Billy Baker

Billy Baker is a feature writer for The Boston Globe.

He reports to the metro desk, and while he does not have a beat, he might have a theme. In recent months, he has written about why women always drop their iPhones in the toilet, two remarkable brothers who are using the bus to Boston Latin School as a way out of poverty, the death of a giant pig, the next Kennedy, a very weird lottery winner, angry Patriots fans leaving the Super Bowl in Indianapolis, why there are so many crappy bicycles at MIT, how to use a fake ID, taking a California road trip in a vintage Volkswagen bus, going through the boxes in Errol Morris’ basement, naked lobsters, why Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket hate each other, an inspiring woman who spends her days going to food pantries, how an academic humor conference nearly ruined his sense of humor, the history of the word “gonzo,” the BMOC at MIT, the capture of Whitey Bulger, people who are trying to lose their Boston accent, extreme couponers and the Great Toilet Paper Rush, the headache of having a backyard rink, a high-tech search for a small dog, the sports/smut tycoon behind Barstool Sports, the looting after the Springfield tornadoes, the case of the missing pedicab, Don Chiofaro, the problem with the handicap symbol, iPad scalpers, candlepin bowling, the hottest couple in hand modeling, watching Dana White lose a half-million dollars in forty minutes, the joke that may get Detroit a RoboCop statue, MIT Mystery Hunt, horse logging, Miss Ice-O-Rama, the science and psychology of waiting in line, the Mayflower’s nose job, how he broke up the two guys who get celebrity signatures tattooed on their bodies by writing about them, corn mazes, Boston [Expletive] Dawna, and a bunch of stories that involve Southie. He also went on NPR and made fun of the “NPR voice,” and covered the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in London, because why not.

Prior to joining the staff of the newspaper, he was a freelance journalist whose work appeared regularly in The Boston Globe Magazine and Boston Magazine. For a couple years, he wrote a weekly profile for the Globe called “Meeting the Minds,” which featured some of New England’s premier thinkers. Baker was also the creator of the Meme Team for AOL News and, back in the day, the host of “Fishing with Billy” in the Danville (Va.) Register & Bee. His work has appeared in a lot of places you have heard of and many you have not.

He holds a master’s degree from the Columbia Journalism School and a bachelor’s degree from Tulane University, and is a graduate of Boston Latin School. He teaches feature writing and profile writing in the graduate journalism program at Harvard University’s extension school.

Baker was born and raised in South Boston, Massachusetts, and married a girl from South Boston, Virginia. He lives in Cambridge with his wife, Lori, the former Tetris world record holder; his son, Charlie Blue; and his dog, Gonzo.

He is at work on a book about jugglers.

Billy Baker can be reached at billybaker@globe.com.

You can follow him on Twitter @billy_baker