Julia Rothman and Shaina Feinberg

Last fall, illustrator Julia Rothman and writer Shaina Feinberg launched an illustrated column in The New York Times called Scratch. Published in the Sunday Business section every other week (and appearing online the Friday before), the series focuses on finance as told through human interest stories. The illustrative reporting features Julia’s paintings with handwritten text—often told in the first person–that reveals the cost of doing things like opening a coffee shop, being a drag queen in New York City, and having a baby through IVF. Her style gives this series warmth to dollars and cents that can sometimes feel so cold; I find the series fascinating and enjoy reading it every time it’s published.

Follow Julia on Instagram to see snapshots of Scratch, and see the past columns here.

Here’s a snippet from one of the latest Scratch columns, “What They Paid to Make a Baby (or 2)”:

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