FREELANCE WRITING
I started writing because I wanted greater access to the cultural worlds - music, film, books, coffee - I was obsessed with from a distance. I kept at it because I wanted to share my discoveries with a hungry audience while shining a light on deserving subjects whom slipped under the radar.
I've written hundreds of articles, interviewed diverse and fascinating subjects and provided a platform for readers to expand their minds about local politics and marginalized communities.
Featured in: The Bold Italic, Sprudge, The East Bay Review, SF Weekly
The Bold Italic
The Bold Italic was an early adopter of the blog/magazine style of online publishing. I wrote a variety of lifestyle-centric stories for them in their hey-day. Below is a sampling of some of my favorites. See the rest here.
Human waste in public areas is a recognizable issue in San Francisco. I wanted to draw attention to the root causes of the problem - a lack of public facilities for the homeless - and the city's inability to do anything about it.
I started this article intending to write about the scientific reasoning behind San Francisco's storied black mold issues. Along the way I ended up highlighting the tense and untenable relationship between renters and landlords, the increasing difficulty of just living in the city and how the presence of black mold exacerbates all of it.
A non-ironic love letter to one of the city's seediest intersections. It helps highlight the layers of inherent layers of diversity and community potentially invisible to the casual observer.
Sprudge
Sprudge is a global media conglomerate focused on speciality coffee. I was the staff writer for San Francisco for many years, managing a team of writers who covered cafe openings, emerging trends and whatever else fell into our path. Read a smattering below; read the rest here.
There's a prevailing opinion in San Francisco that high-end coffee has reached a saturation point. I spoke with experts from all facets of local coffee to see what the consensus was.
Andytown is one of San Francisco's best and brightest coffee companies. In 2017 they expanded and it was my intention to discuss the fine line between improving their community and gentrifying it. The article went over like a lead balloon and an open letter decrying my name was published. Andytown, the Outer Sunset and myself worked everything out and the lesson of how much impact a simple article can have was learned.
There's a rumor in coffee that angry baristas sometimes 'decaf' irritating customers. I interviewed baristas from all over the country to see if it was true.
Book reviews
“[Caspers] writing makes it feel, even in the depths of strangeness she gets to, that this is a journey, a natural point in life. That we love and sometimes that love is taken from us, that we grieve and it is difficult, but in the end we move forward, the smallest of recollections of what came before still clinging to our thoughts.”
“Coulter has printed out an x-ray of her own anxious, shaky, sad insides and offered it up to every reader who doesn’t mind a healthy spoonful of discomfort with their belly laughs.”
“This is a world akin to politics, where every word spoke, every seat taken, every conversation kicked up places you in the hierarchy of your team, for better or worse. The more skilled you are, the better you're loved, but emotional attachment is a flash in a pan, every friendship just an injury away from dissolution.”