He has written for Rolling Stone, Harper's, Wired, The New York Times Magazine, The Believer, and McSweeney's, and contributes to This American Life.

His 2007 Wired article about a CIA mission during the Iran Hostage Crisis was adapted as the 2012 film Argo, with George Clooney producing and Ben Affleck directing and starring.

Bearman was nominated for a National Magazine Award in 2014[10] for his article, "Coronado High, the Story of America's First Drug Empire.

He was one half of Team USA in Walleyball, a short film by Brent Hoff about a pick-up game of volleyball at the US-Mexico border.

[12] In 2014, Bearman co-founded Epic, a digital publication of narrative non-fiction and film and television production company.