Matthew Shaer, Emerson Fellow, is a writer-at-large for the New York Times Magazine. He is working on a book, due out in 2021 from Metropolitan, about the criminalization of poverty in the United States. Tentatively titled The Worst Poverty: Debt and Profit in the Other America, the book will look at the various criminal justice mechanisms—from fines and court fees to privatized probation—that help keep the most impoverished Americans trapped in brutalizing cycles of debt. The book project grew out of a 2019 Times Magazine article about the re-emergence of debtors' prisons in the South. In 2020, Shaer co-founded Campside Media, a podcast studio dedicated to serious, longform audio journalism. A 2014 National Magazine Award finalist, and a regular contributor to outlets like the Atlantic, Harper's, and New York Magazine, Shaer lives in Atlanta with his family.
Select Work:
- How Cities Make Money by Fining the Poor: The genesis for Shaer’s book project, and a blueprint for the way he'll be approaching it—with an emphasis on the people most affected by criminal justice debt. (New York Times Magazine, 2019)
- The Long, Lonely Road of Chelsea Manning: A profile of Manning and her journey from starting the age of leaks to prison and beyond. (New York Times Magazine, 2017)
