The Archive

Game was her middle name: The world was never ready for Betty Davis
(Essay)
For NPR Music (February 13, 2022)

Knife to the Heart: A Conversation with Wayne Wang on the Occasion of the Fortieth Anniversary of Chan Is Missing
(Interview)
For Film Quarterly (March 24, 2022)

In the Shadow of the San Gabriels
(Essay)
For The LARB Quarterly, No. 33: What Is L.A.? (Spring 2022)

Chan Is Missing: Lost (and Not Found) in Chinatown
(Essay)
For Chan Is Missing (Criterion Blu-ray)(May 31, 2022)

Cruising Nisei
(Article)
For DiscoverNIkkei.org (August 17, 2021)

Signs of Urban Life: On “The 99% Invisible City” and “The City Beneath”
(Book Reviews)
For Los Angeles Review of Books (August 2, 2021)

Shorty’s Portion: Isn’t Anybody Going to Help That Poor Man
(Re:Discovery Essay)
For Wax Poetics (Summer 2021)

On Faye Wong
(Essay)
For Criterion.com (July 7, 2021)

Roberta Flack: Gone Away
(Re:Discovery Essay)
For Wax Poetics (Spring 2021)

Valerie June’s New LP ‘The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers’
(Album Review)
For NPR’s All Things Considered (Mar. 12, 2021)

On A New Anthology, Dusty Springfield’s Take On Southern Soul Gets Another Look
(Album Review)
For NPR’s All Things Considered (Jan. 21, 2021)

How Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas” Became a Holiday Classic
(Song Profile)
For Amazon Music’s (Re)Discover (Dec. 21, 2020)

Mighty Good: The fall and rise of Linda Lyndell’s “What a Man”
(Article)
Originally for Wax Poetics Vol 16 (republished Dec. 8, 2020)

“Everything Is Everything” Showcased Donny Hathaway’s Never-Ending Genius
(Liner Notes)
(Nov. 24, 2020)

New Anthology Revisits Brief History Of The Gospel Truth Label
(Album Review)
For NPR’s All Things Considered (Nov. 13, 2020)

A Look At Chinatown’s Most Stylish Seniors
(Book Review for Andria Lo and Valerie Luu’s Chinatown Pretty)
For Put This On (Oct. 10, 2020)

Labi Siffre: My Song Anthology
(Liner Notes)
Sep. 7, 2020

We Insist: A Century Of Black Music Against State Violence
(Annotated Playlist)
For NPR.org (Jun. 26, 2020)

Giving Up the Goods: Mobb Deep’s “The Infamous” Turns 25
(Album Review)
For Los Angeles Review of Books (May 22, 2020)

Betty Wright Packed A Career’s Worth Of Music Into Her Youthful First Act
(Retrospective Essay)
For NPR.org (May 11, 2020)

Beyond Soul Food
(Book Review of Toni Tipton-Martin’s Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking)
For Los Angeles Review of Books (Mar. 3, 2020)

Choosing to be the Hero, the Joker, the Villain: An Interview with Arthur Dong
(Interview)
For Film Quarterly (Mar. 1, 2020)

Patrice Rushen’s Unforgettable “Straight From The Heart“
(Liner Notes)
(Feb. 24, 2020)