Ben Brasch, a reporter who worked at The Washington Post for more than three years, is joining City Cast DC as its new politics and government reporter, where he will author a newsletter and break the latest news in this consequential year for DMV politics.
Before his time at the Post, Ben covered Fulton County government for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. During his seven years in Atlanta, he uncovered the inner workings of local government, delivered scoops when the nation became obsessed with Fulton’s elections process and interviewed celebrities about their Waffle House orders.
“Ben wowed us with his curiosity about D.C. — and his thoughtfulness about how to master a new beat,” said City Cast Executive Editor Michael Schaffer. “He has a record of breaking news that doesn’t want to be broken, and making sources in all sorts of unexpected places. Plus, he’s a lot of fun. We’re out to recapture the joys of old-fashioned, swaggering big-city reporting and columnizing, and Ben is going to be a big part of that.”
"Ben brings so much heart to City Cast DC. He has a real commitment to putting people at the center of his reporting and understanding what actually matters to D.C. residents,” said Yu Vongkiatkajorn, managing editor at City Cast. “And wherever he's worked, he's had a knack for finding unique, unexpected stories. I can't wait for him to hit the ground running."
Ben previously chronicled chaos and calm in his home state of Florida — including at the Miami Herald, The Ledger in Lakeland and The News-Press in Fort Myers. He is a graduate of the University of Florida, where he earned a degree in Journalism and a minor in Business Administration.
He lives in Alexandria with his wife Hannah. When he isn't looking for news, he can be found cooking or practicing martial arts.
Jaclyn Peiser Joins City Cast DC as Business, Development and Transit Reporter
Jaclyn Peiser, a retail reporter who worked at The Washington Post for nearly six years, is joining City Cast DC as its new business, development and transit reporter, where she will author a newsletter on the business and people shaping D.C. real estate, commerce, streets and skyline.
Jackie most recently covered the grocery, apparel, food and consumer goods sectors. Her work ranged from economic stories on the growing bifurcation among low- and high-income consumers and how tariffs hurt small businesses to trend pieces on tweens’ expensive taste and adults' nostalgic obsession with children’s toys.
Jackie has a knack for unpacking complex national issues, and localizing them to illustrate how they’re playing out in different communities. She finds fresh ways to cover stories, such as her recent feature on how GLP-1 drugs could reshape the consumer economy.
“Local business in Washington gets so little attention amid the city’s focus on government,” said Michael Schaffer, City Cast’s executive editor. “Jackie is going to chronicle the mastodons of real estate and retail who shape the way our city looks, the places our residents live, and the way we get around. And she’s going to do it in a way that makes her essential to anyone in the business — as well as anyone who just wants to know what’s going on in their neighborhood.”
“Jackie is a force of nature,” said Annie Rees, City Cast’s senior executive producer. “Every time I talk with her, I come away more energized and more excited about all the stories there are to tell about business and development in D.C. This is a beat that I’m so excited about because it really tells the story of what forces are shaping life in the city as most of us interact with it, including what’s getting built where and by who. Jackie has an innate eye for finding stories guaranteed to get people talking and I can’t wait for our readers and listeners to meet her.”
Before joining the business section, Jackie spent two years on The Post's Morning Mix team, where she covered national breaking news and wrote features overnight. She previously covered media for The New York Times and spent years as a news assistant there, where her work included research for the investigations team and writing wedding announcements and obituaries.
A Dallas, Texas native, Jackie earned her master's degree in journalism from Columbia University and her bachelor's degree in American studies and communications from Goucher College in Baltimore. When she's not out in the District with friends or hosting dinner parties, Jackie enjoys consuming culture, reading and doing puzzles.
Alyssa Fowers Joins City Cast DC as Data Reporter
Alyssa Fowers, a data reporter with six years of experience at The Washington Post, is joining City Cast DC as its new data reporter, where she will anchor smart data and graphics coverage around the city.
Alyssa joined The Post's graphics desk less than two months before the world shut down for the Covid-19 pandemic and found her feet in journalism covering economics and public policy. Her portfolio includes investigative work into rent-setting algorithms, deeply personalized interactive stories about socioeconomic class, and explainers about the real-life impacts of policy debates.
She also covered fun facts as a guest writer for The Post's Department of Data column, with stories about dog names and the true donut capitals of the United States. (Incidentally, her name is more human than dog and she lives in Greater Dunkin’land.)
