Writing

From 2007 to 2012 I was a London-based correspondent for Time. I crisscrossed the continent reporting on everything from the spread of HIV in Romanian slums to Norway’s progressive prison system. I also profiled celebrities like Christian Louboutin, Maria Sharapova and Doris Lessing, and covered major events like the London riots, the royal wedding and the 2012 Summer Olympics. My writing has also been published in Newsweek, The New York Times, The Financial Times, Bloomberg, Vice, New Scientist, InStyle, MailOnline, Psychology Today, Monocle, the Sydney Morning Herald, Attitude, Spear’s Wealth Management, Lonely Planet, Condé Nast Traveller, CNN.com, where I was the lead writer for the launch of CNN Style, and Billboard, where I wrote one of the magazine’s first profiles of Dua Lipa. I collaborated with John Browne, the former chief executive of BP, on the 2014 book, The Glass Closet: Why Coming Out is Good for Business. It was long-listed for FT Business Book of the Year.

“I Was an Extra In Oasis's Strangest Music Video. It Changed My Life,” Esquire, July 17, 2023

What Drag Taught Me About My Power As a Child, ELLE USA, May 9, 2023

‘My Parents Met in the Vietnam War, Dad Couldn’t Accept That I’m Biracial,’ Newsweek, March 29, 2023

Brand Sugarpova: How Maria Sharapova Became the World's Highest-Paid Female Athlete, Newsweek, June 30, 2014,

Why Nearly Half of Us Hear Voices (And How to Fix It), Newsweek, January 20, 2015

Jens Breivik: 'I Am Also the Victim of My Son's Actions', Newsweek, October 16, 2014,

Gay Asylum Seekers Forced to 'Prove' Their Sexuality, Newsweek, September 25, 2014

Monumental Cheek: Inside the World of Elmgreen and Dragset, TIME Style & Design, February 21, 2013

Christian Louboutin and the Art of Desire, TIME Style & Design, March 26, 2012

Sentenced to Serving the Good Life in Norway, TIME, July 12, 2010

Eve of an HIV Epidemic in Romania, TIME, September 20, 2010

Cracks in the Ice: Iceland’s Financial Crisis, TIME, May 29, 2008

Babylon: Visions of Vice, TIME, March 12, 2008

Europe's Gay Leaders: Out at the Top, TIME, January 18, 2010

Charlotte Gainsbourg: On the Mend and Finding Solace in Music, TIME, January 26, 2010

From Bangkok to Berlin, Hard Times Hit the Sex Trade, TIME, July 9, 2009

Glitter, Strobe Lights and the Dream of a Unified Europe, New York Times, May 5, 2018

How a Newborn Refugee Inspired French Electro-Pop Duo, Billboard, April 26, 2018

Glitter, Glory and Geopolitics, Billboard, June 8, 2017

Portugal's Salvador Sobral Quietly Wins Eurovision, Billboard, May 14, 2017

Lights! Camera! Azerbaijan! How I Lost My Life to Eurovision, Vice, September 13, 2016

Why I Love Eurovision, and Why You Should Too, New York Times, May 14, 2016

Conchita Wurst: The Queen of Europe, POLITICO, March 21, 2015

This Is How Sweden's Pop Music Factory Works, Bloomberg Businessweek, March 30, 2015

The West is Rotten. Bring Back Intervision! Newsweek, August 1, 2014

The Winner Takes it All?, Newsweek, May 16, 2014

Unhinged Melodies, The Financial Times Weekend Magazine, May 20, 2013

A Children's Singing Contest That's a Proxy for War, The Atlantic, December 5, 2012

Selling Azerbaijan Ahead of Eurovision 2012, TIME, May 14, 2012

"Monetary Break Dance": Rambo Amadeus Takes on the Euro Zone Crisis, TIME, April 6, 2012

Unique to Ubiquitous: The Rise of Mulberry, TIME, March 26, 2012

How Armenia and Azerbaijan Wage War Through Eurovision, TIME, March 11, 2012

Ukraine's Eurovision Selection Marred by Right-Wing Racism, TIME, March 5, 2012

Eurovision Crowns a German Pop Idol, TIME, May 30, 2010

Junior Eurovision: Schoolyard Crushes with Glitter, TIME, November 23, 2009

How the West Won: Norway Takes the Crown at Eurovision 2010, TIME, May 18, 2009