Is this a nerdy image? I have no idea. If so it’s accurate.
Hello, my name is David. I am a New Orleans-based author whose nonfiction appears regularly in The New Yorker and The New York Times, among many other places. If you are interested in a newsletter that I almost never publish, please subscribe to my Substack, The Firmament. (Even if you aren’t interested, please subscribe.) You can reach me by email at dwbmsy@proton.me.
My latest book is titled THE MISSION, or: How a Disciple of Carl Sagan, an Ex-Motocross Racer, a Texas Tea Party Congressman, the World's Worst Typewriter Saleswoman, California Mountain People, and an Anonymous NASA Functionary Went to War with Mars, Survived an Insurgency at Saturn, Traded Blows with Washington, and Stole a Ride on an Alabama Moon Rocket to Send a Space Robot to Jupiter in Search of the Second Garden of Eden at the Bottom of an Alien Ocean Inside of an Ice World Called Europa (A True Story). It was published in 2021 by Custom House, an imprint of HarperCollins. The details are right there in the subtitle. People seem to really like it. You can order a copy here.
My next book, titled THE OUTSIDE CATS, will be released by Mariner Books. It tells the story of a team of scientists who built a surreptitious, ad-hoc, international cooperative to explore Antarctica and study rapid sea-level rise. It is also a memoir of my two Antarctic expeditions with them.
Below are some professional highlights from the last five years. For my career in detail, see my curriculum vitae.
Selected Essays
How to Save a Dog. The New Yorker. 2025.
The Woman Who Went to Europa. The New Yorker. 2024.
Journey to Doomsday. The New Yorker. 2022.
Recent Prose
Over the Moon. The New Yorker. 2026. (See also: The New Yorker Radio Hour)
What Will Artemis Teach Us? The New Yorker. 2026.
A NASA Nuclear Mars Mission. Scientific American. 2026.
An Advance in the Search for Life on Mars. The New Yorker. 2025.
The V.A. Is Not O.K. The New Yorker. 2025.
Inside the Takeover of NASA. The New Yorker. 2025.
Red Mars, Green Mars. MIT Technology Review. 2024.
The Race to Save the Mission to Europa. The New York Times. 2024.
NASA Mission to Europa Imperiled. The New York Times. 2024.
Stations in the Sky. MIT Technology Review. 2024.
Look on, Ye Mighty, and Despair. Scientific American. 2024.
The New Era of Moon Exploration. The New Yorker. 2024.
The First Cookbook. The New Yorker. 2023.
What the Webb Will Show Us Next. The New Yorker. 2023.
31 Hours in Mission Control. The New York Times. 2023.
A Security Camera for the Planet. The New Yorker. 2023.
The Asteroid Killer. The New Yorker. 2022.
Recent Books
The Outside Cats. Mariner Books. 2027.
The Mission. Custom House. 2021.
Books Edited
NASA’s Discovery Program: The First Twenty Year of Competitive Planetary Exploration. NASA History Division. 2024.
Space in Our Hands. Mimesis. 2024.
Peer-Reviewed Monographs
NASA’s Discovery Program: A Chronology of the Years 2011–2025. NASA History Division. 2026.
(In press).NASA’s Discovery Program: The First Twenty Year of Competitive Planetary Exploration. NASA History Division. 2024.
Selected Honors
Longreads, Editor’s Pick. “How to Save a Dog” (The New Yorker).
The Best American Essays 2023. Notable Essays and Literary Nonfiction of 2022: “Journey to Doomsday” (The New Yorker).
The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2023. Notable Science and Nature Writing of 2022: “How NASA Launched Its Asteroid Killer” (The New Yorker).
The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2023. Notable Science and Nature Writing of 2022: “Journey to Doomsday” (The New Yorker).
The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2021. Notable Science and Nature Writing of 2020: “How We Discovered Water on the Moon” (The New Yorker).
Selected Invited Talks, Lectures, and Media
The New Yorker Radio Hour on WNYC. Interviewer (with David Remnick). 2026.
Conference on World Affairs at the University of Colorado. Speaker. 2025.
Knight Science Journalism Astrobiology Workshop. Panelist. 2025.
Museum of Coastal Carolina and Ingram Planetarium. Keynote Speaker. 2025.
University of California, Los Angeles Writer's Program. Creative Capstone Lecturer. 2024.
Vanderbilt University Science Writing Seminar. Guest Lecturer. 2024.
National Academy of Sciences: Discovery at 30. Moderator. 2024.
Calderwood Public Writing Seminar, University of Oregon. Guest Lecturer. 2024.
Wine Writers Symposium, Napa Valley. Fellow. 2024.
D.C. Science Writers Association. Speaker and panelist. 2023.
Calderwood Public Writing Seminar, University of Oregon. Guest Lecturer. 2023.
Interplanetary Initiatives Convening, Arizona State University. Panelist. 2023.
Learning Under New Artistic Regimes, Imperial College, London. Presenter and panelist. 2022.
Image Credit: David W. Brown. (I took it with a tripod. It was the best one of thousands. We caught Scrim that day, coincidentally. If you don’t know what that means, see this essay!) (See also here for CC BY-SA 4.0 image.)