My name is Julie Beck, and I’m a writer who was born and raised in Ypsilanti, Michigan and now lives in Washington D.C. I’m a staff writer at The Atlantic, where I’ve worked for 10 years and counting, doing various jobs along the way, including running the Family section as a senior editor. I did a series of 100 interviews with friends called The Friendship Files and hosted a podcast about building community called How to Talk to People.

I’m currently writing a book called The Friends We Made Along the Way, about the state of friendship in American culture. Here’s what Publishers Marketplace said about it:

This newsletter is a home for updates about my work and for my loosier-goosier personal writing—literally, the thoughts I have along the way. You can find my personal website here and follow me on Twitter or on Instagram if you’d like to see pictures of my cats, Cherry and Ginkgo.