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Culture Writing

Featured Articles

Featured Articles

Explore a featured selection of my culture writing. 

USA TODAY •

Blistered ankles. Teased hair. My weekend on 'Dancing with the Stars'

In journalism, a reporter rarely dons the costume of their subjects. You are not the story, common dogma dictates.

But, every once in a while, you throw that out for the chance to earn yourself some blisters and dance in bedazzled heels. At least that's what I'm thinking when, sitting on the floor of the sun-soaked "Dancing with the Stars" studios, I'm handed a plastic bag full of them in different sizes.
USA TODAY •

Simone Ashley's new movie 'Picture This' is cringey to the max. I loved it anyway.

For nearly a decade, Hollywood has mourned the supposed death of the rom-com.

Authentic or not, a steady drumbeat has declared the mashup genre a shell of its formal self. Once boasting star-studded titles like "You've Got Mail" and "My Best Friend's Wedding," recent releases seem instead to bludgeon that classic sentimentality with overly saccharine dialogue or plots driven exclusively by sex scenes.
USA TODAY •

Fashionable and utilitarian, the fanny pack rises again. What's behind the renaissance?

Correction & Clarification: A previous version of this article misspelled Anush Mirbegian's name

Dad-core may be having a comeback. Adam Sandler is the newest fashion icon and "it-girls" are donning chunky new-balance sneakers, oversized sweatshirts, and wait … is that … a fanny pack?

From street style to concert couture, young people are bringing a classic bag back from oblivion where it was chucked presumably sometime post-90s. After a brief heyday, the fanny pack became inextricably bound t
USA TODAY •

Suddenly repulsed by your partner? You may have gotten 'the ick.' Here's what that means.

Suddenly repulsed by your partner? You may have gotten 'the ick.' Here's what that means.

Have you ever dreamed up your perfect partner? He's soft-spoken, romantic and …. wait, he's into live-action role-play? Ick! (Or ... maybe not?)

Fostering a fledgling love affair can be exciting but also precarious. What if you learn something new about them that makes you cringe? Worry not, modern dating lingo has a term for that: "the ick."

It's a catchall for turnoffs large and small, and a difficult
USA TODAY •

D'arcy Drollinger, first-ever drag laureate in US, wants everyone to be more fabulous

D'arcy Drollinger, first-ever drag laureate in US, wants everyone to be more fabulous

It is a Saturday morning and D’Arcy Drollinger is mid gloss application, her lips puckered and ready for a fresh sheen. Her hair is styled in a brassy blonde bouffant and her neon pink outfit is accented by heavy costume jewelry.

She has a packed schedule for the day: first, a "Pink Triangle" ceremony honoring the symbol of resistance forced on LGBTQ people in Nazi prison camps, later a fundraiser, and then r
USA TODAY •

Cheer up, buttercup. Here's how to be happy (according to people who study it.)

In the past 12 months, just over 27,000 people a month have searched the phrase "how to be happy," according to Conductor Searchlight.

A spoiler alert before you read this article: We don't have the answer. Good news for us, no one else does either. The truth is that happiness requires a highly individualized recipe and any attempt to deliver some definitive and universal answer would be foolish. You'd have better luck consulting a Magic 8 Ball, or some other source with a false sense of confid
USA TODAY •

'The love that's in the atmosphere is just palpable': Drag Story Hour dazzles its audience

Correction & Clarification: A previous version of this article misspelled the names of Amy Hamberry and Letitia James.

On an unseasonably warm winter Sunday in Manhattan’s West Village, a bashful 8-year-old mixed with a crowd of brightly adorned adults.

“It’s fun … and you get to see people who are beautifully dressed,” Fox McGinnis said, describing why he likes Drag Story Hour so much.

Fox formed part of a gaggle of other children, parents and a smattering of New York dignitaries for the eve
USA TODAY •

What it's like to spend a day with the San Francisco 49ers' mascot, Sourdough Sam

What it's like to spend a day with the San Francisco 49ers' mascot, Sourdough Sam

It’s 60 and sunny when I cross the county line into Santa Clara, home of the San Francisco 49ers. It’s Christmas Eve, and I’m headed to Levi’s Stadium to watch the 49ers face off against the Washington Commanders.

Well, really I’m there to spend some quality time with Sourdough Sam, the 49ers' beloved but elusive mascot, who has invited me to watch him work.

By the time I park, the tailgate is already in full sw