Mary Pilon

Discover the journey of Mary Pilon, American journalist, author, and filmmaker. Explore her early life, reporting career, major works (The Monopolists, The Kevin Show, The Longest Race), and influence on sports, business, and narrative non-fiction.

Introduction

Mary Pilon (born May 16, 1986) is an American journalist, author, and filmmaker known for her investigative narrative style, particularly at the intersection of sports, business, and culture. Her work blends deep reporting, human stories, and often a critical lens on systems—be it the business of games, the politics of sport, or financial structures.

Her books—The Monopolists, The Kevin Show, and The Longest Race—have received acclaim and pushed public conversations in areas like intellectual property, mental health in elite sport, and the behind-the-scenes stresses of competitive athletics.

Early Life & Education

Mary Pilon was born in Eugene, Oregon on May 16, 1986. The Register-Guard.

She attended Winston Churchill High School in Eugene. New York University (NYU) in 2008 with a degree in politics and journalism.

While still in school, Pilon’s ambition and drive positioned her to dive into serious reporting early, blending narrative and investigative elements even in the formative stages of her career.

Journalism & Reporting Career

Early Roles & The Wall Street Journal

After graduating, Pilon joined The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) as a staff reporter, covering business and finance topics.

At the WSJ, she contributed to high-profile stories and built a reputation for clarity, depth, and narrative curiosity.

The New York Times & Sports Desk

Later, Pilon moved to The New York Times, where she became a staff sports reporter.

One of her notable contributions at the Times is “Tomato Can Blues”, a narrative long-form feature about Charles Rowan, an amateur cage fighter who faked his own death. This piece became the newspaper’s first graphic-novel style story and its first audiobook version (narrated by actor Bobby Cannavale).

Her versatility also extended to multimedia and experimental formats, emphasizing storytelling across platforms.

Freelance, Feature Work & Other Publications

Beyond her staff roles, Mary Pilon has written for a wide range of major publications: The New Yorker, Bloomberg Businessweek, Vice, Esquire, NBC, among others. She covers topics that bridge sports, business, culture, innovation, games, and ethics.

She has also worked in documentary and film roles: producing, editing, or story editing in televised or streaming projects (for example, collaborating on HBO’s BS High) and co-directing a documentary about pickleball.

Additionally, Pilon teaches as an adjunct professor at NYU’s journalism program, guiding graduate students in investigative reporting.

Major Works & Themes

The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World’s Favorite Board Game

Published in 2015, this book is perhaps Pilon’s breakout work. Lizzie Magie, the early 20th-century inventor who devised The Landlord’s Game, which later evolved into Monopoly with alterations by Parker Brothers.

Pilon spent years uncovering documents, legal battles (notably involving Ralph Anspach, creator of Anti-Monopoly), and cultural narratives that had erased or eclipsed Magie’s contributions.

Themes include:

• Attribution and credit in innovation

• Power, ownership, and rewriting histories

• Business vs. intellectual property

• The cultural footprint of a seemingly innocuous game

The Kevin Show: An Olympic Athlete’s Battle with Mental Illness

Released in 2018, this work examines the life of Olympic/elite athlete Kevin Hall, who struggled with a rare delusional condition (the “Truman Show Delusion”) and mental illness while pursuing sporting excellence.

Pilon uses this narrative to explore the psychological pressures on high-performance athletes, mental health stigma, and how public expectations intersect with personal fragility.

Losers: Dispatches From the Other Side of the Scoreboard

Published in 2020 (co-edited with Louisa Thomas), Losers collects essays and stories that reframe “losing” not as failure but as a source of insight, resilience, and narrative depth.

The Longest Race (with Kara Goucher)

In 2023, Pilon co-authored a memoir with Olympian Kara Goucher. The book dives into Goucher’s career, including her experiences with the Nike Oregon Project and allegations of doping, abuse, and gender dynamics in elite athletics.

Through this collaboration, Pilon again probes how performance, power structures, and personal agency collide in high-stakes sports.

Style, Perspective & Impact

Mary Pilon’s work is characterized by:

• Narrative investigative journalism: She weaves archival research, interviews, legal history, and storytelling to illuminate overlooked or contested histories.

• Systemic lens: Her focus often moves beyond individuals to question institutions, power dynamics, and how public narratives are shaped and reshaped.

• Human-centric approach: Even in dense subject areas (economics, intellectual property), she grounds stories in individual lives, struggles, and contradictions.

• Interdisciplinary reach: Her work builds bridges across sports, business, law, culture, memory, and innovation.

• Multimedia fluency: She operates across text, audio, documentary formats, engaging different storytelling modes.

Her writing has influenced how readers think about games, intellectual property, mental health in sport, and the hidden narratives behind public phenomena.

Awards, Recognition & Influence

• Pilon was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in media.

• Her work has been honored by journalism and business writing organizations, including the Gerald Loeb Award (for breaking news) when she was part of coverage of the 2010 flash‐crash at WSJ.

• The Monopolists has been widely cited, translated, and is being adapted.

• Her involvement in television/film projects (as story editor, producer) and her co-direction of a forthcoming pickleball documentary expand her influence into visual media.

• As a teacher at NYU and through public speaking, she mentors future investigative journalists.

Lessons & Insights from Mary Pilon’s Journey

1. Dig beneath the surface
   Even familiar cultural artifacts (like Monopoly) can hide deeper, contested origins. Pilon’s commitment to uncovering those stories challenges us to reexamine what we take for granted.

2. Champion marginalized voices
   Through her work, Pilon helps resurrect the stories of people (especially women) whose contributions have been minimized or erased by history.

3. Blend passion and rigor
   Her books show how deep research and curiosity can produce compelling narrative nonfiction that reaches broad audiences.

4. Cross formats, follow the story
   Whether writing for newspapers, books, or film, Pilon shows the value of choosing the medium that does justice to the story.

5. Sustain thematic coherence
   Pilon’s varied work (from games to sport to business) is united by an interest in the “behind the scenes” dynamics of power, competition, credit, and identity.

6. Educate and amplify
   As an educator and multimedia producer, she not only tells stories but builds capacity and platforms for others to tell theirs.

Conclusion

Mary Pilon represents a new wave of journalist-authors whose curiosity spans business, sport, games, and human complexity. Her ability to unearth hidden histories, challenge canonical narratives, and translate dense subjects into compelling stories gives her work both intellectual weight and popular resonance.