Selected Nonfiction
The New York Times Magazine | “The Lives They Lived: Tioni Theus,” reported feature, December 2022
The New York Times Magazine | “Mary J. Blige on the Beauty of Vulnerability,” an interview with the artist, March 2022
T, The New York Times Style Magazine | “In Senegal, a Return to Homegrown Rice,” a reported travel feature, November 2021
The New York Times Magazine | “Mickalene Thomas is Reinventing Nudes,” a profile of the artist, October 2021
The New York Times Magazine | “25 Songs That Matter Now: '10%’ by Kaytranada,” March 2020
The New Yorker | “The Difficulty of Being a Cultural Ambassador in 2020,” January 2020
The New York Times | “After Hurricane Katrina, How Do You Return Home When Home No Longer Exists?”: a review of The Yellow House, by Sarah M. Broom, August 2019
The New York Times Magazine | “The Top 25 Songs That Matter Right Now: A No No by Mariah Carey,” March 2019
The New York Times Magazine | “Heart Doctor;” a profile of the director Barry Jenkins, October 2018
The New York Times Magazine | "25 Songs That Tell Us Where Music Is Going: Mans Not Hot by Big Shaq," March 2018
The New York Times | "How Langston Hughes Brought His Radical Vision to the Novel," January 2018
Spook Magazine | “A Proper Missive,” coauthored with Justin Torres. Winter 2017
The New York Times Magazine | "Letter of Recommendation: Mohsin Hamid's Exit West," October 2017
The New York Times Magazine | "25 Songs That Tell Us Where Music Is Going: F.U.B.U. by Solange," February 2017
The New York Times | "What Does It Mean to Acknowledge the Past?" January 2017
Freeman's Journal | "What We Found," Fall 2016
O, The Oprah Magazine | "Bright Lights, Broke City": a review of Imbolo Mbue's Behold the Dreamers, September 2016
The Nation | "Brand Yeezy," August 2016
The New York Times | "Railroaded": a review of Charlie Smith's Ginny Call, February 2016
Spook Magazine | "Take the 10," Winter 2015
The Los Angeles Times | "Watts 1965: Riot or Revolt?" August 2015
Literary Hub | “Keyword Search: ‘Ferguson’ and ‘Mike Brown,’” August 2015
The New York Times | "Detroit's Recovery, and My Dad's Too," May 2015
Literary Hub | "When Black Neighborhoods Disappear," April 2015
Los Angeles Review of Books | "Committed": a review of Cynthia Bond's Ruby, October 2014
The Huffington Post | "On Dialect, Dialogue and Good Books," September 2011