Two new stories
I published two print stories in this week’s issue of Science. (That’s a lot, for those of you not in the biz.) One is a feature that I’ve been working on,...
The secret of Stonehenge
Writing about tourism in Mexico City last week made me think of my most recent experience as a foreign tourist. I went to England for the first time this...
On (over)tourism
This week Kyle Chayka, one of my favorite critics, wrote a long piece about Iceland and overtourism for Vox. Why does it feel like we’re all going to the...
The only thing I should be doing
I saw this tweet from the writer Rachel Syme this week: rachel syme @rachsymesometimes i think the ONLY thing i should be doing is writing a book (or...
The achievable goal
Over one winter break during my Fulbright years, I wrote my first and (to date) only knitting pattern—though “pattern” is a pretty generous word for what I’m...
A good thing to buy
Everyone knows you shouldn’t sleep with your phone next to your bed. It’s too tempting to look at it right up until the second you turn off the light and...
How to survive the news cycle
This week. Man. THIS WEEK. After years of dragging ourselves through months and years as slow-moving as molasses and as toxic as, I don’t know, rancid...
Against daylight savings time
I have never particularly cared about or understood the rage aimed at daylight savings time in the states. Daylight savings time is great! It stays light...
The first draft blues
Last week I published an ambitious story I’m really proud of. This week I’m back in the psychological trenches, practically stapling myself to my chair to...
Sac Balam: Behind the Scenes
This week I published one of my favorite stories yet. I joined an expedition into one of the most remote parts of Mexico to search for Sac Balam, a real-life...
The past is a foreign country
When did the world we live in begin? I argue for the 1500s. This is when European colonialism in the Americas takes off, when the trans-Atlantic slave trade...
Two siblings chat about productivity bros
After I sent last week’s newsletter, my sibling Carrie immediately texted me, “Wait, you read Deep Work? Lol.” It turns out we both have a love-hate...
On procrastination
I’m writing this to avoid writing something else. I’ve procrastinated basically my whole life. I remember desperately not wanting to do my “homework” right...
Benedictine labors
One of the pieces of writing that has stuck with me most this year is an essay in the Catholic magazine Commonweal about how monks in the desert work. The...
Daily stage fright
A couple weeks ago, This American Life re-ran an episode from the year 2000 called “Americans in Paris.” The whole thing is charming and feels like a warm...
Rainy season, 2019
It’s not raining like it should be. First of all, it didn’t start until well into June. It was so hot in May, when the rainy season typically begins, that...
Reported out
I have been swamped with reporting and writing this week, working on a political news article that will come out next week. There’s something liberating...
The magic of paying attention
I spent most of the last week in the Caribbean, reporting another story I can’t quite talk about yet. I’ve been traveling a lot since April, with two trips...
Welcome to my newsletter
Hi, it’s Lizzie. That’s me in the ruins of an old hacienda deep in the Selva Lacandona, or the Lacandon Jungle, in Chiapas, Mexico, where I recently traveled...
Dispatches from the life and work of Lizzie Wade
Welcome to What's Lizzie Up To? All the news that’s fit to print, and some that’s not, about me, Lizzie Wade. I’m a science writer in Mexico City,...
