The Ed's Up - An Ending...
Hello!
It seems like only yesterday that I last emailed you... which is because it was yesterday. Sorry for filling your inbox so soon, but I have two updates--one very small and one very big.
The small one: Several people couldn't open the (optional) paid-subscription link in the last email; I'm still working through some teething problems with the new platform, but fingers crossed, this link should work.
The big one: I've decided to leave The Atlantic. After 8 years and 750 stories (!!!), today is my last day.
Annoyingly, being a writer means you can’t say things like "I can’t tell you what this means," because, well … I can. That's kind of the point of me. So here’s an attempt at looking back & forward.
I’m really proud of the work I did at The Atlantic. Hagfish. Lichens. Endlings. Source diversity. 60+ pandemic pieces. Long COVID especially. More important than the awards, I know this work helped people, and it changed my understanding of what journalism can do and whom it should serve. That work also depended on a team. All my love to Sarah Laskow and Ross Andersen, dear friends and amazing editors; everyone on the sci/tech/health desk, still the best in the biz; and the indefatigable copy-edit, fact-check, art, audience and comms teams. I’m grateful to our leaders for giving me support, the space to do my best work, and a chance to be of service. The Union has my eternal solidarity in its fight to ensure that every staffer has the same opportunities I’ve benefited from and can work in a truly diverse newsroom.
I’ll still write about the areas you know I care about—the importance of the natural world, the experiences of people with chronic illnesses, the societal vulnerabilities that the pandemic exposed, and more—with empathy, curiosity, and synthesis at the heart of it all. And I want to double down on my journalistic values: not only describing what is happening but helping people actually make sense of it; bearing witness to suffering; speaking truth to power; revealing wonder in the obscure; and pushing for a more just and equitable world.
I’m not leaving for anywhere else. I’ll soon be starting on a 3rd book--and a few other exciting projects that I’ll announce in due time. I’ll likely do smaller-scale pieces too, but am still working out the details of where, what, how, and all the rest.
The best way to keep track of what I’m up to is this newsletter. As I noted yesterday, my plan is to keep it free (especially if I end up writing original stuff on it) but you can opt to pay a subscription if you want to support my work.
Endings are hard.
Blank pages are harder, but also exciting and full of possibility.
Onward.
- E