The Making of an Editor

Rachel Epstein of Men's Health on features, ideas, and growth

When the wildfires in Los Angeles broke out in January, my editor at Men’s Health, Rachel Epstein, sent me a note: “I’ve been thinking about how we can cover the LA wildfires in a meaningful way and this idea came to mind.” She was interested in a deep dive on an incarcerated firefighter on the frontlines.

Rachel and I had first crossed paths when she was an editor at Marie Claire. When she emailed about the Los Angeles fires, we were in the middle of closing a story about a doctor and a biohacker trying to treat their Long Covid. We also worked together in 2024 on a profile of an unlikely hero of the Maui wildfires.

LA is closer to home than Maui, but I felt there would be no shortage of excellent coverage, especially since the region is home to so many journalists and storytellers. I had not planned to pitch any freelance pieces about the fires. Still, Rachel’s idea felt important, and she was right when she noted that many of the stories about incarcerated firefighters addressed the big issues like pay disparities and dangers, but felt more zoomed out than zoomed in.

Also, I just really like working with Rachel. Today’s Q&A is with her, and I hope you read it and get to know her story sensibilities. If you have a feature idea, pitch her.

I learned in our chat that she graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School—years before the 2018 massacre. At the time, she was an emerging editor at Marie Claire. But she watched her hometown of Parkland, Florida reel from the tragedy, and began to think of how to cover the story.

I signed on for the firefighter assignment. But as a freelancer, it is still your responsibility to find the people and get access. I’ve had luck interviewing inmates in prisons, and even emailing back and forth with them via JPay in the past. But those in prison fire camps are more difficult to access.

Where to Start

I tracked down lists of firefighters and their inmate numbers. My plan was to write letters to each and see if I could get on their visitation lists. I also searched across social media and Intelius for family members who could more easily connect me. I had no luck going through the corrections department, and never assumed that would work anyway.

Via my searches, I connected to a resident who gave me direct contact info for an incarcerated firefighter who battled the LA wildfires in Altadena for 10 days straight. I will let you read the story about Fausto Lopez, “The Fire of Freedom,” which published online this week, to consider how I got to interview him in person at such length. The piece is also narrated for audio at Apple News+, and in the print magazine later this month.

But here is what I want to add about Rachel: In addition to being a great narrative editor, always thinking about big ideas, if you are writing for her, she has your back. When the Daily Mail ripped off the reporting I had done for our 7,500-word Long Covid feature—conducting no interviews with the subjects and also getting facts wrong, upsetting one of the main subjects—Rachel informed Hearst lawyers, who contacted the tabloid.

This is not the first time the Daily Mail has done this with my reporting. But when I raised the issue with previous editors, I was told nothing could be done. Rachel didn’t accept that. Two days later, she emailed me: “They removed the article!”

Difficult Decisions

The piece about Fausto, the incarcerated firefighter, involved hours of going through his thoughts and experiences to write with a measure of interiority, and preparing him for publication using a trauma-informed approach. But also, he was a juvenile when the crimes for which he was sentenced occurred. His record would be expunged upon release from probation. Did we want to document them in this story about firefighting? Was it even necessary? Also, juvenile records are sealed. We could not go through fact-checking without the records. To get them, he had to agree to share them with us.

I had multiple separate conversations with Fausto and Rachel about how this story would read both ways—with or without these details. A flawed hero or a seemingly flawless one. Leaving it out, as Rachel noted, also allowed the reader to imagine a crime worse than it was. Fausto ultimately told me he thought that ignoring his past would signal to people he had hurt that he did not have remorse. And he did. Every day.

It all required some very intense discussions—all the way up to the deadline, and again, you can read the piece to learn how it turned out!

Rachel Epstein

I hope you enjoy this Q&A with Rachel, who is the deputy editor at Men's Health, where she oversees online content, edits longform features and service packages, and helps shape the brand’s digital editorial strategy. Previously, she held roles at Marie Claire, where she wrote and edited culture, politics, and lifestyle stories, as well as at Coveteur, where she oversaw the site's daily editorial operations. She lives in New York City.

