Journalism

“What kind of journalism?” you ask. I write profiles, essays, and op-eds. My passion is writing long-form narratives—yarns—with colorful characters and plenty of plot twists.

Jake’s Favorites

	Bad Paper — The New York Times Magazine A former banker and armed robber buy $1.5 billion in distressed debt and enter into a tenuous relationship in a shadowy world.
	The Cop — The New Yorker Inside Darren Wilson’s life after Ferguson, and the enduring question of what justice means when a nation is watching.
	Bank of the Underworld — The Atlantic How a digital currency became the alleged engine of a six-billion-dollar global money-laundering network.
	The New Underground Railroad — The New Yorker Inside a Buffalo safe house where asylum seekers prepare for a dangerous crossing into Canada.
	Night at the Museum — The New Yorker A correspondence with the charismatic cat burglar behind a hundred-million-dollar Paris art heist.
	Scrappers — The New York Times Magazine A journey through the underground economy of people who salvage value from postindustrial America.
	End of the World — The New York Times Opinion A father rethinks how to talk with a teenager who believes the world is falling apart.

Comprehensive Archive

Here is a comprehensive list of my other written work, organized by theme.

Money, Work & Society

Pay Up · The Freegan Establishment

Journeys & Dispatches

Secrets of the Temple · The Nazi Underground · Prison Island · Iceland’s Big Thaw · Norse Fantasy · City of Amma · No One Told Me Learning Yoga Would Involve Snakes · Jungle Boy · The Last of the Malibu Hillbillies · Hot Town · The Castaway · The Promised Land

Family & Personal Essays

Family Feud · The Day of the Salamander · A Triathlon Is Easy Next to Soviets and Polio · A Dangerous Hike With My 11-Year-Old Son · Grandparents’ Academy · My 11-Year-Old Came Up With a Better Government · Desperate for Distraction, We Chose Dragons · Small Stuff · Fire Walkers · Gone and Back · Next Year

Character Studies

The Rise of the Outsider · Ruins · A Jolly Green Giant · Stardust · A Baghdad Rescue Operation

Culture

Emotional Buildup · Missionaries to the Mainstream · Selling the Beat · Ian McShane Interview · School for the Starry-Eyed · Hollywood’s Little Helpers

Extreme Athletes & Stuntmen

Balls & Blood · House of Pain · And the Buff Shall Inherit the Earth · Without a Barrel

Opinion

Will Guys With Guns Replace the Agency Elizabeth Warren Created? · The Mixing Magic of Halloween · Hurricane-Proof House · Breaking News · Afraid of the Dark · A Debt Collector’s Day · The Magical Skyscraper · The Price of Fame

The Human Body & Its Failings

Kidney Picking · Penny a Pound · Weight Problem

Yale & New Haven

Wanderer · A Place to Bond · The Prose Whisperer · Darling, He’s Playing Your Song · Extreme Journalism