Select Journalism

The Ark Proves Sci-Fi Doesn’t Have to Be So Serious

Polygon | Sept. 2024

The Ark fills a void in the current landscape of on-screen science fiction and harkens back to a time when the genre wasn’t afraid to laugh at itself.

Dune and Climate Fiction: Lost in Translation

Sierra Magazine | March 2024

In print spring 2024

Frank Herbert’s Dune is a work of climate fiction. So why have filmmakers struggled to make the eco-plot clearer?

This Oscars Category Has a ‘Jewface’ Problem

The Daily Beast | Jan. 2024

Why does the Academy keep recognizing such blatantly offensive makeup and hairstyling choices?

What to Remember From Adventure Time’s Finale Before Watching Fionna and Cake

Polygon | Aug. 2023

Where did the original show leave off? And what should folks know before jumping into the new series?

Pregnancy Test Before Surgery: What to Know About Consent and Your Rights

Teen Vogue | May 2023

What are the repercussions of medical facilities having records of patients’ pregnancy tests in states where abortion is illegal?

The Crown Courts Controversy as It Approaches Real Tragedy

Polygon | Nov. 2022

The Crown still offers moments of greatness, but some of the shine has worn off as it pushes up against the present day.

Rhaenyra and Alicent Are House of the Dragon’s Most Compelling But Underserved Relationship

Polygon | Oct. 2022

Alicent and Rhaenyra have few scenes together, making the reasons for their falling-out-turned-civil-war maddeningly unclear.

Ramin Djawadi Is Living Out His Dreams

Bustle | Sept. 2022

I interviewed Ramin Djawadi, composer for House of the Dragon, Game of Thrones, Westworld, and more.

20 Years Ago, Disney’s Most Chaotic Sci-Fi Experiment Ever Paid Off

Inverse | June 2022

Beneath its absurdity, Lilo & Stitch captures what it feels like to yearn for belonging.

Is Bradley Cooper’s Prosthetic Nose in Maestro Really Necessary?

Hey Alma | June 2022

Ethnicity is not a costume, not something to be conjured out of latex.

The Quietly Radical New Amazon Show About Stranded Teens

Slate | May 2022

The Wilds is campy and fun — and blows up the gender binary.

The Wheel of Time Isn’t “the New Game of Thrones.” It’s Better.

Slate | Nov. 2021

Wheel of Time is banking on the idea that shock value isn’t the only way to make people pay attention.

Superheroines and the Monstrous Feminine

Inverse | Oct. 2021

Curated for Inverse’s special superhero issue by Roxane Gay

Until recently, there hasn’t been space for superheroines to transform into anything but glamazons. Monster girls are flipping the script.

The First Note in the Lord of the Rings Score Has an Ancient History

Polygon | August 2021

Featured in the Insight Editions print anthology: Year of the Ring

I talk to musicologist and Lord of the Rings score expert Doug Adams and others about the first instrument heard in Fellowship: the monochord.

The Anti-Fascist Bedknobs and Broomsticks Deserves Its Golden Jubilee

Observer | Aug. 2021

Angela Lansbury's zany feature is just as enchanting as it was in 1971 and more radical than some may remember.

Inner Demons: Physical Presents a Darker Underdog Story

Bitch Media | June 2021

With stellar performances and a vicious script, the show doesn’t pull any punches.

Cruella Is an Irredeemable Villain—and Disney Should Keep Her That Way

Bitch Media | June 2021

Bad behavior doesn’t become feminist simply because a woman is the perpetrator.

The World Doesn’t Need Another Captain America

Slate | April 2021

To many, an agent of the state can never be a true symbol of justice.

Lil Nas X’s “Montero” Is the Latest in Red-Hot, Sexy, Queer Satanic Panic

Observer | April 2021

These villains are iconic, unhinged, and queer-coded.

Netflix’s Hilda Gives Us the Animated Youth Activist Hero of Our Dreams

Mic | March 2021

In Hilda’s second season, the stakes are higher, the animation is more breathtaking, and, in 2021, the show’s environmentalist themes strike a chord.

The Expanse Team Unpacks Its Abuse Storylines in Season 5

Observer | March 2021

I talked to James S.A. Corey, the pseudonymous co-authors of The Expanse, and Dominique Tipper, who portrays Naomi Nagata, about the show’s arcs about abuse in season five.

