Nicholas Slayton
Contributing Editor
Nicholas Slayton is a Contributing Editor for Task & Purpose. In addition to covering breaking news, he writes about history, shipwrecks, and the military’s hunt for unidentified anomalous phenomenon (formerly known as UFOs). He currently runs the Task & Purpose West Coast Bureau from Los Angeles.
Highlights
- Expertise in conflicts and inequality around the world.
- Lead shipwreck and UAP reporter.
- Absolute rabid history fan, particularly of absurd military screw ups.
- Cinema enthusiast.
Experience
Slayton covered the events of the Arab Spring while working for the nonprofit Aslan Media. He has worked for The Atlantic, Al Jazeera and his writing has been featured in The New Republic, The American Prospect, Architectural Digest, and The Daily Beast. He was a reporter with Los Angeles Downtown News from 2015-2019 and then a co-editor of the newspaper from 2019-2020. He joined Task & Purpose in 2022.
Education
Slayton graduated from the University of Southern California in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in print & digital journalism.
Words of wisdom
“The future is unwritten.” – Joe Strummer.
Notable Work
- Gorillas, Guns, and Oil: A Journey Inside Virunga National Park The Atlantic
- With Its Final, Harrowing Season, ‘The Expanse’ Sticks the Landing The Daily Beast
- How Los Angeles Voters Delivered a Referendum on Economic Inequality The New Republic
- Will Los Angeles’s Toxic Politics Fail the Homeless Again? The New Republic
- ‘How to Blow Up a Pipeline’ and the Case for Radical, Direct Action on Climate The American Prospect