Katie Carter King

I'm a writer, researcher, and editor based in Atlanta, Georgia. I specialize in using all-too-often overlooked history to tell important, engaging stories that challenge people's notions of the past and change their perception of the present.

When I'm not excavating my own stories, I run Magpie Projects, a boutique research consultancy that specializes in developing dynamic, factually rigorous historical narratives. Prior to that, I directed research for all Alton Brown projects, creating four seasons of television in three years. Two of our shows went on to earn nods as James Beard Award finalists. Throughout my career I've also written for public radio, produced a short documentary, and developed communications strategies for nonprofits.

Katie Carter King, Cobb County, circa 1993

Marietta, Georgia — circa 1996

Journalism & Essays

  1. Piecing It Together
    Open Secrets Magazine2026
    Finding myself in fractions and fabric
  2. On the Levee
    Gravy Quarterly2026
    In 1955, Louisiana sugar refinery workers went on strike.
  3. California Crawfish Dreaming
    Gravy Quarterly2024
    Louisiana red crawfish offer a taste of home.
  4. The Plight of Louisiana Red Crawfish in the Sacramento Valley
    Life & Thyme2023
    One region's cash crop is another's agricultural menace
  5. Making Kuzu Out of Kudzu
    Gravy Quarterly2022
    When kudzu ate the South, why didn't the South eat kudzu?
  6. On Keeping a Notebook
    Thought Catalog2013
    I cannot remember when I started keeping a notebook, or why.

Documentary & Radio

  1. What Makes Gumbo, Gumbo?
    Gravy Podcast2025
    “Gumbo is not a word, it’s a syntax.” —John Lauden
  2. Sweet Auburn Curb Market
    Southern Foodways Alliance2016
    A municipal source of fresh food, tradition, and community
  3. Sounds of the South
    Mississippi Public Broadcasting2013–2015
    Exploring the musical history of the American South

Interviews

  1. Catching Up With Damien Jurado
    Paste Magazine2012
  2. Catching Up With Screaming Females' Jarrett Dougherty
    Paste Magazine2012
  3. Catching Up With Del Barber
    Paste Magazine2012
  4. James Geary at Harvard Book Store
    The Boston Phoenix2012

Reviews

  1. River City Extension: Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Your Anger
    Paste Magazine2012
  2. Wild Cub: Youth
    Paste Magazine2012
  3. Foxes: Warrior
    Paste Magazine2012
  4. Eternal Summers: Correct Behavior
    Paste Magazine2012
Archival group photograph

Magpie Projects

Since 2021, Magpie Projects has helped journalists, authors, and brands build historic narratives that are as engaging as they are precise. The devil is in the details, and we are well acquainted with both.

Research

  1. House of Smoke
    John T. Edge2025
    A Southerner Goes Searching for Home
  2. American Kings
    Seth Wickersham2025
    The Biography of a Quarterback
  3. The Barn
    Wright Thompson2024
    The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi
  4. The Fake Oil Man
    Charles Bethea2024
    New Yorker
  5. How a Man in Prison Stole Millions from Billionaires
    Charles Bethea2023
    New Yorker
  6. Why Did the Police Shoot Matthew Zadok Williams?
    Charles Bethea2021
    New Yorker

Fact Checking

  1. Against Convenience
    Gabe Bullard2026
    Embracing Friction in an Age of Endless Ease
  2. They Stole A City
    Lauren Collins2026
    Wilmington's White Supremacist Coup and the Families Who Live with Its Legacy
  3. Rough House
    Alison Lyn Miller2026
    A Father, a Son, and the Pursuit of Pro Wrestling Glory
Bookshop

Contact

katiecarterking@gmail.com

Instagram · Threads · Storygraph