The American Road Trip: Tradition, The New York Times, October 2019
We traveled 1,000 miles from Michigan to New Hampshire in pursuit of a simple, yet complicated question: What does America look like now? The result this journey on the great American road trip
Holy Meat, Fields & Stations, February 2022
An adventure in Mongolia involving shamans, vodka, and a meal of boiled mutton even a vegetarian could not refuse.
The Crunchy Armenian Walnut Pastries That Tell a Story, Food & Wine, February 2021
Roberta Kochakian preserves Armenian recipes so essential to the culture, they're almost museum pieces. This was part of the series, “In Praise of Aunties: The Ultimate Home Cooks.”
“I Am Here To Prove You Wrong,” The New York Times, July 2020
At Miss Muslimah USA, a pageant for young Muslim women, the complexity of modesty is on full display.
Immigrants Know All About Disaster Preparedness, The Nation, April 2020
Forget “panic buying,” for many immigrants being ready for the worst is a state of mind.
The American Steakhouse, Reimagined, Hour Detroit, February 2019
Hour Detroit’s February cover story about Prime + Proper, its polished ambience, masterful dishes and a reimagining of the American steakhouse
A Legend From Our House: Detroit Mourns Aretha Franklin, The Guardian, August 2018
Detroiters pay tribute to Franklin’s legacy of song, spirt and strength as they remember the gift their often beleaguered city gave to the world.
There’s a Shortage of Welders. Will More Women Fill the Gap?, The Atlantic, August 2018
Past efforts to attract women to welding have had underwhelming results. New programs aim to change that.
Rewriting the Story of the Starving Armenian, TASTE, May 2018
For decades, Americans casually threw around the term “starving Armenian” to refer to anyone who was hungry. But to Armenian-Americans, the phrase is a confusing misnomer for a culture rich with cooking traditions.
How Ferrero Rocher Chocolates Became a Status Symbol for Immigrants, Thrillist, April 2018
The power of a fancy European chocolate and how for immigrants, whether they were from Libya, China, India or Iran, it came to define social and economic aspirations in a way no other food item could.
How a Meatless Town in California Made Turning 100 No Big Deal, Thrillist, January 2018
A report about the spiritual secrets to a long life, from America's only "Blue Zone."
The Disneyland of Detroit, Pacific Standard, December 2017 (Print)
How an art installation created by a Ukrainian auto plant worker has become a symbol for the hope and heartbreak of immigrants.
How Somalis Found a Second Home at America's Most Popular Coffee Shop, Thrillist, July 2017
Immigrants in today’s tenser-than-normal America are often accused of rejecting assimilation and of not making enough of an effort to fit into their host country and adopt its values, unspoken rules, and cultural quirks. But in a bustling Starbucks in Minneapolis, a group of Somali men have defied that notion.
Hamtramck, Michigan, made history last year by becoming the first city in the country to elect a majority-Muslim city council. How a city that has offered sanctuary to so many different groups of people is dealing with discrimination, misinformation and immigration in the age of Trump.
More Armenians now live outside Armenia, in cities around the world, than in it. This is the result of thousands of years of hardship: wars, revolutions, and genocide that have forced Armenians to disperse again and again as refugees. Armenian food culture reflects this dispersal, pulling from other traditions to produce a varied cuisine that changes from one community to another.
Tiny, Murderous Wasps Are Fighting the Bizarre Effects of Climate Change, GOOD, December 2016
Michigan's Band Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians refuges to stand by and watch as a weird green bug chewed through their sacred trees.
The Complicated History of Headscarves, Racked, December 2016
Since ancient times, across so many cultures and for myriad reasons, women have covered their hair — an act tied up in competing notions of freedom and oppression.
An unlikely semi-pro soccer team in Detroit and its impassioned, rabid fans take on professional league expansion in the Midwest
Inside a Talent Agency for Transgender People, Rolling Stone, November 2016
The transgender community is gaining more visibility in Hollywood than ever before, but the results aren't exactly translating to real life. Transgender Talent aims to change that.
Serving the ships that keep America's industrial region alive for over 140 years, the J.W. Westcott Company in Detroit has been dropping off everything from love letters to pizza to and even a goat.
Fighting to Breathe in Mongolia, Al Jazeera America, December 2015
In one of the world's coldest and remote cities, the pollution is unbearable, and impacting the most vulnerable part of the population. Project supported with a grant from the International Reporting Project.
The Lost Generation, Newsweek, November 2015 (Print)
In a new age of visibility, a forgotten generation of aging trans people are in the shadows, and are systematically locked out of the healthcare system.
Hidden Treasures of a Remote Record Shop, BBC News Magazine, October 2015
The first record shop in Mongolia to ever open, and the once-forbidden Soviet music that can now be found there.
L.A.'s Black Midwives Aim to End Racial Disparities at Birth, Al Jazeera America, September 2015
A movement of black midwives is working to stem the rates of African-American babies dying for preventable reasons.
