How do I repair my marriage? How can I strengthen my friendships? Catherine Pearson, a writer on the Well desk, helps readers find answers to these questions and more.
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For Catherine Pearson, no topic is taboo. As a reporter on the Well desk of The New York Times, she has written about sexual libido differences in relationships, the male loneliness epidemic and postpartum depression.
Every now and then, something really hits home.
“I had a lot of friends who were razzing me, like, ‘You’re the person writing a 5-Day Friendship Challenge?’” Ms. Pearson said in an interview. “I’m pretty introverted, but I am making more of an effort now.”
Ms. Pearson joined The Times in the spring of 2022 from The Huffington Post, where she spent 11 years writing about gender and health. Her coverage for Well focuses on families, romantic relationships and friendships, with an emphasis on forging better connections.
”It’s everything that matters to people,” she said of her beat. “I try to be mindful of not giving the same advice you read over and over, like, ‘Put yourself out there.”
In an interview from her home in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, Ms. Pearson discussed the challenges of finding sources and one piece of advice that has stuck with her. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
Where did your journalism career begin?
My first writing job was at a boating magazine, of all places. I was fresh out of college and needed to make money. It ended up being an interesting place to learn the ins and outs of journalism, partly because I had absolutely no idea what I was writing about. I had to learn very technical boating vocabulary. At the time, the outlet was also getting decimated by layoffs. So I ended up doing things that a 22-year-old had no business doing, like helping ship a magazine to the printer and signing off on final proofs of issues.
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