Rachel Epstein

This Q&A has been edited for clarity.

How is life right now? Editors are always so busy, are you in the middle of a million things?

We just closed the Women's Health summer issue. I edited a package on perimenopause, which is just so fascinating, because women are just not taught much about their bodies. Basically what everyone classifies as menopause is really perimenopause, you can be in that stage anywhere from two years to 10 years, and it can start as early as your mid-30s. It’s wild.

Could you tell us a little bit about your role now? Because you’ve been editing features for Men’s Health—and now you are also editing for Women's Health. What is your job right now? What are you in charge of?

I started at Men’s Health two and a half years ago, as their deputy digital editor, primarily overseeing and editing content across the site and working closely with our executive digital editor on site strategy. When I started, editing features was the thing I did in the background, aside from my main work, because I was so passionate about it.

I just pitched more and wanted to work on those high-impact stories. As our team shifted and roles evolved, at one point my editor-in-chief basically said: “I want to give you the resources to focus on these types of stories.” So I’m still technically a deputy editor. But a large portion of my time is spent thinking about those larger ideas and editing those longform stories, both for print and digital. The Men’s Health and Women’s Health teams recently merged, so I occasionally work on stories for Women’s Health as well.

What’s the hierarchy of editors in a magazine?

It’s different at every publication, but at Men’s Health, we are one team across print and digital (we used to be split into a print team and a digital team, as were lots of other publications). We've been integrated for many years now. So we have our editor-in-chief, then we have two executive editors, two deputy editors, and so on. It actually doesn’t feel super-hierarchical here–we’re all sort of on the same playing field just trying to do really good work together.

Before that, I know you were at Marie Claire. But how did you get into editing? Were you in journalism and writing before that?

I’ve known since I was 12 years old that I wanted to be in the magazine industry. I went to Florida State University, and they notoriously do not have a journalism program. So I majored in English with a concentration in editing, writing, and media, and I also majored in public relations. I essentially got to see two sides of this world, where these professions often intersect.

After graduating from Florida State, I was looking for an entry-level editorial job. I had done editorial internships at DuJour and Harper’s BAZAAR previously, but I could not find an editorial assistant role to save my life. Basically, I was like: How am I supposed to get this full-time experience?

It actually ended up that there was an editorial fellow position opening at Marie Claire at the time. I applied, and I got it. So I started there. It was only supposed to be for six months. About three months into my fellowship, it just so happened that the assistant digital editor at the time was leaving her role. My manager asked: “Do you want to apply for this?” And I'm like: Yeah. I want to stay here!

So I applied. But they still opened up the position to the public, and I was in the running against other people. It wasn't a surefire thing by any means. Long story short, I ended up getting the job. I started as an assistant digital editor, then I eventually became an associate digital editor, and then a digital editor. I was there for four and a half years.

When I first started at Marie Claire, I wrote a lot of SEO content. But I just kept pitching stories and packages that were outside of my day-to-day tasks. Within a couple of months into my role as assistant editor, I pitched an interview with Donald Trump’s then–chief White House photographer, Shealah Craighead. My digital director approved the idea, and I basically interviewed her 48 hours later. It was the first public interview she’d done. That really set the stage for the types of pieces I wanted to work on.

Often for writers, you have a beat, but the trick is to also prove you can do something beyond your beat. And sometimes you have to do that beyond the daily work that you're doing, too.

Yes, and I will say, I’ve really always been a generalist. At Marie Claire, I was primarily covering culture, politics, and lifestyle. At some points, I even did some fashion and beauty. I was getting mixed advice at the time. Some people told me: “Oh, you want to have a specialty.” Others said: “No, you want to be well-versed across the board.” So I never really fell into a specific beat. I was just always interested in telling great stories.

What made you lean toward editing?

