A historian and former journalist, Conrad-Pérez is the author of Fire in the Heart of the City: The Triangle Shirtwaist Tragedy and the Origins of Modern Charity, forthcoming from NYU Press in 2026. Based on deep archival research and interviews, the book reveals how the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 became a turning point not only in the history of labor reform, but also in the rise of modern charity and elite authority over social welfare in the United States. His other writing and historical work explores the history of American journalism, housing insecurity, social movements, labor, and the politics of representation, and has been published in Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism, Mass Communication and Society, Journalism Practice, International Journal of Communication, Journal of Alternative & Community Media, Global Media and Communication, and Journalism Studies. He is also coauthor, with Caty Borum, of Radical Reality: Documentary Storytelling and the Global Fight for Social Justice, published by Oxford University Press, and lead author of Breaking the Silence, in collaboration with filmmaker Jackie Olive, a study that continues to inform public-media approaches to community engagement across the United States. He has also led public-facing research on media narratives around issues including poverty, immigration, and housing.
Conrad-Pérez previously worked as a producer for New York Public Radio’s On the Media and as a reporter and producer for Public Radio International’s The World. His reporting and writing have appeared in The New York Times, Reuters, Columbia Journalism Review, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and The Globe and Mail, among other outlets.
His work has been recognized with the International Communication Association Journalism Division’s Best Dissertation Award and additional top paper honors. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication.