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Mike’s Published Work.
A collection of Mike’s reporting, opinion pieces, and essays written for top-tier outlets. Thoughtful, incisive, and often surprisingly fun—this is Mike’s work in print.
 An Anti-Cop Podcast Won Lots of Awards. Is Any of It True?September 23rd, 2025 The acclaimed show ‘Empire City’ uses some of the darkest moments of the distant past to discredit today’s New York Police Department. By Mike Pesca |  The New York Times and the Case of the Missing KnifeMarch 24, 2025 When the cops recently shot a man in the New York subway, the media portrayed it as a classic police injustice. It was anything but. By Mike Pesca |  A Big Panic Over Tiny PlasticsApril 23, 2024 Science can detect increasingly small particles of plastic in our air and water. That doesn't mean it's bad for you. By Mike Pesca |
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 The HR-ification of the Democratic PartyNovember 12, 2024 The party of norms, procedure, bureaucracy, DEI initiatives, rule following, language policing, and compliance. ​ By Mike Pesca |
COLLABORATIONS.
Twenty-two notable writers
including Bob Sullivan, Abby Ellin, Mike Pesca, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Louisa Hall, and Gay Talese—examine the untold stories of the losers, and in doing so reveal something raw and significant about what it means to be human.
“In their anthology LOSERS: Dispatches From the Other Side of the Scoreboard, the editors Mary Pilon and Louisa Thomas amass a diverse collection of essays and stories about people who have largely been ignored…. Highlights include Mike Pesca’s “Losing on Purpose,” which highlights moments in sports when losing can emerge as a viable strategy. ‘It turns out that sometimes winning in the end requires losing along the way,’ Pesca writes.”
- Oskar Garcia, deputy sports editor, The New York Times
