Will the U.A.W. Strike Turn the Rust Belt Green?
Co-published with The New Yorker. A historic walkout against the Big Three automakers could shape the trajectory of one of America’s most politically salient regions.
How the Rail Industry Has Put Profits Over People for Decades
Co-published with Prism. Four months after the Norfolk Southern East Palestine train derailment, workers and citizens fight against the toxicity of an industry that has cut corners at every turn.
Evicted, Homeless, And Working Full-Time
Co-published with Defector. As a full-time worker, as well as a single mom responsible for three children, Nieshea Walker still can’t afford the average market-rate rental apartment in Cincinnati.
The Silent Epidemic Affecting Generation Z
Co-published with Esquire. There are at least three million caregivers under age twenty-five in America. The burdens they face are unprecedented. Their resolve is our only hope.
Never-Ending Sentences
Co-published with The Believer. A striking series of documentary poems about ex-offenders and their struggle to find housing after prison in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Making of ‘an Ardent Trump Supporter’ in Youngstown
Co-published with The Daily Beast. These voters were made—not born. The way to change that may be a contemporary New Deal to support “laboratories” to restore American greatness and a fair deal for workers.
The Last Stand in Lordstown
Co-published with The New Republic. With General Motors workers on strike since mid-September, a labor union in Ohio votes on a controversial contract.
The Road Not Taken
Co-published with The New Republic. The shuttering of the GM works in Lordstown will also bury a lost chapter in the fight for workers’ control.
Class Dismissed
Co-published with Longreads. When she attends an elite private college on scholarship, Alison Stine discovers that education isn’t quite the equalizer she expected it to be.
My Small Town is Being Poisoned by Fracking Waste
Co-published with The Guardian. In a tiny south-eastern Ohio town in the Appalachian foothills, the Hazel Ginsburg Well is holding waste from out-of-state fracking operations – a sludge of toxic chemicals and undrinkable water.
Trump’s Job Promises Won’t Help Struggling Coal Counties
Co-published with Reuters. Appalachia needs a new chance to do what it does best: make it work.
Graffiti Taught Me Grit
Co-published with Lenny Letter. How becoming a single mom in a depressed town helped one woman let go of perfection.