Writing.
Phil has been working as a journalist since he interned at the San Francisco Bay Guardian in 2008. Below are a few of his articles.
NOVEMBER 2023: “Why Don’t Americans Believe in Science?”
MAY 2023: “John Fetterman’s Public Battle With Depression is Shattering Stigma.”
FEBRUARY 2021: “What the Trump Administration Meant for Freedom of Information Requests.”
OCTOBER 2018: “How to Criticize the Press—Responsibly.”
MAY 2018: "An Ode to Reporter's Notebooks."
APRIL 2018: "5 Ways Journalists Can Regain Trust from Readers."
SEPTEMBER 2017: "The Lessons Journalists Should Take Away from Spicer's Rebranding."
JANUARY 2017: "As President, Trump Sings a Different Tune on Transparency."
NOVEMBER 2016: "Remember, America: Hating the Press is Not American."
JULY 2016: "'Kicking and Screaming': 50 Years of FOIA."
OCTOBER 2018: “Face It, The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting Wasn’t An Aberration.”
JUNE 2018: “Too Many Men Are Dying By Suicide.”
MAY 2018: "Celeb Men Are Leading A Male Mental Health Revolution."
JULY 2016: "MuckRock's Approach is Working, One FOIA At a Time."
JULY 2024: “Portsmouth Gets Clean.”
JULY 2017: "The Pill Mill That Ravaged Portsmouth."
AUGUST 2015: "The Unlikely Reanimation of H.P. Lovecraft."
APRIL 2024: “Real People, Real Pain: On the Ethics of Telling True Stories of Trauma.”
MAY 2019: “On Walt Whitman, Unsung Newspaperman.”
APRIL 2021: “America’s Untenable Happiness Imperative.”
DECEMBER 2020: “Get Ready for the Trump Revisionism.”
SEPTEMBER 2020: “Who's really at fault for campus coronavirus outbreaks?”
DECEMBER 2019: “The Book That Changed The Way We Talk About Depression.”
NOVEMBER 2020: “When Trump — and Trumpism — Came to Rhode Island.”
OCTOBER 2020: “The Curious Case of RI Historian Laureate Pat Conley.”
JUNE 2020: “Rhode Island’s Dark History.”
SEPTEMBER 2016: "We're At Peak 'White Racial Apocalypse': The Enduring Toxic Myths Fueling Obama Backlash, 'All Lives Matter,' and Donald Trump."
JULY 2016: "'There Are Not a Lot of Happy People on Wall Street': Sam Polk Opens Up About Greed, Wealth, and Toxic Masculinity."
JANUARY 2016: "“In Cold Blood” turns 50: Capote’s spellbinding true crime novel gave us “The Jinx,” “Serial” and “Making a Murderer.”
JUNE 2015: "The shocking news about government secrecy that should have every American worried."
MAY 2015: "'Climate denial does best in the dark': A Democratic senator breaks down the GOP’s global-warming clustermuck."
FEBRUARY 2015: "Lincoln’s assassination: Terrorist plot or crackpot conspiracy?"
NOVEMBER 2014: "'A crazed man… a lunatic!': Why ex-con, pasta sauce salesman, former mayor Buddy Cianci is back for more."
OCTOBER 2018: “Bloody Strikes Created the America We're Now Losing to the Super Rich.”
OCTOBER 2018: “I Didn’t Cry for 19 Years.”
MARCH 2018: "Telling People You're Anxious Can Actually Help Your Anxiety."
JANUARY 2018: "How to Argue Online Without Losing Your Shit."
NOVEMBER 2017: "Here's Why It's Still Really Hard to Get Men to Go to Therapy."
OCTOBER 2017: "Joni Mitchell Is Pretty Much Peerless."
OCTOBER 2017: "Sometimes Depression Means Not Feeling Anything At All."
AUGUST 2017: "When Being a Journalist is Terrible For Your Mental Health."
FEBRUARY 2017: "Why Protests Work."
JANUARY 2017: "The Blurry Line Between Healing and Dealing."
DECEMBER 2016: "The Corruption Podcast America Needs Right Now."
JULY 2016: "This 1960 Jazz Film Shaped Concert Documentaries As We Know Them."
FEBRUARY 2016: "How the Feds Blocked Me From Covering a Pill Mill Trial."
JULY 2018: “Is It Kosher for a Jew to Love Gospel Music?”
APRIL 2018: “Is There Really Such a Thing As Jewish Anxiety?”
MARCH 2018: “Is Dave Zirin the Most Important Sportswriter in America?”
FEBRUARY 2017: "Why the Muslim Ban Sent Jewish Writers Flocking to Social Media."
JANUARY 2017: "6 Jewish Historians Tell Us What to Expect in 2017 -- and Beyond."
AUGUST 2016: "50 Years After His Death, Lenny Bruce's Spirit Lives On."
MAY 2016: "Opening a Treasure Trove of Kafka Trivia."
APRIL 2016: "How a Rabbi's Granddaughter Became the Host of 'Democracy Now!'"
MARCH 2016: "Willie Nelson, Itzhak Perlman, and the 8 Greatest Gershwin Covers Ever."
MARCH 2015: "Delving Into the FBI's Jewish Files."
FEBRUARY 2015: "Rhode Island's Best Spot to Find a Decent Corned Beef Sandwich May Be Doomed."
OCTOBER 2017: "Profile: Sheldon Whitehouse Wants Everyone to Wake Up."
DECEMBER 2016: "The Evolution of the Providence Journal."
OCTOBER 2016: "Deepwater Wind Goes Live."
JANUARY 2016: "The Ups and Downs of Mayor Jorge Elorza: Inside the Providence Mayor's First Year."
NOVEMBER 2017: "Amazon On My Mind: Is Rhode Island Really A State for Sale?"
APRIL 2016: "Beyond a Bungled Marketing Campaign, Why Rhode Island Really Rocks."
FEBRUARY 2016: "That's Criticism: The Millions Interviews A.O. Scott."
MAY 2015: "The Corporate Drug Cartel: On Sam Quinones's 'Dreamland.'"
APRIL 2012: "Becoming James Brown: On R.J. Smith's 'The One.'"
OCTOBER 2014: "Farewell, Providence Phoenix."