"We were blown away by Alyssa's creativity, curiosity and versatility,” said managing editor Yu Vonkiatkajorn. “She has the incredible ability to help readers understand a data set or statistic, no matter how dense, and to find engaging ways to draw people in. There are so many data stories waiting to be told in this region and I know Alyssa is the reporter who will uncover them."
“Alyssa is going to be such a resource for people in D.C. trying to figure out how our city works and where it’s headed,” said City Cast executive editor Michael Schaffer. “And our audience won’t just see it in her own work but in the ways she’s able to lace data reporting into the stuff produced by colleagues.”
Alyssa grew up in Miami, Florida and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in psychology from Duke University in 2013. She has lived in the D.C. area for over a decade and visits the azalea collection in the National Arboretum every spring.
Before her career in journalism, she worked in data analysis and management for five years. Her favorite answer to an either/or question is "both." She lives in DC with her wife Zoe and their dog Katy Spoon, who boasts an impressive ear-to-snout ratio.
Kaela Cote-Stemmermann Is City Cast DC’s New Food and Culture Reporter
Beloved newsletter editor Kaela Cote-Stemmermann is taking a new role at City Cast DC, where she will cover food and culture and author a weekly newsletter called “Obsessed.” Her newsletter, launching May 14, will feature original reporting and local recs that bring readers closer to D.C.
Kaela joined City Cast DC in 2022. Over the past four years as Senior Newsletter Editor, she published more than 1,000 editions of City Cast DC’s popular daily newsletter, delivering smart, digestible local news to Washingtonians. Under her authorship, the newsletter grew by more than 60,000 subscribers, becoming one of the most-read newsletters in the City Cast network.
Her food writing has taken her across the city, from interviewing the DMV’s first 3-star Michelin chef Patrick O’Connell at the Inn at Little Washington to sharing a bowl of spicy noodles with Chef Peter Chang, whose celebrated Chinese restaurants pioneered D.C.’s Sichuan cooking scene. She also dug into the rise of Beli, a social restaurant-ranking app quietly reshaping how D.C. foodies discover and track their meals, interviewing the app's top-ranked D.C. user.
Her neighborhood guides are beloved, including her original “Walk a Mile” series where she explores a mile-long stretch in D.C., uncovering everything from Ethiopian breakfasts to natural wine bars along the way.
Some of her most-read work includes "DC, They Could Never Make Me Hate You," a love letter to Washington that resonated widely during the city's federal takeover, an ongoing guide to D.C.'s best new restaurants and bars, and a satirical list of the “Best Places To Yearn In DC.”
“As City Cast DC expands, moving Kaela into a reporting role made so much sense,” said Senior Executive Producer Annie Rees. “Over the four years she’s been at City Cast, she has built a loyal following of readers — the team often jokes she’s our local celebrity, because of how excited people are to meet her at member events — and her writing frequently makes me laugh out loud. I’m so excited to read “Obsessed” and I know the rest of D.C. will be too.”
“I was a fan of Kaela before I even joined City Cast,” said Managing Editor Yu Vongkiatkajorn. “Her voice, curation, and sense of humor always made the newsletter a pleasure to read. I’m so excited for Kaela to bring her skills to this beat, help us make the most out of living in D.C., and share all the weird and wonderful things about this city.”
Previously, Kaela worked in communications at the Department of State and covered antitrust and competition law at Global Competition Review.
A Boston native and graduate of Scripps College in Los Angeles, Kaela lives in Adams Morgan with a cranky cat. When she isn’t sleuthing for local gossip, you can find her biking around to her favorite cafes.
You can subscribe to her newsletter here, and follow her work on Instagram and X.
Yu Vongkiatkajorn Joins City Cast DC as Managing Editor
Yu Vongkiatkajorn is joining City Cast DC as Managing Editor. She’ll edit the beat reporters’ original reporting and their newsletters. Yu is the second editor hired as part of a major expansion in City Cast DC’s newsroom.
Yu Vongkiatkajorn is an editor who has helped lead coverage and audience strategy at The Washington Post. Most recently, she served as the breaking news and general assignment editor on the Metro desk, where she led a team focused on timely, original stories about life in the Washington region.
Earlier at the Post, Yu worked on initiatives to reach new audiences, helping launch newsletters, podcasts and other editorial experiments in collaboration with product, marketing and analytics teams. She also developed a process for conducting newsroom analyses and providing strategic recommendations.
