Exploring what we carry forward — and what we choose to leave behind.
INHERITANCE is a long-form editorial publication examining the economic, cultural, and institutional systems we inherit — and what it costs to keep believing in them.
Through reported essays and lived experience, it explores housing, risk, migration, race, and legitimacy — widening into questions of power, belonging, and authorship.
The work sits at the intersection of memoir, cultural criticism, and journalism.
Featured Work
Cultural ContractsWhy OnlyFans Makes Sense
Only when the promises break do we see how fragile they were.
Cultural ContractsNobody's Enjoying This
Only 9% of Americans say they enjoy following the news. I used to be one of them.
Assembly Line
Cultural ContractsWhat a nail salon in Vietnam revealed about labor, currency, and shifting privilege.
About the Author
Ethan Ward is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in USA Today, NPR, Slate, Fast Company, Marketplace, and PBS SoCal. He's reported on housing, technology, and equity — often on the systems he's lived inside.
INHERITANCE is where he examines what he inherited as an American, a Black man, and a journalist — and what he's choosing to carry now that he's left.
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INHERITANCE is published on Substack.
Free and paid editions available. Long-form essays, private field notes, narrated audio, and visual dispatches.
INHERITANCE is published under HEATDRAWN Media — Ethan Ward's umbrella for audio, digital, and print projects.
For licensing or partnership inquiries: inheritance@heatdrawn.com