I’ve always considered myself a big-picture thinker who pays attention to detail—I realize this is a paradox. I love that editing essentially combines those two traits. Also, working with writers to problem-solve, elevate the prose, and bring a story to life is just so rewarding. Even though I had “editor” in my title at MC, though, I was probably spending 75 percent of the time writing, and 25 percent editing.

I had to learn on the job, essentially. I read a lot to see how stories are structured and what’s compelling. I also had a really great mentor at the time, Danielle McNally, now executive editor at InStyle, who was the features director at Marie Claire. I learned a lot from the way she edited me. I figured out how to take these tips and apply them to my own editing work. I feel like these days, that's the only way you learn, because otherwise who’s going to teach you?

When you started to think about the bigger, ambitious ideas that you were interested in, how did you approach pitching those—or even looking for models of the kinds of big-picture stories or narratives that you were interested in doing more of?

At Marie Claire, we did a lot of deep dives. Even before I got there, I remember they did a whole “Women and Guns” package. I thought: Okay, I want to be able to produce that kind of work.

In 2018, about three months into my full-time role at Marie Claire, the Parkland shooting happened—and that’s actually the high school I went to: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. I graduated years before the shooting happened, but my former teachers and a couple of my friends’ younger siblings were in the school; my parents still live in the community. It was really devastating.

Being at Marie Claire when it occurred became a way for me to use my platform to advocate for gun violence prevention and cover politics in a way I had never expected. I interviewed some of the March for Our Lives co-founders, and those were the kinds of pieces I was pitching during that time, when I had just started out. That was really formative for me. It gave me this energy to pursue that kind of reporting, and eventually conceptualize stories like our “Why I’m Voting” series.

Those are the kinds of stories that are meaningful and memorable. How did you end up moving to Men’s Health?

About three and a half years into my tenure at Marie Claire, a company acquired the magazine from Hearst. I moved over to the new company, and I was there for almost a year before I decided to leave. But honestly, it wasn’t so much about the new company itself. It was more about the fact that I had known the audience so well, and I had felt like I had accomplished so much at the brand. I told the stories that I wanted to tell. And I thought: I need to shift. I want to progress in my career. How can I do that?

I felt like the only way was to leave and go somewhere else. Because also, I had started at Marie Claire so young that the people still saw me as that young girl. They always had that perception of me. So I thought: I need to go somewhere. I need to grow.

I went to a smaller brand called Coveteur, which does a lot of fashion, beauty, and culture coverage. I was there for six months as their managing editor, then they did a restructuring and laid me off. Classic brutal industry move.

But there, I was also getting even more experience too. Totally different company, totally different vibe. But I was editing their digital cover stories, bringing in new writers, streamlining workflow, and doing that kind of stuff. Men’s Health happened after that.

I saw they had an opening for a deputy editor. Granted, I was a little hesitant to apply, because I had never written or edited for a male audience before, but I decided to view it as a challenge. Our thing is, we’re always trying to help men adapt to change. And as long as you have that outlook, you’ll thrive in the role. So I applied, and I ended up getting the job.

Is Richard Dorment the editor-in-chief that you were hired under? I remember he edited me before when he was at Wired.

Yes. He was at Wired before Men’s Health, and then before that he was at Esquire.

Interesting. See, I never knew I was going to write for Men’s Health. I would’ve said Women’s Health probably before Men’s Health. But it’s because of you, honestly. You push me to do even more interiority and scenes. Is that something that you really love, these kinds of in-depth narratives?

I do. And Rich, who you mentioned, has a features background. I feel lucky that he champions these kinds of stories. I learned that very quickly coming into the role. He was all about features. And I love doing them. So I told myself: Okay, I have this unique opportunity to do these types of stories. Why would I not do them? I just went all in.

What are you looking for in writers and when reviewing pitches? I think people sometimes get caught up in the title and assume it has to be about a very specific health issue, which can limit how they think about stories. But the ones I’ve done with you are narrative-driven first.