“When we began looking for the right person to fill this role, one person’s name kept coming up: ‘Yu – have you met Yu?’ ‘Hire Yu,’” said Annie Rees, Senior Executive Producer of City Cast DC.” From the moment we talked with her, it was clear why she was so universally regarded by reporters and editors she worked with. Sharp, clear-headed and creative, with years of Metro and Audience experience to boot, she is a crucial piece in making City Cast DC a local powerhouse.”
Yu will be working alongside Michael Schaffer, City Cast DC’s Executive Editor, to shape CCDC’s new products. “We want to publish impactful, attention-getting journalism about Washington even as the local media environment undergoes a wild shift,” Schaffer said. “Yu immediately got the idea of galvanizing a team to do stuff that connects with an audience and obliges that audience to follow what we're up to.”
Yu began her journalism career at Mother Jones in San Francisco. She grew up in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and is a graduate of Wesleyan University and the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.
Emma Uber Joins Cast Cast DC as Reporter
Emma Uber is joining Cast Cast DC as a reporter. She'll write a twice-weekly newsletter with the juiciest, most memorable, most consequential stories playing out in the DMV. Emma is the first reporter hired as part of a major expansion in City Cast DC's newsroom.
Previously, Emma covered local breaking news and public safety for The Washington Post, where she distinguished herself with scoops and sharp stories. Emma began covering D.C. police for The Post just days before President Donald Trump federalized the city's police force and deployed the National Guard. She analyzed thousands of court records to deliver a comprehensive account of how an unprecedented federal law enforcement surge was playing out on the District’s streets and doggedly covered local authorities' relationship with immigration enforcement.
Her reporting on a change to U.S. Park Police's car chase policy caused two Democratic lawmakers to open an investigation and her coverage of federal agents shooting at drivers during traffic stops was referenced as the D.C. Council passed emergency legislation requiring the city police department to release body-camera footage when a local officer witnesses a federal officer shoot someone.
“Emma is a rare talent – a brilliant, passionate, high-energy journalist,” said Annie Rees, Senior Executive Producer of City Cast DC. “With Emma as a reporter, City Cast DC will evolve into the city’s most indispensable – and most fun – place to find local coverage. We look forward to announcing the other reporters who will join Emma in the coming days.”
Hoosier born-and-raised, Emma graduated from Indiana University, where she earned degrees in journalism and international studies. Prior to moving to D.C. and joining the Washington Post in 2024, she covered breaking news at the Tampa Bay Times, interned with Indianapolis Monthly magazine, and worked with the national investigative team at USA Today.
Michael Schaffer Joins City Cast as Executive Editor
Photo By Julia Keane.
Michael Schaffer is joining City Cast DC full-time as a host and executive editor as the national podcast network begins staffing a local Washington newsroom to complement and expand its daily audio and newsletter offerings.
A D.C. native and former editor-in-chief of both Washington City Paper and Washingtonian magazine, Schaffer is one of the most experienced editors and writers in local Washington. During his eight years at Washingtonian, the magazine was twice judged America’s best big-city magazine. He most recently wrote the Capital City column in Politico.
A co-host of City Cast DC since its 2022 launch, he’s developed a reputation with listeners for a deep knowledge of the city, an ability to find humor in the city’s quirks, and a willingness to ask probing questions of political leaders and fellow journalists alike.
Schaffer’s hire comes as City Cast, a nationwide network of local podcasts, is in the midst of an expansion in D.C., with plans to hire a staff of local journalists to focus on robust coverage of city politics, regional business, local culture, as well as the personalities and institutions that make the city tick.
In his new role, Schaffer will continue to anchor City Cast DC’s flagship daily podcast alongside co-host Bridget Todd. He’ll also help shape City Cast DC’s new team of reporters and produce his own column about his hometown at a moment of radical disruption.
Schaffer arrives as City Cast undergoes an unprecedented expansion of its local newsroom, hiring a team of journalists to create original reporting about the D.C. area. The new journalists will enable City Cast DC to roll out additional newsletters, podcasts, articles, and social offerings.
“As he's proved time and time again in the past 30 years, Michael Schaffer is the smartest, most insightful, and funniest observer of local Washington,” said City Cast CEO David Plotz. “He can do it all: Podcast! Report! Write! Edit! With Michael as our Executive Editor, City Cast DC is going to be the city’s must-listen and must-read.”
City Cast is a network of daily local news podcasts and newsletters in 13 cities around the country, covering news, culture, and things to do in your community. Owned by Graham Holdings Co. in Arlington, VA, City Cast aims to be the smartest, easiest way to connect with the place you live and love.
