About me

I’m a reporter on the city desk of the Bangor Daily News in Bangor, Maine. I also a freelance journalist and have written for Defector, The New Republic, The American Prospect, Curbed/New York Magazine, and others.

Select work

Labor:

• On gig workers who die on the job (Defector)
• On Uber’s sick leave policies during COVID (The American Prospect)
• On the gig economy reshaping California cities (The New Republic)
• On rideshare drivers fighting against low wages (SF Weekly)
• On sexual harassment in the service industry (The American Prospect)
• On the union fight to save newsrooms from hedge funds and COVID (Strikewave)

Extremism

• On the start of a movement uniting Maine’s anti-vaxxers and anti-government extremists (Bangor Daily News)
• On Rise of the Moors and their Maine connection (Bangor Daily News)
• On the history of white supremacy in Maine (Bangor Daily News)

Child welfare & education:

• On Maine’s failed investment in its child welfare system (Bangor Daily News)
• What happened after 4 Maine children died in a month (Bangor Daily News)
• On the UC Santa Cruz wildcat strike in January 2020 (Strikewave)
• On California’s public education finances (The Baffler)

Climate:

• Why we were drawn to a cartoon video game during lockdown (Curbed/New York Magazine)
• On the deadliest wildfire in California history (The Baffler)

Contact:

liaruss at gmail dot com or Twitter (DMs open)

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