Dan Schwartz is a journalist based in northern California. He writes on a variety of subjects but fundamentally seeks long-form, narrative stories that demand complicated reporting and are driven by a strong sense of outrage. His work is frequently recommended by sites such as Longform and the Sunday Long Read and has appeared in numerous national outlets, including The Atlantic, ProPublica and Outside Magazine.
Dan recently completed 18 months of reporting with ProPublica on the safety of the railroad industry, which became a topic of national concern following the February 2023 derailment and explosion of a freight train in East Palestine, Ohio. In April, he spoke about the project with NPR's Morning Edition. Now he's looking for work that combines investigative reporting and narrative writing.
Dan started his career at daily papers in Alaska, New Mexico, and Vermont, winning awards along the way for unearthing government corruption and bird-dogging environmental regulators reluctant to regulate. He honed his craft in a master’s program at the Missouri School of Journalism, where he worked as a fellow with The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and part-time as a researcher for Investigative Reporters and Editors.
Dan has an undergraduate degree in outdoor education. Back in the day, he worked as a mountain guide. He doesn’t guide anymore but has kept his skills sharp, and when he's not writing he may be found outside, depending on the season and topography, backcountry skiing or ice climbing or rock climbing or mountain biking or trail running or, to his mother’s chagrin, dirt biking. She’s right to worry. Motorcycles are dangerous.
