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[ SIDDHARTHA MAHANTA ]
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I am Siddhartha Mahanta. I previously worked as an editor for The New York Times opinion page. I have also served on the editorial staffs of Business Insider, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, and Mother Jones.
I grew up outside Houston and studied literature and film at the University of Texas at Austin. I used to act and direct Shakespeare, Chekhov, Beckett, and Pinter plays. It was great!
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I edit reported essays, features, and straight news stories. I've written on an eclectic array of stuff for publications like The New Yorker, Texas Monthly, Washington City Paper, and many elsewheres.
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I'd be happy to write or edit for you -- so hit me up: sid.mahanta@gmail.com / sid.mahanta@protonmail.com / @sidhubaba.
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[SELECTED EDITED FEATURES]
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[2020]
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For domestic workers, apps provide solace — but not justice, by Aurora Almendral
Smartphone apps are vital, sometimes even life-saving tools. But for thousands of foreign workers, their impact only goes so far.
Why we shouldn't all move to Montana after the pandemic, by Dana Liebelson
A Bozeman native reports on her swiftly changing hometown
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Inside Nike: Sources share claims of sexism, cheating, abuse at the world's wokest brand, by Joshua Hunt
The rot at the heart of a massively powerful global brand
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9 American Mormons died in a brutal ambush in Mexico. This is the untold story of the hunt for justice by those left behind, by Ioan Grillo
A stirring account of the bloody events of November 4, 2019.
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The 'ultimate feminist' defending Harvey Weinstein​, by Michelle Mark
A profile of the former Hollywood titan's defense attorney.
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[2019]
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The murder of Jamal Khashoggi, by Evan Ratliff, with illustrations by Chris Koehler
"One year ago the journalist Jamal Khashoggi walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and never walked out … We’re retelling it because Jamal Khashoggi’s story should be heard in full. And because even if you think you know what happened, you may not know how or why."
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How a Florida businessman blew up MoviePass, by Jason Guerrasio
Inside the rise and fall of a company that aspired to change how we go to the movies.
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A narrative re-telling of the Mueller report, by Mark Bowden, with illustrations by Chad Hurd
A tale of deception and desperation in the Trump White House, re-told by the author of Black Hawk Down.
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[2018]
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One American’s failed quest to protect civilians in Yemen, by Samuel Oakford
“If there is a chance that I can help, then I’m going to swing. I’ll swing for the fences. I may get air, but I’d rather try and fail than to not have tried.”
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Deported into a nightmare, by Danielle Mackey
Most Central American migrant children get deported before they even reach the U.S. One story shows what can await them when they get back to the countries they fled.
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The fall of Nanjing, as my grandmother lived it, by David D. Chen
The story of a desperate young woman's escape from Japan’s bloody siege.
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France, where age of consent is up for debate, by Marie Doezema
A case involving an 11-year-old girl has sparked a moment of moral and legal reckoning.
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[2017]
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Can Germany fix Facebook?, by Linda Kinstler
A new law seeks to protect “human dignity” on the internet.
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The Kurds are right back where they started, by Joost Hiltermann
For decades, Washington has been content to indulge Kurdish dreams of independence. Why was Erbil willing to play along?
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First he became an American. Then he joined ISIS, by Seamus Hughes and Bennett Clifford
When the FBI discovered a network of Bosnian-Americans giving support to terrorists, they also discovered Abdullah Ramo Pazara, a U.S. citizen and a battalion commander in Syria.
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[2016]
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Degenhart's war, by Sebastian Rotella
How one man tried to tackle deep-rooted corruption in Guatemala — and barely made it out alive.
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Long walk to deportation, by Levi Vonk
Hundreds of thousands of migrants have braved the journey from Central America to the U.S. border. Washington wants to turn them back, before they even arrive.
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[SELECTED WRITTEN CLIPS]
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[Reporting]
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One man’s quest for a memorial to Sugar Land’s bitter history [NYR Daily, 2019]
When Samuel Beckett tried to capture the power of the movies [The New Yorker, 2016]
Haven is for real [Washington City Paper, 2014]
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Big beef [The Washington Monthly, 2014]
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The way we kill now [self-published, 2014]
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Arthur Laffer's dynamic roadshow [The American Independent, 2012]
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Why Are Telecom Companies Blocking Rural America From Getting High-Speed Internet? [The New Republic, 2012]
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[Essays & criticism]
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A Filipino family’s journey to Texas [Texas Monthly, 2019]
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When it's time to say goodbye to the old house [Longreads, 2018]
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An Act of Empathy: An Interview with Joshua Oppenheimer [Foreign Policy, 2015]
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