Adam Matthews believes that facts and figures, while crucial, should never overwhelm the narrative. He loves covering social issues, scam stories and China, which he suspects will be much harder after the Beijing Olympics.

Matthews was born in South Africa during apartheid. He grew up in a Toronto suburb, where he became conversational in Jamaican patois, rolled with underachievers and learned the wonders of Hong Kong-style crispy noodles.

After earning his MSJ from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism, he decamped for New York a decade ago. Since then he’s written for GOOD, Spin, Esquire.com, The Village Voice and The Globe and Mail, lectured at his alma mater and become a frequent contributor to BBC radio. He has won the 2004 Press Club of Long Island's Feature Award and been anthologized in De Capo Press’ Best Music Writing of 2007.

He lives on a convivial, non-landmark Brooklyn block with his wife, Jocelyn Baun, and their beloved non-breed standard Shiba Inu, Dylan. In his free time, he enjoys low-budget ethnic food, mid-range wine bars and meeting people with a story to tell.