I’m the author of THE ROAD FROM RAQQA: A Story of Brotherhood, Borders, and Belonging, runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. The New York Times Book Review called it “Riveting…a resplendent love letter to an obliterated city.” I’m also a Senior Staff Writer at The Ringer. I’m currently working on a book about masculinity in America for Grand Central Publishing. I live in Nashville.

BrendanCard.jpg
 
 
Library Journal Quote Card.jpg
Photo by Samantha Hearn.

Photo by Samantha Hearn.

I write narrative features about sports, culture, and national and international affairs. I’ve previously worked at Grantland and ESPN: The Magazine. I’ve also written for The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, and a number of other outlets.

I’ve twice been a finalist for the Livingston Award. For my story The Defender: Manute Bol’s Journey from Sudan to the NBA and Back Again. And again, for my story A Death in Valdosta. My podcast, Sonic Boom, was named one of the best podcasts of 2019 by The Atlantic. I’m also the host of the narrative podcasts What If: The Len Bias Story and The Balkan Basketball Boom. My piece The End of the Hoop Dream was named among the Top 10 stories of 2015 by Longform.org.

Through the lens of sports, I’ve reported on the protest movement in Hong Kong, the refugee experience on the Turkey-Syria border, the aftermath of civil war in Ivory Coast, and the independence movement in what is now South Sudan.

I write often about grief, trauma, and recovery. I’ve written features about survivors of the Pulse nightclub shooting and about grief experienced by the families of Tamir Rice and Breonna Taylor. I’ve spent months embedding with a snake-handling church in rural Kentucky and documenting the experience of hospital chaplains during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I’m an alumnus of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.