Betsy Morais

Hello there! I’m the managing editor of the Columbia Journalism Review. Previously, I have worked at The New Yorker, Harper’s, and The Atlantic, and I’ve written for these and other magazines. I am also on the adjunct faculty of the Columbia Journalism School. As a champion of narrative nonfiction, I’ve worked with greats and emerging talents whose pieces have been honored by the American Society of Magazine Editors, the Overseas Press Club, and the Livingston Awards for Young Journalists.

Selected writing

Mrs. Met hosts a wedding expo for die-hard fans and their betrotheds.

Brendan Fernandes drills dancers in rope bondage and consent at the Guggenheim.

Professor Eugene Thacker teaches students at the New School the philosophy of pessimism.

Helping foreign artists cut through the visa system’s red tape.

A profile of the architect Alda Ly.

Dress rehearsal for the resistance.

A profile of Jessica Mendoza.

Roving around the Upper East Side with the sixteen year-old girl who serves on the local community board.

Red Hook kids try old-school marketing.

On underwear, feminism, and photoshoots.

The coyote catchers of New York City.

Riding bikes with Steven Fulop, the mayor of Jersey City.

Riding in taxis with female drivers.

An interview with the man who rents rooms by the hour.

The leader of a small island nation tries in vain to save his country from being completely flooded.

Looking past incarceration for women in Brooklyn.

Sweating at the Mermaid Spa in Sea Gate, Brooklyn’s oldest gated community.