Russ is a New York City based writer. He is a regular contributor to the Columbia Journalism Review's The Observatory, where he covers media, science, and politics. His writing has been published in the New York Times, USA Today, Orion Magazine, Macworld, and other newspapers and magazines.

He has been a guest on National Public Radio, and his media criticism of science coverage in the news has received broad praise, including accolades from MIT's Knight Science Journalism Tracker.

Russ has traveled extensively throughout Southeast Asia. He has lived in New York City, San Francisco, Thailand, and Australia-- and he's willing to go anywhere to report or photograph a story. He has reported on psychedelic drugs in Switzerland and from the labs of neuroscientists at the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

Russ has a master's degree in Science Journalism from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, and a bachelor's degree in Physics and Literature from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he also studied avant-garde cinema. Aside from more serious topics, Russ enjoys writing about tech, photography, and Apple Inc.