In the World of WandaVision, It’s Been Grief All Along

Bitch Media | March 2021

What is WandaVision, if not a show about grief?

Nonprofit Workers, Unionize!

Current Affairs | March 2021

Nonprofit workers need not sacrifice a living wage, work-life balance, and sufficient benefits in service of the “greater good.”

Give Power to the People Most Affected by Climate Change

The Progressive | Feb. 2021

Revolutionary Power promotes what Shalanda H. Baker calls a “justice first” approach to averting climate disaster.

Wonder Woman 1984 Replaces Girl Power with Empty Platitudes

Bitch Media | Dec. 2020

Though it tries, Wonder Woman 1984 struggles to speak to this moment and deliver a coherent message.

My Therapist Says “Yes, And”

Elemental | Nov. 2020

“Yes, and” has forced me to challenge my black and white thinking and the overpowering desire to have the answer.

The New Adventure Time Special Is the Scary, Sad, Sweet Payoff that Fans Demanded

Polygon | Nov. 2020

The episode’s writers make it very clear that the romantic subtext between Princess Bubblegum and Marceline has always been straight-up text.

RHONY Illuminates the Class Divide in America

Bitch Media | Sept. 2020

Ask Bravo aficionados which iteration of The Real Housewives is best, and most will tell you, “New York.”

The Legend of Korra’s Provocative Villain Zaheer Raises Questions of the Moment

Polygon | Sept. 2020

The show’s villain and his quest to free the world of monarchs, nations, and borders are ultimately righteous.

Reveal Everyone’s Pay

The Boston Globe | Aug. 2020

In print August 30, 2020

Publish all salaries. If employers are adamant that their current pay practices are fair, what’s to fear?

How to Spot Nature from Lockdown

The Guardian | June 2020

The pandemic gives us a unique opportunity to challenge our collective perception of what counts as nature.

Depicting the Truth of Painful Sex on Television

PULP Magazine | June 2020

Chosen by Medium as a featured story

Painful sex is common, but it’s not often depicted in the media we consume. Six women talk about their experiences.

Little Fires Everywhere Illuminates Racial Tension in Female Friendships

Bitch Media | April 2020

Though the series has its missteps, lacking the novel’s gentle nuance and oscillating in tone between “soap opera” and “intro to women’s studies course,” it sometimes succeeds.

Interview with Sarah Blake

Jewish Women’s Archive | April 2020

I interviewed author Sarah Blake about her feminist retelling of the biblical story of the great flood, Naamah.

In Birds of Prey, Harley Quinn Is Free of Joker and Sexist Branding

Bitch Media | Feb. 2020

To naysayers and cynics, I say: Watching Margot Robbie beat up very bad men™️ while wearing roller skates as Heart’s “Barracuda” blares in the background is good.

Enya: Icon of Radical Softness

The Conversationalist | Feb. 2020

When I listen to Enya, I hear the sound of a woman in control, undaunted by those who underestimate her.

An American Tail Still Resonates

VICE | Nov. 2019

I talk to director, producer, and animator Don Bluth and the voice of Fievel, Phillip Glasser, about the film’s relevance today.

The Radical Family that Inspired Little Women

Electric Literature | Oct. 2019

May Little Women provide us a much-needed escape from devastating news cycles, and the memory of Louisa May Alcott and her radical family inspire us to action.

How Stranger Things Turned Jim Hopper into an Abuser

Bitch Media | July 2019

Bitch Media’s most-read story of 2019

This unwitting misrepresentation of toxic masculinity as normal behavior suggests that the showrunners don’t always know abuse when they see or write it.

The Left Hand of Darkness Is the Anti-Nationalist Book We Need Right Now

Electric Literature | April 2019

The novel acts as a warning against xenophobia and a call for radical collaboration — powerful and timely messages today.

Apostle of the Cacti: How Minerva Hamilton Hoyt Saved the Desert

Bitch Media | March 2019

Minerva Hamilton Hoyt weaponized garden clubs and women’s organizations to save millions of acres of wilderness.

Interview with Dara Horn

Jewish Women’s Archive | Dec. 2018

I interviewed award-winning author Dara Horn about her 2018 novel, Eternal Life.

The Fashion of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before

Jewish Women’s Archive | Oct. 2018

I interviewed costume designer Rafaella Rabinovich about her work on Netflix’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.