“The thing I love about Alexander is that he so ambitious in his story gathering. You never have to ask him to make the extra call. He’s already made four of them.”
Dan Morrell
Harvard Business School

I love what I do.

I cut my teeth reporting on science and technology for the Economist, Discover, Wired, and Technology Review; writing travel pieces for the New York Times and the Boston Globe; scribbling about music, culture, and the arts for the Village Voice and the Forward; and contributing to more outlets on more topics than I can now remember.

Well, I do remember some of it. I’ve interviewed the likes of Herbie Hancock and Harry Connick, Jr.; interrogated nanotechnologists, toy makers, and bagel bakers; pontificated as a guest on NPR’s national news call-in show, Talk of the Nation; and had my work performed by humorist Sandra Tsing Loh on her syndicated radio science minute. I’ve even endangered my life through the excessive consumption of Jewish comfort food—all in the line of duty, of course.

But I wasn’t always a writer. Once upon a time, I was a college professor.

No, seriously.

I have a PhD in ethnomusicology; spent several months drumming at the court of a traditional chief in Ghana; and taught jazz, world music, and West African drumming at colleges and universities across the country.

On a personal note, I was born and raised in Montreal, am married to a percussionist, and have two charming and delightful sons. In my spare time, I enjoy embarrassing myself in public: I’ve played jazz piano for nude modeling sessions at the Society of Illustrators, bombed doing standup comedy at the Bowery Poetry Club, and shared tales from my time in Ghana onstage at The Moth.

For a more complete resume, feel free to check out my LinkedIn profile.


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