Welcome to my website, where I detail all of my accomplishments and none of my failings…
In that vein, allow me to tell you about the most meaningful endeavor in my life: Reporting the story of Ben Spencer, an innocent Black man who was convicted in 1987 of killing an affluent white man in Dallas
Bringing Ben Home: A Murder, A Conviction, and The Fight to Redeem American Justice. (Riverhead, 2024)
Amazon's Best Books of 2024
The Christian Science Monitor’s Top 10 non-fiction books of 2024
A story of murder and a rush to judgment, of expediency over truth, and of heroes inside and outside of prison who fought the Texas justice system and won.
On March 26, 1987, Ben Spencer – 22 years old, newly married, with a baby on the way – was arrested for robbing and killing a wealthy white man in Dallas. Nothing connected him to the crime. But he was convicted on the testimony of three witnesses who lied for money and a jailhouse informant who lied for a shorter sentence. He was sentenced to life in prison. This is a true crime story, but it’s also a history of the modern innocence movement, which revealed how easy it is to convict an innocent person and how impossible it is to undo the mistake.
“Ben Spencer’s story is beautifully told by a gifted and determined journalist: There is great suffering, injustice, corruption, waste, and, in the end, redemption. Barbara Bradley Hagerty’s vivid account of his nightmare is simply unforgettable.”
Now, to get a sense of my failings, you can read my second book, Life Reimagined: The Science, Art, and Opportunity of Midlife.
The book (Riverhead, 2016) sprung from my own midlife crisis (or so I thought), and chronicles my deep and often inelegant dive into the research to discover how to thrive at midlife.
A dynamic and inspiring exploration of the new science that is redrawing the future for people in their forties, fifties, and sixties for the better—and for good.
There’s no such thing as an inevitable midlife crisis, Barbara Bradley Hagerty writes in this provocative, hopeful book. It’s a myth, an illusion. New scientific research explodes the fable that midlife is a time when things start to go downhill for everybody. In fact, midlife can be a great new adventure, when you can embrace fresh possibilities, purposes, and pleasures.
“Please don’t have a midlife crisis. But if you do, drop everything and read this book. This generous, wise and often funny book will leave you revitalized—and actually looking forward to life’s second act.”
My first book, Fingerprints of God: The Search for the Science of Spirituality, was also borne of a crisis – this one, a semi-spiritual crisis.
Fingerprints (Riverhead, 2009) was my attempt to answer the questions: Is there more than this? – and, even more ambitiously: Is there any evidence of God?
New York Times Bestseller
A dynamic and inspiring exploration of the new science that is redrawing the future for people in their forties, fifties, and sixties for the better—and for good.
There’s no such thing as an inevitable midlife crisis, Barbara Bradley Hagerty writes in this provocative, hopeful book. It’s a myth, an illusion. New scientific research explodes the fable that midlife is a time when things start to go downhill for everybody. In fact, midlife can be a great new adventure, when you can embrace fresh possibilities, purposes, and pleasures.
“... a well-narrated book of authoritative voices and personal reflections, eminently readable, on a subject that attracts its share of woo-woo authors”
New York Times best selling author of Fingerprints of God
Aside from these forays into book writing, I’ve been a journalist for most of my career.
Currently I am a contributing writer to The Atlantic, having spent nearly 20 years at National Public Radio, and before that, more than a decade at The Christian Science Monitor.
I hope you take a moment to browse. There is a longer biography, and descriptions of my books, as well as interviews, articles, and podcasts.
Discover my books
Barb dons the God Helmet
Racing at the Senior Olympics
It’s not that long, it’s a cake!
Questions?
Contact me here.