I write about travel, history, culture and other fun stuff.

Here are a few (relatively) recent pieces I’ve written:

This U.S. governor was impeached—for cracking down on a white supremacist insurrection,” for National Geographic.

A Century Ago, Einstein’s First Trip to the U.S. Ended in a PR Disaster,” for Discover.

How The Courier draws on the fascinating life—and whopping lies—of one of the U.K.’s most famous intelligence agents,” for Smithsonian.

I wrote a New York Times bestseller about New York City and Santa Claus—now out in paperback. It recently inspired the 6-part “My Dear Santa” true crime miniseries from Brian Earl’s Christmas Past podcast and one of the coolest Christmas albums you’ve ever heard from the Bushwick Book Club. I also wrote a book about how Christmas is celebrated around the world.

I wrote another book about how to be happier. And a few other fun ones.