Writing for Pop Culture Courses

Wednesdays via Zoom, 7-9:30 PM EST

September 16 - October 21, 2026

Size: 12 max

$650 Early Bird pricing (E-mail to sign up)

About the Instructor

Ira’s debut essay collection, Pure Innocent Fun, was sold at auction in 2021 to Random House and became a national bestseller. The book was called "humorous and perceptive" by The Washington Post, and Ira was called "a brilliant critical voice" by Kirkus Reviews. Ira is the recipient of two Webby Awards (People’s Voice Award 2021 & 2023) and an iHeartRadio Award for Best Pop Culture Podcast 2022. He has been a staff writer at BuzzFeed, The Daily Beast, Vulture, and MTV News. He has also written for GQ, California Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Interview, and more.

The Course

This workshop is designed for beginner or experienced writers to develop personal essays. Through writing exercises, assigned readings, and conversation, you’ll discover new ways of developing your voice and approaching pop culture to tell your own story.

Each writer will leave with a polished 2,500–4,000-word essay that combines memoir, criticism, and cultural analysis. The aim is to write something that could realistically be submitted to outlets or used in a non-fiction book proposal.

Alongside workshop discussions, we’ll read from a range of writers like Joan Didion, Chuck Klosterman, Hilton Als, Wesley Morris, Tressie McMillan Cottom, John Paul Brammer, and more. Each student will receive a copy of Pure Innocent Fun and the proposal that sold to Random House.

Writing for Pop Culture will meet weekly from

The Syllabus

Week 1: Taste is a Biography

We'll introduce ourselves to one another and learn everyone's personal goals for the course and what they've been working on. Discussion topics this week will include finding your voice, moving beyond hot takes, why criticism begins with curiosity, and the difference between opinion and insight.

Week 2: Getting Personal without Oversharing

Readers don’t care what happened; they care what it means to you, and why it should mean something to them. We'll go over assignments and discuss memoir versus confession, using humor and vulnerability, and finding an emotional engine.

Week 3: Pop Culture as Cultural History

We will discuss why pop culture, celebrity, and the internet are worth writing about. We'll dive into music criticism and writing beyond fandom. In class: each student will analyze a piece of pop culture as if they're writing about American history.

Week 4: Voice!

We will discuss how to translate your voice to the page, writing funny, and knowing when to be sincere. We will edit one page together, line by line, so students can learn how professional editors think. Students will peer critique first drafts of essays and leave with concrete revision notes.

Week 5: Editing

We will discuss structure, openings, endings, and transitions. Students will peer critique first drafts of essays and leave with concrete revision notes.

Week 6: Publishing

We will discuss turning good writing into a career, pitching to editors, writing newsletters, freelancing, and developing a public voice without becoming "content." Students will read excerpts from their final essays. We'll discuss opportunities for revisions and what happens beyond the course.