Writing
Most of my writing has fallen into at least two of these categories: current politics, cultural history, LGBT issues, and data. I’m particularly interested in comedy.
Just words
Long words
“Trump Hasn’t Killed Comedy,” a Slate cover story (7/19/2017)
“The Last Jedi Isn’t for the Fans” (1/13/2018)
On Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette as an innovative dead end (7/11/2018)
Medium and short words
“The Michelle Wolf Controversy Exhibits All the Worst Tendencies of Comedy Controversies in the Trump Era” (4/30/2018)
“How a Few Weird, Surrealist Comedians Are Proving That Trump Is Not Actually Immune to Satire” (7/6/2016)
“Colbert’s Gay Trump Joke Was Bad, but #FireColbert Is Worse” (5/3/2017)
“Side Eye: Boys Kissing Boys Who Don’t Actually Like Boys” (1/13/2017, with J. Bryan Lowder)
“Liberals Have Turned Trump Into a Gay Villain Because Our Worst Villains Must Be Gay” (7/10/2017)
“John Kerry’s ‘Lavender Scare’ Apology Obscures the State Department’s Shameful History” (1/10/2017)
“‘I’m Glad That I Don’t Have to Figure Out the Meaning of Life,’” a conversation with the late poet Max Ritvo (10/5/2016, with Josephine Maya Simple)
“The Artist Got Presents: Inside Marina Abramovic’s Very Marina Abramovic-ian 70th Birthday Party” (12/12/2016)
“The Force Awakens Score Is Packed With Hidden Information About the Star Wars Plot” (1/8/2016)
Sex words
“Coronavirus Diaries: I Went to a Sex Party on Zoom” (3/24/2020)
“Coronavirus Diaries: The Guys Are Wild on Grindr Right Now” (3/19/2020)
An essay about my teenage gay awakening (8/21/2018)
Words and math
“Sabbath’s Tweeter,” a statistical analysis of Trump’s Shabbat tweets (2/10/2017)
“‘Will Be Familiar to Many Readers,’” a statistical analysis of Michiko Kakutani’s favorite clichés (8/21/2017)
Humor writing
“Highlights from the Gutenberg Hearings,” a riff on Mark Zuckerberg’s appearance before Congress (4/13/2018)
“More—And Less—Than a Raisin in the Sun,” a theater review of the 2017 eclipse (8/21/2017)
“Chicago West is a Bad Name for a Kardashian Child and I’ll Tell You Why,” a Borgesian perspective (1/19/2018)
“The 66 Things I Am Worried Will Go Wrong for Hillary Clinton in the Debates,” a sad relic (9/26/2016)