Stories
Here is a selection of my long form articles, most of them published in the New Yorker over the last 25 years. The subjects vary widely, but invention, design, music, and money are through lines, and the often fraught relationship between creativity and commerce is the major theme.
Invisible Gold
What a contemporary gold rush looks like. April 24, 1989
The Flash of Genius
The story of Bob Kearns and the epic patent case he and the Ford Motor Company fought over his invention, the intermittent windshield wiper. The article that inspired the film “Flash of Genius,” directed by Marc Abraham and starring Greg Kinnear. January 11, 1993
Tremors in the Hothouse
The invention of the Flavr Savr tomato, an early attempt at genetically modified food. July 19, 1993
E-mail from Bill
A profile of Bill Gates, told through his email. January 10, 1994
My First Flame
What happens when you hit the send button in anger. June 6, 1994
Death of a Giant
Stalking the disappearing giant bluefin tuna. Harper’s, June 1994
Rockin’ in Shangri-la
A portrait of MTV in 1994, thirteen years after it went on the air. October 10, 1994
The Spinach King
The story of Seabrook Farms, my grandfather’s business. February 20, 1995
Feel No Pain
The sport of rowing. July 22, 1996
Why is the Force Still With Us?
The Star Wars phenomenon. January 6, 1997
Big Ben
A profile of musician Ben Kweller at age fourteen. April 7, 1997
Tackling the Competition
How the NFL tries to market its violent sport. August 8, 1997
The Big Sellout
When the artist becomes a suit. October 20, 1997
The Many Lives of David Geffen
A profile of the legendary agent and mogul. February 23, 1998
My Father’s Closet
The wardrobe I did, and didn’t, inherit from Dad. March 16, 1998
Born Slippy
On women’s figure skating. January 12, 1998
The Gathering of the Tribes
Native Americans vs. Preppies at the Lacrosse World Championships. September 7, 1998
Nobrow Culture
Cultural hierarchy in Soho. September 20, 1999
Sleeping With the Baby
Pros and Cons of Cosleeping. November 8, 1999
A Death in the Family
A personal story of ALS. Vogue, June 2000
Selling the Weather
A portrait of the Weather Channel. April 3, 2000
The Invisible Designer
A profile of Helmut Lang. September 18, 2000
The Tree of Me
Genetic testing and the search for ancestors. March 26, 2001
Soldiers and Spice
Nutmeg and the colonial history of Indonesia. August 13, 2001
Plastic Man
A profile of product designer Karim Rashid. September 17, 2001
The Tower Builder
A profile of the structural engineer who built World Trade Towers, Les Robertson, reported shortly after they fell down. November 19, 2001
The Slow Lane
Can Anyone Solve the Problem of Traffic? The short answer is “No.” September 2, 2002
A Samurai in Paris
A profile of fashion writer Suzy Menkes. May 17, 2003
It Came From Hollywood
A profile of Stan Winston, creator of the Terminator, the Alien Queen, and other Hollywood monsters. December 1, 2003
Child’s Play
A profile of toy designer Chuck Hoberman. December 15, 2003
Shoe Dreams
A profile of Todd’s founder Diego Della Valle. May 10, 2004
Marriage of the Century
How my parents met at Grace Kelly’s wedding. Vogue, December 2004
Hands and Eyes
A profile of designers Dolce & Gabbana. March 15, 2005
Roman Rennovation
Architect Richard Meier’s Ara Pacis project, in the heart of Rome. May 2, 2005
Renaissance Pears
One woman’s efforts to preserve Italy’s arboreal history. September 5, 2005
Ruffled Feathers
Scandal and murder in the British Museum of Natural History. May 29, 2006
Game Master
A profile of Will Wriight, the designer of SimCity and the Sims, among other groundbreaking video games. November 6, 2006
Fragmentary Knowledge
The mystery of the Antikythera Mechanism, an ancient mechanical device found at the bottom of the sea. May 14, 2007
Sowing for Apocalypse
The Svalbard Seed Bank. August 27, 2007
American Scrap
The global metal recycling economy. January 14, 2008
Hello, Hal
The long quest for accurate speech recognition. June 23, 2008
Suffering Souls
On psychopaths. November 10, 2008
Don’t Shoot
One man’s formula for fighting inner city homicide. June 22, 2009
The Price of the Ticket
How ticket scalping became legitimate. August 10, 2009
The Abstractionist
A profile of architect Zaha Hadid. December 21, 2009
Water Music
The man who designed the fountains at the Bellagio Hotel. January 18, 2010
The Last Babylift
On adopting a child from Haiti. May 10, 2010
How to Make It
A profile of James Dyson, the inventor of the Dyson bagless vacuum. September 22, 2010
Crush Point
The physics of fatal crowd stampedes. February 7, 2011
Snacks for a Fat Planet
PepsiCo’s efforts to make healthier snacks. May 16, 2011
Crunch
Engineering the perfect apple. November 21, 2011
Streaming Dreams
The short but eventful history of YouTube. January 16, 2012
The Geek of Chic
A profile of Federico Marchetti, the found of Yoox. September 10, 2012
Network Insecurity
Why cyber security is so difficult to achieve. May 20, 2013
The Beach Builders
The debate over beach renourishment in the age of rising sea levels. July 22, 2013