Chris Sweeney

We're now accepting applications for our next editorial fellowship at Audubon, a six-month gig that provides real magazine-making experience. I learned a ton about writing, editing, and birds during my fellowship and I bet you will, too. audubon.wd503.myworkdayjobs.com/Audubon/job/...

Love to see it! And for those wanting more Roxie, check out: bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

Chris Sweeney will present “The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne ” on Saturday, September 26th!

Oh no.

CAPTCHAs have gotten too hard.

“If I’m getting you a six-figure book advance, I don’t want you to be putting it into ChatGPT,” said a top literary agent. “Go to the fucking library.” nymag.com/intelligence...

RIP Happy.

Come with me to Las Vegas to find out what a health editor thinks of the first games where athletes are allowed to openly use performance enhancing drugs. open.substack.com/pub/overmatt...

Best stock up it'll be Cassowary season before you know it (working my way through this month's @theonion.com)

Hey early career science/environment journos, Audubon magazine is hiring an editorial intern for the summer. Don't worry if you're new to birds, you'll learn. audubon.wd503.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Audubo...

Got hooked on Kidder from Mountains Beyond Mountains right before I joined PIH. I then devoured almost everything he wrote. Among the best narrative nf writers ever. So stylish and so thorough. What a body of work to leave behind. www.theguardian.com/books/2026/m...

10/10 incredible that Roxie did so much while navigating a sexist, elitist field and persevered through it all. Innovating both how birds are sexed, IDing them from feather structure, and saving so much of the Smithsonian's ornithology collection from decades of neglect. And her forensic work! Wow!

Terrific ep of @bipisci.bsky.social on forensic #ornithology traces the fascinating life of world's 1st "feather detective" Roxie Laybourne w/ author @cbsweeney.bsky.social here: bigpicturescience.org/episodes/bir... Also feat. Kristen Ruegg on using feathers to map migratory routes of #birds 🐦‍⬛ 🦜

After *years* of unpaid labor, the North Carolina State Museum officially appointed Roxie Laybourne as its staff taxidermist in 1937. I was delighted to find this clip while doing research for The Feather Detective. #womenshistorymonth #taxidermy #birds #BreakingGroundSkinningBirds

This was a lot of fun.

🍕🍕🍕

Elton John's private jet narrowly avoids bird strike in UK www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

An Amazon cargo plane made an emergency landing after striking a bird at ~3000 feet moments after taking off from Cincinnati. Cockpit filled with smoke but landed safely... www.wlwt.com/article/resp...

A 1960 plane crash in Boston Harbor launched the career of the 'feather detective' and reshaped aviation safety. How flying today is safer because of her: https://www.wcvb.com/article/boston-plane-crash-feather-detective-roxie-laybourne/69548249 

Highly recommended read! I’m biased since Roxie has always been a hero of mine. But I’ve got to say this book makes you a bigger Roxie fan no matter what you know of her. And whether you’re a #bird lover or not too. She was such an incredible person that overcame so much and accomplished so much.

🤯 Such a freaking honor to see The Feather Detective on this list alongside some terrific books from absolute giants who I’ve long admired. Crazy. Thank you @sciam.bsky.social !

So great and gratifying to The Feather Detective on this list. Thanks @npr.org —and everyone who has picked up a copy or asked their library to do so. What a year.

Had such a good time chatting with Nate Swick for the @aba.org podcast. Talked a bit about repoting the book and a lot about Roxie and how wild a ride she had. www.aba.org/09-46-the-fe...

As a Somerville resident, this is an incredibly amusing rabbit hole. And my god there are some A++ quotes in that Seattle PI piece.

Fascinating ABA podcast this week, reviewing the life of Roxie Laybourne, an amazing female scientist who “may be the most influential ornithologist you've never heard of”. #Ornithology

We were thrilled to have author @cbsweeney.bsky.social talk to us about his book "The Feather Detective" on the 300th episode of the KPL Podcast. Listen here: kplpodcast.buzzsprout.com/1278428/epis...

If you’ve not read The Feather Detective yet, what are you waiting for? You too may be inspired to volunteer to skin #birds at your local #museum. It has murders, airplane crashes, and the bad ass that is Roxie Laybourne Order here: bookshop.org/p/books/the-... #mystery #truecrime #wildlife

A duck hunter in Maine got stuck in mud and nearly died last week. This is exactly what happened to Roxie Laybourne when she was collecting specimens off NC coast circa 1930s. Must be terrifying. people.com/hunter-rescu...

Whoever put together the NYT list of most influential magazine covers entirely overlooked city mags.

The Feather Detective – how Roxie Laybourne pioneered forensic ornithology www.themarginalian.org/2025/09/30/r...

Dudes cracked me up

Jeez talk about serendipity, from @washingtonpost.com review of Bobbi Brown’s new memoir.

What a good cover from @science.org

If you're a fan of interesting nonfiction, learn more about Chris Sweeney's The Feather Detective, about Roxie Laybourne and the field of forensic ornithology, from our recent conversation about it at @brooklinebooksmith.bsky.social www.c-span.org/program/book...

Awesome to see The Feather Detective on this @wsj.com Best Book Reviews of August list. www.wsj.com/arts-culture... If you're into #birds #mystery #history and #truecrime, this is a book for you.

Cracking the code of the feather barbules was the most important task she'd ever been assigned, the success of which could possibly save lives and make air travel safer for everyone. @cbsweeney.bsky.social, The Feather Detective. Fabulous book about Roxie Laybourne! #SundaySentence #Booksky #birds

The Audience Award! Congratulations to @cbsweeney.bsky.social! He won this week's audience award for "She Was a Quiet Bird Expert. Then She Was Called to Investigate a Murder in Maine." at @bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com/2025/06/23/m...

❤️❤️❤️

"Her findings helped successfully prosecute murderers, poachers, and even a former grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, who tarred and feathered a civil rights activist." Chris Sweeney for @bostonglobe.com: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/06/23/m...

This is so cool. A full-page review in @science.org!

My father died last week. He spent 26 yrs in the NYPD and had *many* stories. Him being among the first responders to John Lennon’s murder was among my favorite. I’d somehow never seen this illustration before his passing.

reverse heist movie where a single snake has to chase all the priests back into ireland

So awesome to see The Feather Detective on this!

New books published this week include a nostalgic graphic history of video games, a queer, complicated and hopeful novel set in Nigeria, and a biography of a forensic ornithologist.

So fortunate to work with the Audubon editors from time to time. Check out this stunning piece on some fun artifacts I came across while researching The Feather Detective (out today, plz order a copy!)

Deadly collisions: how airports try (and fail) to keep birds out of plane engines

While reporting out my book on Roxie Laybourne, I spent some time shadowing the guy at Boston Logan whose job is to keep birds out of flight paths. Excited to see it in @theguardian.com today and still thinking about how much it must hurt to get bit by an otter www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...