapsulation of the neoliberal era.
After 30 years and 15 billion dollars, polio is almost completely eradicated. How? (Dutch)
De Correspondent / December 17, 2017
With Robert Fortner, a (critical) look at how polio became the single biggest priority in global health, against the objections of many. In a twist of fate, this one was only published in a language I don't understand, but it's readable with Google Translate.
Orb / November 23, 2015
A look at how the meat boom in China inspired an environmental catastrophe in Central Brazil. We also published a version in Portuguese.
Orb / November 23, 2015
A look at how Filipino immigrants with children have fared in two European countries. Reported on three continents, the multimedia version, which I co-reported with Pierre Kattar, took first place in the White House News Photographers' Association Eyes of History multimedia contest.
[short investigations]
The Proxy Fast Food War
The Conversationalist / October 1, 2024
What Kamala Harris' Rhetoric about McDonald's Reveals About Americans' Shifting Views on Poverty
TIME Made by History + The Economic Hardship Reporting Project / September 24, 2024
Raise Wages? No Need — McDonald’s Is Hiring Inmates Instead
Jacobin / September 17, 2024
The Politics of Tax-Free Tips
Compact Magazine / August 29, 2024
Fast Food's Automation Problem
The Progressive / August 16, 2024
Is an Ethical Fast Food Chain Possible?
The Conversationalist / July 18, 2024
Revealed: How Big Dairy Is Milking Net Zero
DeSmog / September 15, 2023
As Gavin Newsom Builds His National Brand, Will He Leave California Workers Behind?
The New Republic / August 31, 2022
The Fast Food Industry Runs on Wage Theft
The New Republic / May 26, 2022
The Fight for $15 Is Moving Beyond the Minimum Wage With a Bold New Idea
The New Republic / January 24, 2022
Liberians explain why the Ebola crisis is way worse than you think
Mother Jones / September 24, 2014
Why the World Health Organization doesn't have enough funds to fight Ebola
Mother Jones / September 8, 2014
Walmart sets its sights on Africa - with Uncle Sam's help
Mother Jones / August 7, 2014
It takes how much water to grow an almond?!
Mother Jones + Grist / February 24, 2014
The Gates Foundation's Hypocritical Investments
Mother Jones + Grist / December 6, 2013
Why is the Obama administration suddenly so interested in African farms?
Mother Jones / June 28, 2013