science journalism
The biggest threat to air-passenger safety right now may be our own government. This article originally ran on August 7, 2026 in New York magazine. In the midafternoon of Tuesday, August 4, an air-traffic controller in the tower of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport was surprised to find that he had an unexpected intruder into Continue reading Marine One’s Near-Miss Incident Was Scarier…
Founders’ newest status symbol? Getting a pilot’s license to fly their own plane This article orginally ran on August 6, 2026 in Inc. magazine. After graduating from high school in 2000, David Spector spent the summer working construction for his uncle in Maryland. He spent his earnings on a secret vice: flying lessons in a Continue reading Wheels Up: Why So Many CEOs Become Pilots
Why would a perfectly good plane go rogue? The answer grounded 6,000 aircraft. This article originally appeared in New York magazine on August 3, 2026. To celebrate their second anniversary together, 22-year-old Terrica Turner and her boyfriend, Tyrese Banks, took a trip to Cancún. They flew from Newark and spent five days at a resort, Continue reading The Mysterious Case of the JetBlue Flight…
Drone warfare is making the skies more dangerous, even for airplanes far from the battlefield. This article originally appeared in Wired magazine on July 30, 2026. THIS PAST MAY, a twin-engine Beechcraft King Air medevac plane took off from Roswell, New Mexico, and headed west to the town of Ruidoso to pick up a patient. It Continue reading A Civilian Plane Crashed in New Mexico. Was the…
Each year, amateur and stunt pilots alike descend on an otherwise quiet Midwestern tarmac for a high-flying extravaganza that appears to throw caution to the wind—except for a brilliant team of air-traffic controllers stepping into the chaos. This article originally appeared in National Geographic on July 20, 2026. For four and a half years, Paul Continue reading The white-knuckle air show where…
What if the ocean heard Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 crash—and everyone missed it? An exclusive investigation reveals a long-hidden scientific report that could reshape the hunt for the airliner, 12 years later. This article orginally ran in Popular Mechanics on July 16, 2026. JEAN-YVES ROYER COULDN’T STOP thinking about what his underwater microphones might have heard. Continue reading A New Clue…
A generation ago, the vanishing of the Aral Sea became global shorthand for environmental desolation. Today the region has become a test bed for a resilient future. This article originally ran in the May, 2026 issue of National Geographic. It was the first human-made ecological disaster of the modern era. In 1960, the Aral Sea Continue reading Can the Aral Sea be reborn?
A heat-shield expert has major worries about Artemis II. This article appeared in New York magazine s Intelligencer section on March 31, 2026. Some time during the first week of April, a 322-foot NASA rocket is scheduled to blast off from the Kennedy Space Center and soar deep into outer space, carrying its crew of four astronauts farther from Continue reading A Manned NASA Rocket Is About to Take…
This story appeared in New York magazine s Vulture section on March 30, 2026. The FX miniseries Love Story, about the tempestuous relationship between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, is bracketed by the story of their final, fatal flight to Martha’s Vineyard in 1999. The first episode begins with them boarding the plane and taking Continue reading Love Story Got JFK Jr’s Final Flight…
This article orginally appeared in New York magazine on March 23, 2026. Shortly before midnight on Sunday, Air Canada Express Flight 8646, a Canadair CRJ-900 operated by Jazz Aviation LP, collided with a firetruck after landing at New York’s La Guardia Airport. Publicly available audio of air-traffic-control radio communications with planes and ground equipment, as Continue reading Here’s How the…