Kushner writes stories that focus on ordinary people, illuminating how their lives are shaped - and misshaped - by the privileged and the powerful.
His career as a foreign correspondent began in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. There, he conducted award-winning investigations exposing illegal deportation schemes and fraudulent foreign aid.
For nearly a decade, he has reported from Nairobi as an Overseas Press Club fellow with the Associated Press. He covered the Al-Shabab Westgate Mall terrorist attack and most recently, witnessed protests under fire in the capital city.
“In Nairobi, where I live, police shot tear gas at a reporter and arrested journalists who were attempting to inform the public about Kenya’s violent crackdown on unarmed civilians, which left at least 23 people dead,” said Kushner. “Meanwhile, Kenya’s government threatened to shut down a TV news station and appears to have imposed an internet blackout to prevent the public from learning the truth.”
Kushner is a graduate of the School’s M.A. Politics program. His master’s thesis, China’s Congo Plan, was published by the Pulitzer Center and favorably reviewed in the New York Review of Books.