(A selection of recent work)

“Big Pharma’s Monkey Business,” Fortune, Feb/March 2024

A crackdown on macaque smuggling has disrupted a vital drug development supply chain. Inside the high-stakes battle over the future of American medical innovation, and the primate species it depends upon.

“If you think drug addiction isn’t a problem in your workplace, you’re wrong,” Fortune, Aug/Sept 2023

A piece on the “recovery-friendly workplace” movement, a hopeful, surprising, bipartisan effort to revolutionize the way American businesses approach issues of substance-use disorder in the workforce. Winner of a National Headliner Award, 2024.

“Private equity is the biggest player in a booming autism-therapy industry. Some therapists say the ‘money grab’ is hurting the quality of care,” Fortune, July 2022

Investigation of private equity’s impact on the fast-growing autism services industry. Winner of a Front Page Award, 2022.

“Hawkeye Elegy,” Fortune, Feb/March 2021

An essayistic look at the colliding disasters—extreme weather, the pandemic, increasing political polarization—that hit my home state of Iowa in 2020: “It’s not fair to reduce Iowa’s very real disasters to symbol, but on Aug. 10, with its flattened fields and exploded barns, Iowa looked like America felt.” Recognized with an Honorable Mention, SABEW Feature Writing 2021.

“Epidemic of Fear,” Fortune, Dec. 2019

French pharma giant Sanofi believed its dengue fever vaccine would defeat an insidious illness. But the drug’s tragic and trouble-ridden debut in the Philippines has undermined it — and sparked panic about vaccinations that could have dire consequences. Winner of the WERT Global Prize and a finalist for a National Magazine Award, 2020, among other honors. Anthologized in The Best American Magazine Writing, 2020.

“Death by 1000 Clicks: Where Electronic Health Records Went Wrong,” Fortune/KHN, April/May 2019

The U.S. government claimed that turning American medical charts into electronic records would make health care better, safer and cheaper. Ten years and $36 billion later, the system is an unholy mess. Inside a digital revolution that took a bad turn. Winner of a Loeb Award, 2020, among other honors.

“Hot Mess: Nestle’s Half-Billion Dollar Noodle Debacle,” Fortune, May 2016

Nestlé spent three decades building a beloved noodle brand in India. Then the world’s biggest food and beverage company stumbled into a public relations debacle that cost it half a billion dollars. A cautionary tale of mangled crisis management on an epic scale. Winner of a SABEW Award for International reporting and a finalist for a Loeb Award, 2016.

“Cleavers at Ten Paces,” Fortune, March 2015

The crazy, bitter battle over Benihana. Winner of a Sigma Delta Chi Award for feature writing, 2015.