Articles

“What I can hear are occasional coyotes and a constant chorus of ‘Baby the Rain Must Fall’ from the jukebox in the Snake Room next door, and if I were also to hear those dying voices, those Midwestern voices drawn to this lunar country for some unimaginable atavistic rites, ‘rock of ages cleft for me,’ I think I would lose my own reason.”

Why is it great? This essay has a more famous line, which is being quoted a lot these days: “Then is when we join the fashionable madmen, and then is…
February 1, 2017
Kari Howard
Annotation Tuesday! Adrian Chen and “Unfollow”

Annotation Tuesday! Adrian Chen and “Unfollow”

The New Yorker writer talks about his story on the awakening of a daughter of the reviled Westboro Baptist Church, calling it "a culmination of things I was writing about…
January 31, 2017
Katia Savchuk
5 Questions: Julie Beck and "When Are You Really an Adult?"

5 Questions: Julie Beck and “When Are You Really an Adult?”

In her Atlantic piece, the writer captures that moment when you’ve worn a cap and gown but at the same time feel like a little kid playing dress-up
January 26, 2017
Kaitlynn Martin

“A big pair of garden shears sat on the counter, as foreboding as Chekhov’s gun on the mantel.”

Why is it great? Even without context, this line is tremendous. Playfully riffing off Chekhov’s rule that if you introduce a gun in the first act, it absolutely must go off by…
January 25, 2017
Kari Howard
Annotation Tuesday! Chris Hamby and "The Court That Rules the World"

Annotation Tuesday! Chris Hamby and “The Court That Rules the World”

The BuzzFeed News reporter talks about reporting a story that's hiding in plain sight, and not being intimidated by complicated subjects
January 24, 2017
Katia Savchuk
A time of endings: a presidency, and a tree that held lifetimes of memories

A time of endings: a presidency, and a tree that held lifetimes of memories

Just in time for the weekend, here’s a little list of some of the things I’ve been listening to and reading this week, some of it online — Storyboard included,…
January 20, 2017
Kari Howard

“Frank Sinatra, holding a glass of bourbon in one hand and a cigarette in the other, stood in a dark corner of the bar between two attractive but fading blondes who sat waiting for him to say something.”

Why is it great? Yes, we deliberately launched this cool new feature with the first sentence of one of the most famous magazine articles of all time. Go big or…
January 18, 2017
Kari Howard
Inaugurations of a different sort: the launch of two new features on Storyboard!

Inaugurations of a different sort: the launch of two new features on Storyboard!

We're starting up a weekly newsletter -- consider it a Friday treat to your inbox -- and a v. cool thing we're calling One Great Sentence.
January 18, 2017
Kari Howard
Annotation Tuesday! Kathy Sawyer and the execution of the "Death Row Granny"

Annotation Tuesday! Kathy Sawyer and the execution of the “Death Row Granny”

More than 30 years ago, a journalism grad student clipped the Washington Post story as a great example of how to transform a deadline story with narrative details. He still…
January 17, 2017
Roy Rivenburg
Why's This So Good? Ta-Nehisi Coates and "My President Was Black"

Why’s This So Good? Ta-Nehisi Coates and “My President Was Black”

I was almost afraid to read “My President Was Black.” Ta-Nehisi Coates is such a tour de force, I was afraid that his words would wipe away my thoughts, his insights obliterate…
January 16, 2017
Sandy Banks