Maura Judkis

Washington, D.C.

Reporter covering culture, fashion, politics, food and the arts.

Education: George Washington University, BA in journalism, 2007; University of Southern California/National Endowment for the Arts, journalism fellow, 2011

Maura Judkis is a features reporter who writes about culture for The Washington Post. She is a 2018 and 2020 James Beard Award winner, a 2019 Society for Features Journalism award winner, and her work has been honored by the Association of Food Journalists and the Virginia Press Association. Maura has appeared on local and international TV and radio, including MSNBC, CNN, PBS and Al Jazeera. She has also written for U.S. News & World Report, ARTnews, the Washington City Paper and the Onion A.V. Club.
Latest from Maura Judkis

A journalist, an influencer and a consultant walk into D.C.’s biggest party ...

Three up-and-coming Washington players make their way through the professional and existential obstacle course of the White House correspondents’ weekend.

April 28, 2024
Actress Scarlett Johansson, left, and comedian Colin Jost socialize during the Comcast-NBC Universal after-party. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for The Washington Post)

The robots are coming ... for your wedding

Congratulations. Your wedding gift is a blast of cold fog to the face from this Party Robot.

April 24, 2024

A president’s guide to dozing in public

Trump is nodding off. Doesn’t everyone? (But most of us aren’t doing it during our own criminal trial.)

April 23, 2024

Sasha Velour sashays into the culture wars

The champion drag queen, prepping a stage show and starring in a TV series, confronts the people who want to ban her.

April 17, 2024

They obsessed over Catherine. Now they’re hit with a sobering truth.

After weeks of unhinged rumors — affairs! Brazilian butt lifts! — do the Princess Kate watchers feel shame? Sort of.

March 22, 2024
After weeks of wild speculation about her whereabouts, Catherine, Princess of Wales, revealed that she is undergoing chemotherapy.

RBG Award gala canceled after Ginsburg family criticizes honorees

Elon Musk and Rupert Murdoch were among the recipients of the 2024 Ruth Bader Ginsburg award from the Dwight Opperman foundation, which previously honored women.

March 18, 2024
Julie Opperman, left, at the 2022 Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Woman of Leadership Award in Washington, looks on as Sylvester Stallone hangs a pair of pink boxing gloves on a portrait of the late Supreme Court justice.

How a doctored photo of the Princess of Wales triggered a media crisis

A number of news outlets, from the AP to Reuters, withdrew an image of Catherine, Princess of Wales, Here’s what you need to know about media standards when it comes to celebrity photoshopping.

March 11, 2024
A montage of British newspapers with an image of Catherine, Princess of Wales and her children that later drew an apology from Kensington Palace because of photo manipulation.

The zombie CVS, a late-capitalism horror story

How the bare shelves at a CVS drugstore in Washington D.C. got spun by the culture wars into a symbol for America’s shoplifting panic

March 1, 2024
The Columbia Heights CVS at twilight last week.

This book may make you hate malls — or remember why you loved them

Kate Black’s “Big Mall” examines why shopping malls feel so familiar and so alienating at the same time.

February 16, 2024
Shoppers walk through the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, a shopping mall in Arlington, Va.

2024 Super Bowl commercials: The good, the bad, the unsettling

Celebrity cameos on TV’s biggest night: Beyoncé drops songs from space. Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Tom Brady go extreme Dunkin’. Jennifer Aniston “forgets” David Schwimmer. And RFK Jr. beats out Jesus for biggest nepo baby.

February 12, 2024
From left, Ben Affleck, Tom Brady and Matt Damon appear as the “DunKings” in the Dunkin’ Super Bowl commercial.