I’m currently looking for stories in three main buckets: First: rich narrative features—interesting characters, compelling storylines, dramatic storytelling, suspense. Second: in-depth and unexpected profiles of people with fascinating or even provocative backgrounds. Honestly, those tend to have the best stories. Third: reported investigations. That’s a space where I’d love to do more. I feel like that’s a gap in what we’re publishing right now, and I’d love to get more of those pieces both in print and online.

It’s tricky, though. On one hand, I’m constantly doing outreach to writers, letting them know: “Hey, I’m here, I want your stories.” But honestly, 90 percent of the time, I’m the one ideating the stories and then assigning them out.

Do you think that’s because you have a specific idea of what you’re reaching for in the kind of pieces you're doing, and maybe some people pitching you haven’t quite figured that out yet?

It’s a mix. I think there’s a misconception, like you mentioned, about what Men’s Health is. People might assume, “Oh, it’s a bro-y health and fitness magazine, it’s not going to be a fit for my feature.” So that’s one issue. The second is: it’s really hard to find good writers these days who can do this kind of in-depth writing and reporting. A lot of people have left the industry or moved into other work.

So are there any stories you’ve worked on, either at Marie Claire or Men’s Health, that really stand out to you? I know you’ve had some National Magazine Award nominations.

I’ve worked closely with Ryan D’Agostino, who’s an incredible writer. He’s actually the editorial director of projects at Hearst, and he works across the brands. He used to be editor-in-chief at Popular Mechanics. We recently did a piece on the first human patient to receive Elon Musk’s Neuralink brain chip.

Another story I loved editing was a profile of representative Jamie Raskin. You wouldn’t expect us to profile someone in Congress, but he had such a heartbreaking story. He lost his son to suicide, then was diagnosed with cancer, again, and then the insurrection happened, all back to back. He just had this incredible, unrelenting optimism. Andrea Stanley wrote it. I knew her from her work at Cosmo.

And going back to what you said earlier, my sports betting package will always be my baby. That was my first National Magazine Award nomination.

How did that come together?

I pitched it about a month into working here. I had seen how sports gambling impacted my dad growing up, and more recently, my brother. Then there was the widespread legalization and how normalized it had become. Just watching games and seeing all the betting ads, it felt like a massive issue no one was really talking about. So we did a two-part package: one part on the human cost of the sports betting boom, and another part on how to get help if you’re struggling with a gambling addiction.

It was a really rewarding experience. I actually wrote the lead essay for the package in addition to editing the rest of the package. After it ran, I got emails, including one from a mother whose son had died by suicide after getting into gambling debt. She thanked us for raising awareness. Getting messages like that reminds me why we do this work. That’s what fuels me to keep going.

It also sounds like you’re an idea machine. I always tell my students: you have to have ideas in this business. So much of standing out as a journalist comes down to your ideas. Did it take you time to figure that out, or does it just come naturally because you’re curious?

I think it’s because I’m curious. I’m not someone who can sit in a room and force myself to come up with ideas. They usually hit me at random moments. In the shower, walking down the street, just observing the world. And I’m always thinking: What’s the Men’s Health way into this topic? What’s the untold angle?

Like with the LA wildfires, we were seeing a lot of coverage about incarcerated firefighters, but not much in-depth reporting on them. It was always zoomed out: “Here’s this controversial program,” but little beyond that.

So you’re sort of triangulating: what fits Men’s Health, what’s swirling in the zeitgeist, and what’s original, human, and emotionally resonant?

Exactly. We also have a big audience through Apple News now, so we’re reaching more than just our core male readership. The best stories, I think, are the ones that resonate broadly. Men, women, anyone who reads it.

I actually wanted to ask about Apple News. When did that partnership start? I enjoy Apple News. I get all the magazines in one place and can listen to audio versions too.

As you know, the whole industry has seen a steep drop in traffic, mostly because platforms like Facebook and Google just aren’t distributing our content the way they used to. For a while, it was really discouraging to publish stories and see how few people were reading them compared to the past.

Partnering with Apple News changed that. It gave us a wider platform to reach readers. It reinvigorated me. Even if only a small number of people read the story on our site, many more were seeing it through Apple News.

