Stories
Writing about cars, how we drive them and their cultural meaning
My assignment was to write a story about why two countries with so much shared history have this one weird difference. In previous stories on the subject, writers mostly repeat what others have said before. I tried to dig deeper, which involved a trip to Amish Country to experience a Conestoga wagon in person. It became a number-one story on CNN.
(Originally published on CNN.com.)
My parents were both doctors. On some weekends, though, when Dad went racing, Mom became something else. On those days, she was his pit crew. I thought about her when I got to talk to two different groups of female racers. It led to this story about the huge progress women are making in motorsports
Aston Martin’s new CEO Adrian Hallmark said the company can be sustainably profitable—without continuation cars.
My personal experience charging an EV road trip led me to discover an ongoing user issue with chargers that companies are trying to figure out how to tackle.
(Originally published on CNN.com.)
I went to Cuba for a car rally and family's history. The adventure resulted in this story for the collector car site Hagerty.com.
I'd experienced adaptive headlights in Europe and wondered why they weren't on cars in the United States. It turns out these life-saving headlights are, technically, legal here, but the rules are so complex that automakers just haven't been able to comply.
(Originally published on CNN.com.)
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Stellantis's global head of design casually mentioned during a presentation that the automaker wouldn't use chrome anymore. I took him aside afterward to find out more about this major design move and wrote a popular story that other media also picked up and quoted from.
(Originally published on CNN.com.)
A coworker asked me to look into this perennial problem. It turned into a fun and popular story covering the interesting history and promising future of in-car storage.
(Originally published on CNN.com.)
From 2021: People seem to be finally catching on to the minivan’s essential practicality. Minivans provide even more of the useful capabilities of SUVs – cargo and passenger space – without the off-road capabilities that go largely unused.
(Originally published on CNN.com.)
The underground water near California's shrinking Salton Sea contains some of the world's richest lithium deposits. Companies are trying to extract it while creating clean energy in the process.
(Originally published on CNN.com.)
General Motors’ venture capital arm has invested in a California startup that’s making imitation leather from mushrooms.
The material is made by MycoWorks using the root-like structures of mushrooms, called mycelia.
(Originally published on CNN.com.)
