Vox Continues to Expand Its Newsroom With New Hires and Promotions

Swati Sharma, editor-in-chief of Vox, announced the promotions of Constance Grady to senior correspondent, Aja Romano to the next level of staff writer, and Sean Illing to senior correspondent. In addition, Vox welcomes two exciting new hires, Allie Volpe, who joins as a senior reporter, and Izzie Ramirez, Deputy Editor at Future Perfect.

Thanks to her incisive cultural analysis, Constance Grady has made a name for herself. Her celebrity coverage is a must-read, from explainers to her Purity Chronicles series, a genuinely unique, best-in-class examination of the ’90s and ’00s. Likewise, her book coverage — notably the Vox Book Club, which she conceived of and helms — is a constant delight and comfort to readers everywhere. Constance first joined Vox in 2016 as a fellow, joining full time in 2017.

Aja Romano will continue to build on their fantastic, thoughtful coverage of the moral questions inherent to cultural debates, which has recently included explaining the faux-controversy over Turning Red, multiple thoughtful looks at the state of comedy, a beautiful piece for the Forgiveness Project about the state of grace, and an explainer about where “groomer” as a slur really comes from. Romano first joined Vox in 2016 and has established themselves as an authority on ethics in culture.

Since joining Vox in 2016, Sean Illing has become recognized as one of the best interviewers in the business, helping Vox build a reputation as a home for good-faith arguments and thoughtful analysis. His Q&As dive into some of the biggest topics we all think about, from the future of democracy, to our misinformation crisis, to the racial, class, and social divides that have defined American life, to what it means to live a meaningful life. Last summer, he took over as a regular host for the Vox Conversations podcast, where he brought his signature approach to humane, generous conversation to our podcast audience.

Joining the expanding Vox team will be Allie Volpe and Izzie Ramirez.

Allie Volpe joins Vox as a senior reporter, focusing on service journalism. She has already written several stories for Vox as a contributor, including why community matters so much — and how to find yours, how to deal with money discrepancies between friends, and whether a post-vax Covid-19 infection means you can start living it up again. Previously, Allie was a freelance writer and has contributed to The Atlantic, the New York Times, Vice, Rolling Stone, and more.

Izzie Ramirez will be joining Vox as Deputy Editor at Future Perfect. Future Perfect covers the world through a particular prism: What are the best ways to do good in this world? In her new role, Izzie will manage Future Perfect’s fellowship program and lead the production of the Future Perfect newsletter. Izzie is currently the managing editor at Spoon University, a food publication. In addition, she has written freelance pieces for Eater, Gothamist, Vice, Bitch Media, and the New York Times.