The metrics are interesting. Sometimes you’ll see hundreds of thousands of engaged minutes but only 35,000 page views. That shows the story is really resonating though… people are staying on the page, reading deeply.

All our content gets funneled to Apple News, but we also do four special digital issues per year—with four big features in each. We’ve been doing those since spring 2023. That’s when we really began to see strong metrics and used it as a space for our most in-depth features. Men's Health is six print issues and four Apple News+ special issues. Women's Health is four print issues and six Apple News+ issues. So this has been a great way to allocate resources toward stories we’re proud of.

I'm wondering—again, it's not something you go to school for—how you learn how to edit a 6,000 or 7,000-word story? So much of it is just instinct. How do you take one of these longform pieces, a draft, and start to think about how it should flow?

When an editor assigns a story, they have a vision for what they want it to be. But obviously, the reporting can take it somewhere else. I remember when you sent me the draft with the alternating perspectives for the Long COVID story. I was like, that’s freaking genius. I don’t know how we would have been able to do it any other way. It would have been a completely different story if you had just written straight through without the alternating perspectives. I really enjoyed playing with that structure.

With each story I work on, I take the learnings and apply that to the next story. What structure worked well? What didn’t? How can I make this more compelling for the reader? But yeah, I think it depends on the story. It doesn’t always have to be: set a scene, then go backwards, then move forward.

Right. You see all these stories breaking that mold. Some don’t even include the “why are we here” graf until much later.

Yes. And Ryan, the writer I mentioned, he hates nut grafs. You’ll never see one in his writing. I think it’s about preserving each writer’s style while also making sure it fits within the brand identity. Someone mentioned the other day—maybe a fact checker or copy editor—that “in all of Erika’s stories, we use the subject’s first name, and that’s not our usual style.” But I said, “That’s her style. I want to preserve that.” It’s just the vibe.

That’s so funny. So for people trying to get on your radar—writers who read this—how can they connect with you? What’s your process for finding a writer?

Email me please! Send me your amazing ideas. Honestly, even if you’re not sure it’s a fit, pitch anyway. I’ll give feedback. I try to respond to everything I possibly can. As for finding writers, typically, if I read a great story, I’ll reach out and ask if they’re interested in working together and want to pitch me.. I’ll tell them what we’re looking for, and hopefully we collaborate. But often I’ll get on a call with someone, and they seem interested, but I never get a follow-up with pitches. Then I end up ideating and thinking, could this writer be a good fit for that?

And are you actively soliciting narrative ideas for Women’s Health too?

If someone has a great idea for Women’s Health, I’m very much accepting those pitches.

I feel like it takes a certain kind of person—grit, maybe—to stay in the media. What makes you stick with this kind of work?

The industry has rapidly shifted, especially in the past year. You’ve felt that shift too, I’m sure, as a writer. There’s so much uncertainty. We don’t know if people will keep reading longform stories, let alone if they can find them. The way we receive information has changed so much. The algorithm controls so much of what we read and absorb. We don’t know how AI will change our jobs. My biggest fear is someone feeding a 5,500-word piece we worked on into an AI bot, asking it to summarize it, and not even reading the story.

But so much of working in this industry is the ability to adapt to change, and my goal remains the same: to produce high-impact storytelling. I don’t think that’s ever going to change, even if it might look very different.

Last question: Are there areas you want people to pay attention to, as this wild year keeps going?

A big one is how the MAHA era is shaping the world. Stories about key industry players, changing health trends, especially those stories with a narrative arc. The GLP-1 industry is also a big one. The people and innovations within it. Who's leading the growth? Who’s profiting off it? Exploiting it? How is the industry evolving?

It’s certainly an amazing—and crazy—time to work at a health publication. Overall, I want ambitious, capital-B Big Ideas in the worlds of health, culture, wellness, and sports. I tell people: think about what you’d want to read. What haven’t you seen covered? That’s what I want to see pitched.