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[some stuff i wrote]

[essays / book reviews] 

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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

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Untangling the Roots of Empire

Africa is a Country / May 3, 2024


 

Pat Robertson's Africa

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


 

In Defense of Slow Rail

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


 

A crop that changed the world

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


 

9/11: the novel

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

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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 

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[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.



 

Where the grass is greener

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.



 

Excess baggage

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.

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[short investigations]

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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

 
 
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