Emily Palmer is a narrative nonfiction writer and crime reporter based in New York City. She covers complicated women, criminal cases, and the systems that shape power — work that has appeared in The New York Times, People, ELLE, and other national outlets. Her reporting sits at the intersection of gender, justice, and the forces that shape human behavior, with investigations ranging from high-profile trials to child welfare failures across the U.S.

Her on-screen work draws on years spent reporting inside courtrooms, archives, and carceral spaces. An authoritative voice on capos and con artists, Emily consults for documentary and scripted projects involving complex criminal cases. She has been featured on 20/20, Nightline, People Magazine Investigates, PBS NewsHour, the BBC, and — speaking in Spanish — on Telemundo. A new television special featuring her reporting on Emma Coronel premieres on Oxygen on Black Friday and will later stream on Peacock. (Watch the trailer.)

Emily is currently writing her first book, a hybrid memoir that braids her personal history with the crime stories she’s covered. These intimate narratives expose the systems shaping and breaking American life, tracing the deeper forces that pull us toward certain stories — and what those fascinations reveal about our country and ourselves.

Emily teaches trauma-informed creative writing in New York City’s detention and reentry settings. As the founder of Next PAGE, she leads restorative workshops that help young people build literacy, emotional language, and narrative power through storytelling.