R. Eric Thomas is the author of Here For It, or How to Save Your Soul in America, the YA novel, Kings of B’more, and the biography of Rep. Maxine Waters, Reclaiming Her Time. He is also a television writer (AppleTV+’s Dickinson, FX’s Better Things), a playwright, and the long-running host of The Moth in Philadelphia.

Thomas was a Senior Staff Writer for Elle.com and has written for The New York Times, TIME, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Magazine, and others. You can follow him on his newsletter (“Here For It,” sign up here) Twitter or Instagram (both @oureric).