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WRITING

Health, science, culture and more.

I’m an award-winning health and science journalist. My articles and essays have been published in CBS News, Crain’s Chicago Business, Everyday Health, Inspire The Mind, Psychology Today, Discover, New Scientist, The Week, and more.​ I also write science-themed books for Klutz, an imprint of Scholastic.

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SELECTED JOURNALISM
Crain's Chicago Business Amy Kraft journalist Black maternal health

Black maternal mortality has reached a crisis level. Here are the Chicagoans taking steps to stem it.

The Week Amy Kraft journalist orchids science

The quest to save Florida's orchids from extinction

One scientist aims to combat decades of over-harvesting and illegal poaching by hand-growing 1 million of the exquisite plants

scientific american amy kraft journalist

Why Manhattan's Green Roofs Don't Work--and How to Fix Them

City rooftops covered with vegetation are seen as a way to reduce the urban heat-island effect and cut energy usage--but so far, the results have been unimpressive

Discover Amy Kraft journalist psychology addiction

How Movies Can Act as a Form of Therapy

Movies aren't just for entertaining. As one writer discovers, they can also be a therapeutic tool.

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Wild Flamingos Return to Florida

After a century-long absence, the elegant pink waders are back in the Everglades. But where did they come from?

Crain's Chicago Business Amy Kraft journalist COVID-19 mental health employuers

The pandemic made employees care about mental health. Will it last?

Health care and restaurant employees, grocery store cashiers, teachers, truckers, delivery drivers—the economy's "essential workers"—experienced some of the toughest mental health pressures during the pandemic. Actually, workers in other job categories were affected, too, by the stress, burnout, out-of-whack work and personal routines, and career disruptions of the last two years.

MORE WRITING
Newsweek Amy Kraft journalist entomophagy
Can We Overcome Our Disgust Long Enough to Eat Bugs?
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Colon cleansing health benefits debunked
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How Einstein's struggles might help kids with science
Glowing green and purple glass sculpture by Mara Haseltine, resembling a bioluminescent marine creature with tentacle-like fo
The Perils of Plankton

An artist magnifies an overlooked environmental problem in sculptures that are larger than life.

CBS News Amy Kraft journalist
Brain surgeon tells of triumphs, failures in bestselling memoir

Henry Marsh is disgusted and fascinated by the brain.

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Tech Training Program Aims to Stem a Staffing Shortage
BOOKS
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Klutz: DIY Rainbow Catcher

This clever snap-together rainbow maker catches sunlight and projects tiny rainbows into your room like a disco ball. The included book is chockfull of information about how rainbows form.

AUDIO + MULTIMEDIA
Distillations teflon Amy Kraft journalist
Distillation Episode 160: Teflon

Teflon is everywhere from non-stick pans to airplane parts and jacket fabrics. Amy Kraft digs into its origins—including its time as a top military secret during World War II.

Installations spelunking New York Amy Kraft
Distillations Episode 171: Underground Worlds

Amy joins a team of amateur speleologists who meet each year to protect the crags and crevices inside Howe Caverns in Schoharie, New York.

Scientific American AMy Kraft journalist
Generosity Can Breed Contempt

In a group experiment, members who donated the least and the most to the community were both ostracized. Amy Kraft reports.

ESSAYS + OTHER WRITING
Playful image of a banana in a condom poking out of denim jeans, illustrating a humorous personal essay about a blowjob works
Even Blowjobs Have A Learning Curve
Jiminy Cricket tattoo
The pain and regret of tattooing Jiminy Cricket on my breast

It seemed brilliant when I was 18. A decade later, not so much.

Everyday Health Amy Kraft editor TBI sleep insomnia
Counting Sheep: One Woman's Story About TBI and Insomnia
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Yes, And: How Improv Helped Me Rewire My Brain After A Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
AMY DOES IMPROV

I write about improv, acting, puppetry, teaching, motherhood, family, ambition and the messy process of building a creative life — along with what I’m learning from rehearsing, performing and making things in public.

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The Show Must Go On—but Before That, I Have Many Other Jobs

I wanted to make a solo show. I did not realize I was also signing up to run a small, financially precarious media company.

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Packing With Puppets (and My Alter Ego)

Months of preparation, a suitcase full of puppets, and the alter ego I summon when it's time to step into the unknown.

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