The Atlantic is announcing six early-career journalists who have been selected for a yearlong editorial fellowship program: Laney Crawley, Catherine Goodman, Nora Lowe, Jack Rodriquez-Vars, Jacob Smollen, and Katherine Weyback. This is The Atlantic’s first class of fellows since 2020; the six joining next month were selected from a pool of more than 1,300 applicants.
During their year in the newsroom, the fellows will be embedded with teams to support The Atlantic’s journalism; sharpen their writing, editing, and research skills; and deepen their awareness of the industry.
Meet our new fellows:
Laney Crawley graduated this spring with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied journalism, media, and English. During her time at UNC, she served as editor in chief of The Daily Tar Heel and wrote a senior capstone project examining gender, moral judgment, and the French fashion industry during World War II. Most recently, she was an editorial intern at Apartment Therapy, and she previously served as an American Society of Magazine Editors intern at People magazine. Laney grew up in Rockville, Maryland.
Catherine Goodman is a recent graduate of Emory University, where she pursued a double major in English and art history. In addition to her studies, she served as the managing editor of the Arts & Life section and the Editorial Board of The Emory Wheel, which received a Corbin Gwaltney Award for Best All-Around Student Newspaper from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2024. Her music column, Cat’s Collection, also received a regional Mark of Excellence Award. Previously, Catherine served as the Arts in Review Bartley Fellow at The Wall Street Journal. Catherine grew up in Savannah, Georgia.
Nora Lowe is a recent graduate of Amherst College, where she received a B.A. in English and Environmental Studies, as well as a certificate in Coastal and Marine Sciences. She helped revitalize and lead the College’s science-writing magazine, The Amherst STEM Network, and wrote an honors thesis tracing America’s evolving support for nature based on public-service programs. Previously, she interned in newsrooms at Brookhaven National Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and The Examiner. Nora is from Armonk, New York.
Jack Rodriquez-Vars is a recent graduate of Yale University, where he studied religion and English with respective concentrations in New Testament studies and nonfiction writing. He has covered homelessness and city politics for The Sacramento Bee, researched felony murder and asylum law for the Investigative Reporting Lab at Yale, and edited various campus publications, including The New Journal, which was awarded Best Ongoing Student Magazine in the Northeast by the Society of Professional Journalists. Jack is from Montclair, New Jersey.
Jacob Smollen is joining The Atlantic after spending nine months with KCUR, Kansas City’s public radio station, where he produced episodes of the station’s daily news podcast, Kansas City Today, and its history podcast, A People’s History of Kansas City. Previously, Jacob wrote for The Provincetown Independent, covering subjects ranging from the economics of oyster farms to baseball. Jacob graduated from Brown University in 2025 with a B.A. in International and Public Affairs. There, he ran the podcast team and served as a city- and state-politics editor for the Brown Daily Herald. He grew up in Philadelphia, and learned to love audio journalism at the city’s local NPR affiliate, WHYY.
Katherine Weyback is a recent graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, where she was valedictorian of her class. While there, she covered topics such as the fierce debate over e-bikes in New York City and the plight of dogsledders losing snow in Alaska. Before pursuing journalism, she was a hiking and skiing guide in Montana, and she attended the University of Virginia, where her studies focused on the Indian subcontinent. She is thrilled to be returning to The Atlantic, having served as an associate on the Talent & Culture team in 2024 and 2025, as well as coming home to the Washington, D.C., area where she was raised.