Some of my favorite stories

Over my career, I’ve covered politics, health care, immigration and education, with an occasional side essay on parenting. Here you’ll find some of favorites. For my most recent stories, visit my Washington Post author page here.

  • This trail-blazing suburb has tried for 60 years to tackle race. What if trying isn’t enough?

    I went back to my hometown of Shaker Heights to ask the question: What if trying isn't enough?

    The Washington Post

  • With AP test looming, 69 days to see if remote learning can work

    As the pandemic shutters school, a history teacher and his students are pushed to their limit.

    The Washington Post

  • She pushed back her student’s hijab. Was it a mistake or an act of hate?

    Evidence of antisemitism competed against allegations of Islamophobia as an online debate divided this suburban community along racial and religious lines.

    The Washington Post

  • Brooklyn tries to integrate its middle schools

    Sophie and Angel, two sixth-graders, help Brooklyn unravel school segregation.

    The Washington Post

  • City vs. Country: How Where We Live Deepens Political Divides

    The great divide in America is not red vs. blue. It's rural vs. urban.

    The Wall Street Journal

  • Martha’s Vineyard Businesses Test Need for Foreign Workers

    Foreign workers have long powered the economy of Martha’s Vineyard. This year, many needed Plan B.

    The Wall Street Journal

  • A Church of Many Colors

    Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called 11 a.m. Sunday the most segregated hour of the week. That's changing.

    The Wall Street Journal

  • The High Price of Keeping Dad Alive

    Can a young man overcome his family's pain to give his father a precious gift: part of his liver?

    The Wall Street Journal

  • Teaching My Son to Mourn in the Age of Covid

    The little white flag waving in the wind at a national memorial became her headstone. It said my mother had been here, and that she had been loved.

    Romper

  • Life Lessons from a Youth Baseball Coach

    When baseball comes second: “Good coaches are gardeners, and they grow human beings."

    The Wall Street Journal

  • Changing the Subject: Spam Makes Friends Across Continents

    How a "reply all" email chain from hell became something very different.

    The Wall Street Journal

  • Award-Winning Coverage of Organ Transplantaion

    One story in my Livingston Award-winning coverage of organ transplantation: A 13-year-old girl has died and a devastated family is forced to make a choice.

    The Associated Press