Years ago, my wife & best friend told me this would happen and I told them, stridently and at length, that it was completely and laughably beyond the realms of possibility. So: @lizneeley and @beck_smith are always right, and also I will *never* live this down.
Reporting on the pandemic was the most fulfilling &difficult challenge of my professional life. I did my best to give our readers a stable platform from which to make sense of a crisis that defied sense. I’m sad these stories were ever necessary but I hope they made a difference.
.@lizneeley kept me afloat through all of it. Her ferocious intellect, boundless empathy, and ability to maintain optimism while facing cold reality, are all part of the DNA of my work. I love you, Liz. You’re my whole, my hope, my home.
I count around 300 sources who took time to share their expertise with me during a year when we all had little time to spare. I learned SO MUCH from you all and I’m grateful to you for helping our readers.
My thanks to the Pulitzer board and jurors (I’ve been a juror and dear lord is it a LOT of work; you have to read dozens of sets of massive features and when you open an entry and it’s only one 8000 word article, you cry with relief.)
I could not have done this without the amazing people at the Atlantic, who collectively created an environment where award-winning work was possible. It really takes a village, and in recognition of that...
I’ll be splitting the prize money between everyone who worked on my pieces last year—every editor, copy editor, fact checker, artist, and more. Even when individuals win Pulitzers, their work depends on a community. I want to honor mine.
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🚨I wrote about how individualism is still sabotaging the pandemic response, and how it has been accentuated by vaccinations & the CDC’s recent guidance. Our collective problem still exists & has been even more heavily shifted onto the most vulnerable. 1/ theatlantic.com/health/archive…
The CDC director told the nation: "Your health is in your hands." An odd statement from a leader in public health—a field that, more than any other, should know that one’s health is never fully in one’s hands, *especially not in a pandemic*. 2/
Part 1 looks at why vaccines reduce but don’t solve the pandemic’s collective problem. Inequities in access, the variants, & individualistic attitudes all shunt that problem onto the unvaccinated 48%. 3/
Today, the workers of The Atlantic are unionizing.
The Atlantic has treated and compensated me extremely well, and I’m joining @theatlunion in solidarity, to ensure that ALL of my amazing colleagues can say the same. We are stronger together.
Back to writing about the pandemic. I wrote about how the US might react to the traumas of the last 14 months in the quiet moments after adrenaline fades.
It's about what happens when you can finally exhale, but the breaths come out as sighs. 1/
I spoke to people who study trauma & work with communities post-disasters. They told me these moments can be unexpectedly tough. If you’ve been swimming furiously for a year, you don’t expect to finally reach dry land and feel like you’re drowning. 2/
The timeframe for recovering from disasters is long, and often exceed the lifespan of human compassion and attention. I think it's worth thinking now about people who'll be left behind as the nation heads towards a brighter summer. 3/ theatlantic.com/health/archive…
What an honor. HUGE thanks to my editors @slaskow@andersen & @thebanderson; @PaulBisceglio for leading our pandemic coverage; our fact-checkers & copy-editors; & the Atlantic's entire sci/tech/health team for constant inspiration. Truly couldn't have done it without you all
Also it is so thrilling to see some of the best being recognized for their incredible work last year. This, for example, makes me very, very happy. "Polk Award-winner @HelenBranswell" has a great ring to it. Congrats, Helen. You set the standard.
Hello! I'm briefly resurfacing from a glorious Twitter hiatus (to accompany an equally glorious book leave) to plug a few things.
First, I'm really proud to announce that I am guest-editing the next edition of the Best American Science and Nature Writing anthology, out in Oct. The choices are done, and it was hard to narrow them down, but I'm very happy with the selection. hmhbooks.com/shop/books/the…
The Atlantic launched a wonderful new podcast called The Experiment. Huge congrats to @hooliwho, @katlwells, @AMelathe, & the rest of the team. The first ep features a cameo by me, throwing shade at amendments. theatlantic.com/podcasts/exper…
I’m stepping away from pandemic reporting for a few months to finish the book I paused in March. This year has been the most professionally meaningful of my life, but it has also shredded me. It’s been months of continually staring straight into the sun, and I need to blink. 1/
It says something about this year that the prospect of finishing a book now feels like a radical act of self-care. Book-writing: a famously relaxing and restorative activity! A “break”! 😬😬2/
A necessary decision, but not an easy one: Obviously the pandemic is still going on, and will be for some time. I’ll be back in the spring to cover it.
In the meantime, here’s my look at 2021, what it will likely bring & the lessons we need to learn. 3/