Saving L.A.'s Last Sanitarium, LA Weekly, July 2015
In a small town in the hills of Los Angeles, community activists attempt to save a property where pioneering feminists changed the face of mental healthcare for women.
Armenian Genocide, as Power Ballad, Foreign Policy, May 2015
Glitter, glam and ethnic nationalism: the tricky politics of the South Caucasus come to Eurovision
Thinning the Herd, GOOD magazine, May 2015
Conservationists explore birth control in the fight for stable animal populations - including a herd of Hollywood bison on an island off the coast of California
Extreme Memory Tournament: Meet the Mongolian Masters of the Mnemonic, The Guardian, May 2015
As Mongolia battles the world’s best mental athletes in San Diego, a team member explains the country’s recent success: ‘We are Genghis Khan’s kids’
Keeping the Faith American Druze and Their Struggle for Survival, Al Jazeera America, April 2015
Followers of one of the world's tiniest yet tight knit religions attempt to bring their faith into the 21st century by adding younger members into the fold
They came by the hundreds, even thousands — ethnic Armenian women who had survived the World-War-I-era massacres in Turkey and were brought by ship to the United States to meet the equally anxious Armenian men, complete strangers, who would become their partners for life.
Love was scarce, but the hunger for survival wasn’t.
The Armenian Rugs That Tells Two Stories, BBC News Magazine, April 2015
Two rugs unravel the history of the US's first humanitarian aid effort and the tragic fate of Armenians in Turkey 100 years ago
Meet the Obsessive Botanist Who Became King of Rare Specimens, The Guardian, April 2015
Mark Dimmitt is as unique a specimen as the plants he loves - his quest to find the 'holy grail of botany' is legendary
Copenhagen to Kobani, Berlin to Erbil, Foreign Policy, January 2015
The Islamic State's assault in Syria and Iraq has given Europe's Kurdish diaspora a new sense of purpose.
Getting Their Kicks on Route 66, Narratively, December 2014
In a desolate desert ghost town, hundreds of road trippers from around the world have left their hearts and soles dangling from California’s unlikeliest tourist attraction.
To Live and Die in East London: The Muslim Undertakers, Roads & Kingdoms/Slate, October 2014
As the city’s Muslim population soars, burial services are in growing demand. Meet the motley crew that ushers the dead to the afterlife.
Long Persecuted Yazidis Find Second Homeland in Armenia, Al Jazeera America, September 2014
Happy in their adopted home in the South Caucasus, the religious minority watches in horror as ISIL pursues their people.
Amelia, Reincarnated, The Magazine, June 2014
A feature on a young pilot retracing her namesake’s journey.
From Beirut to Bangkok via Bombay, LA Weekly, May 2014
A weekly Middle Eastern dance party offers a home for a mix of immigrants and has become a love letter to the communities in L.A. often not thought about.
Crackdown on Muslim-turned-Christians has seen an increasing number seek refuge, giving religious life a small boost in one of the most ‘godless’ places on earth. Made possible by the International Reporting Project.
Inside Out, Los Angeles Magazine, May 2014
At Club Nur, Middle Eastern gay patrons can be themselves in more ways than one.
Main Squeeze, The Magazine, April 2014
A long form piece on the how the accordion has come bellowing back, seen through the eyes of one of the last accordion repairmen in the country.
The Legend of Ali Baba: The Incredible Story of Armenian Genocide Survivor and World Wrestling Champ Harry Ekizian, Ianyan Magazine, April 2014 [Republished at AGOS newspaper, Istanbul, Turkey]
Iran’s Oppressed Christians, International New York Times, March 2014
A piece on the growing number of Iranian Muslim-born Christian converts under threat in the Islamic Republic. Made possible by the International Reporting Project.
L.A.’s Tomb Tourists, Roads & Kingdoms, October 2013
Death Hags: The unofficial ambassadors of L.A.’s underbelly.
Gaudy Iranica: Inside the World of the Persian Uber Wedding and Beyond, IranWire, October 2013
A look inside the world of the Persian uber wedding culture.
Cannabis for Elders: A Precarious State, The Atlantic, July 2013
Uncovering the perplexing challenges associated with medical marijuana usage for seniors, especially those resided in assisted living facilities. [Made possible through a Metlife Journalists in Aging Fellowship]
Placenta: It’s What’s for Dinner, LA Weekly, June 2013
Increasingly, new mothers are choosing to eat their afterbirth as a way to combat postpartum depression, ushering in a new industry called placenta encapsulation.
CSI: Wildlife, Mental Floss, March/April 2013 [Print]
There’s only one lab in the world equipped to handle crimes against animals. Just don’t ask the scientists to find Big Foot.
Persian New Year on Skid Row, BBC, March 2013 [Farsi]. English version here.
The Iranian Diaspora Shares the Nowruz Holiday with some of L.A.’s most vulnerable residents: the homeless of Skid Row.
Breaking the Grip of Oligarchs, Foreign Policy, November 2012
A feature piece on the vast power of oligarchs in Post-Soviet Armenia and how a series of tragic events has led to an awakening against them.