David J. Unger

Writing

I write features, essays, and reviews.

My work has appeared in The Chicago Tribune, The Guardian, The Atlantic, The Christian Science Monitor, and other publications. My essay “Fail Again” for The Point Magazine was awarded a Pushcart Prize and was a notable essay in Best American Essays.

essay

Hung in Counterbalance

The Lamp

I found myself in a plastic-covered bedroom, boiling decades of paint off wood with a heat gun, wearing a half-face respirator and a headlight to illuminate the details.



op-ed

Dear Cupich, Have Mercy on the Latin Mass

Chicago Tribune

There’d be no more celebrations of the Tridentine Mass at St. Mary’s. Nor would there be in most of Chicagoland.



review

Unvirtuous Reality

Today's American Catholic

Pixels, networks, algorithms, and fantasies subjugate the material, the tangible, the body—the real.



essay

I Thought I Knew Him

Commonweal

Finding yourself can feel eerily similar to losing yourself, and both inspire tremendous amounts of fear.



feature

Sensing the City

South Side Weekly

With the Array of Things program, environmental inequity meets urban technology.



essay

American Reams

The Point

You touch a touchscreen, but paper touches you.



review

‘This Blessed Earth’

Undark

Ted Genoways’ book looks at the forces shaping prairie life, including the climate shortsightedness that could give us another Dust Bowl.



feature

Saving America's Broken Prairie

Undark

Scientists call the American prairie one of the most threatened ecosystems on the planet. Will it disappear forever?



report

Can a North Dakota Oil Town Break the Boom-Bust Cycle?

The Atlantic

After oil prices plummeted, Williston residents were left wondering if their city could turn short-term gains into long-term growth.



essay

Fail Again

The Point

The Failure Festival in Boulder, Colorado tries to confront failure on its own terms.



essay

Hung in Counterbalance

The Lamp

I found myself in a plastic-covered bedroom, boiling decades of paint off wood with a heat gun, wearing a half-face respirator and a headlight to illuminate the details.



op-ed

Dear Cupich, Have Mercy on the Latin Mass

Chicago Tribune

There’d be no more celebrations of the Tridentine Mass at St. Mary’s. Nor would there be in most of Chicagoland.



review

Unvirtuous Reality

Today's American Catholic

Pixels, networks, algorithms, and fantasies subjugate the material, the tangible, the body—the real.



essay

I Thought I Knew Him

Commonweal

Finding yourself can feel eerily similar to losing yourself, and both inspire tremendous amounts of fear.



feature

Sensing the City

South Side Weekly

With the Array of Things program, environmental inequity meets urban technology.



essay

American Reams

The Point

You touch a touchscreen, but paper touches you.



review

‘This Blessed Earth’

Undark

Ted Genoways’ book looks at the forces shaping prairie life, including the climate shortsightedness that could give us another Dust Bowl.



feature

Saving America's Broken Prairie

Undark

Scientists call the American prairie one of the most threatened ecosystems on the planet. Will it disappear forever?



report

Can a North Dakota Oil Town Break the Boom-Bust Cycle?

The Atlantic

After oil prices plummeted, Williston residents were left wondering if their city could turn short-term gains into long-term growth.



essay

Fail Again

The Point

The Failure Festival in Boulder, Colorado tries to confront failure on its own terms.