Rachel Somerstein

Rachel Somerstein joined SSN as a part-time opinion editor in 2025. In this role she works with scholars to use their expertise to craft clear, compelling op-eds for local and national media.

Rachel is the author of "Invisible Labor: The Untold Story of the Cesarean Section" (Ecco), which draws on a blend of reporting, research, and memoir to explore the present and history of cesarean birth. Her work has also appeared in AARP, the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, Women’s Health, and the 19th, among other outlets, and has been featured on NPR’s Fresh Air and On the Media.

Rachel holds a PhD from Syracuse University in mass communications, an MFA in creative writing from NYU, and a BA in English and history from Cornell University. As a researcher, she’s focused on cross-cultural collective memory—how societies use photographs to remember the past—and on the ways that gender shapes women’s opportunities as journalists. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband and children.