Journalism
I’ve written for Slate, The Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, Quartz, Fast Company, The Believer, Cabinet, AIGA Eye on Design, Design Observer and many other publications.
What Your Smell Says
About You
Your body constantly emits information about your diet, emotions, age and health, as well as your suitability as a mate
The Wall Street Journal
How to Cut in Line Without Making Everyone Hate You
How to cut in line: A scientific approach
The Atlantic
“Don’t Sleep” Is a New Manual for Design as Advocacy + the Politics of Now
Oliver Munday on social responsibility as a designer
AIGA Eye on Design
Why Building Something Useful For Others Is The Best Marketing There Is
On the marketing value of side hustles, for Fast Company
Fast Company
The Unlikely Success Of The Great Discontent’s Long-Form Musings On Failure
A Q&A with Ryan and Tina Essmaker, for Fast Company
Fast Company
The End of the “Female-Friendly” Workplace
I interviewed Hanna Rosin about her book The End of Men for Fast Company
Fast Company
You Will Wear Jake Bronstein’s $18 Made-in-the-USA Flint and Tinder Undies, and You Will Love It
Fast Company
Make Room on Your Shelves, Completely Necessary New Food Magazine Cured Has Arrived
It’s all about controlled - yum!
Eye on Design
Reveling in the Untranslatable: On the Beauty and Complexity of the German Language
Literary Hub
VR Still Stinks Because It Doesn’t Smell
Scent is the realest sense. For virtual reality to feel truly immersive, it needs to start stinking it up
WIRED
The Big Money Behind Naming a “Color of the Year”
Pantone isn’t the only company to anoint a “color of the year”
Cabinet Magazine
A History of Wallpaper’s Deception
For centuries, the wall covering has helped people construct new realities inside their homes
The Atlantic
RADIO INTERVIEWS
“Talk Nerdy with Cara Santa Maria”
(2022)
“Forum” with Mina Kim
KQED-FM
(2021)
ABC Radio National’s “Blueprint for Living”
(Australia, 2015)
Making the Most of Microlending
WNYC, Brian Lerner Show
(2007)
Wisconsin Public Radio “Central Time”
(2013, 2014, 2015, 2021)
“CultureShift”
WDET-FM
(2021)
ABC Radio National “Life Matters”
(Australia, 2015)
Slate Culturebox: A ‘Dinner for One’ Tradition
(2005)
“Think”
KERA-FM
(2021)
“Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan”
Radio New Zealand
(2021)
READINGS + SPEAKING EVENTS
Chicago Humanities Festival
(2016)
Wisconsin Book Festival
(2015, 2013, 2021)
Texas Book Festival
(2021)
PechaKucha Chicago, Vol. 38
(2016)
HOW Design Live 2013 national conference keynote speaker
San Francisco