Thomas is a contributor to The New Yorker and a former editor and writer at Grantland. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, and The Paris Review. Thomas has published two books: 2017's Louisa: The Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams, a biography of First LadyLouisa Adams, and 2011's Conscience: Two Soldiers, Two Pacifists, One Family—a Test of Will and Faith in World War I, about the moral conflicts her family endured during World War I and focusing on her pacifist great-grandfather, Norman Thomas. She is a former fellow at New America.[2]
Though much of Thomas's writing is about sports, it is influenced by her studies of poetry; she cites Wallace Stevens as a major influence.[1]
Personal life
Thomas's first marriage resulted in divorce. Her second is to mathematician and former NFL player John Urschel. They have one daughter.[3] Urschel's autobiography, Mind and Matter: A Life in Math and Football, was co-written by Thomas and published in 2019.[4][5]