I am a Paris-based writer, journalist and critic, a contributing writer for The Atlantic and a former Rome Bureau Chief and European Culture correspondent for The New York Times. I regularly publish textured profiles and features at the intersection of culture and politics, as well as literary criticism. I’ve reported from more than two dozen countries and interviewed heads of state as well as major cultural figures, including four Nobel Laureates in literature. My work appears in publications ranging from The New York Review of Books to Vogue. I grew up in Middlebury, VT, graduated from Yale University and have spent much of my life in New York, Rome and Paris. 

In July 2024, I began as Curator of Cultural Programs at The American Library in Paris, conceiving public events for the largest English-language lending library on the Continent. I also advise cultural organizations on public humanities programs. In 2023, I served as Executive Director of the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, an international artist residency in Italy. I have been a Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton, a visiting critic at The American Academy in Rome, a visiting fellow at Johns Hopkins University’s SNF Agora Institute and a visiting fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center. I frequently moderate discussions, deliver lectures and comment on European affairs in English, French and Italian, such as on NPR, Arte, FranceInter, and La7.

Here’s a selection of my work, my full New York Times archive and full Atlantic archive.

I am represented by The Wylie Agency. (The photo of me on the home page is by Dmitry Kostyukov)