Bradford Pearson is a National Magazine Award-winning journalist and author whose work examines everything from magicians to Japanese American incarceration to his own kidnapping. He’s written for The New York Times, and Esquire, Time, and Men’s Health magazines, among many other publications. He is currently the features editor for Philadelphia magazine and a contributing writer for the New York Times’ Special Projects team.

He was the lead editor and writer on Philadelphia’s February 2023 package All Hail The Hoagie, which won the 2024 National Magazine Award in the lifestyle journalism category and was nominated for a 2024 James Beard Award in the dining and travel category. His 2021 book The Eagles of Heart Mountain was the basis for the NFL documentary 9066: Fear, Football, and the Theft of Freedom.

He is a recipient of the German Marshall Fund of the United States’ Marshall Memorial Fellowship, which took him to Europe to study media on the continent. He grew up in Hyde Park, New York, and now lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two children.

Here are some recent stories he’s especially proud of:

The Philadelphia Tea Party (Philadelphia) // Rich Lazer Would Like You to Love the PPA. No, Seriously. (Philadelphia) // All Hail The Hoagie (Philadelphia; writer and project editor) // Nurses Are Burned Out. Can Hospitals Change in Time to Keep Them? (New York Times) // Can A.I. Help Casinos Cut Down on Problem Gambling? (New York Times) // Power Shifts: The 76 Most Influential Philadelphians Right Now (Philadelphia; project editor) // For Japanese-Americans, Housing Injustices Outlived Internment (New York Times) // After Internment, a Store Was Born. It’s Still an L.A. Staple. (New York Times) // What Happened After My Kidnapping (Philadelphia)