Articles

5(ish) Questions: Rania Abouzeid and "The Jihad Next Door"

5(ish) Questions: Rania Abouzeid and “The Jihad Next Door”

The Beirut-based writer talks about the dangers of reporting her Politico piece on extremists in Iraq and Syria, and why on-the-ground reporting is vital

“Henry Ford believed the soul of a person is located in the last breath and so captured the last breath of his best friend Thomas Edison in a test tube and kept it evermore.”

—Elizabeth Alexander, "The Light of the World."
Annotation Tuesday! Rich Schapiro and "The True Story of the Fugitive Drug Smuggler Who Became an Environmental Hero"

Annotation Tuesday! Rich Schapiro and “The True Story of the Fugitive Drug Smuggler Who Became an Environmental Hero”

The writer, who splits his time between tabloid reporting and deep dives, talks about how one prepares him for the other. (And kudos to Outside magazine, on a longform roll.)
Notable Narrative: Daniel Miller and the Los Angeles Times' “Selling Stardom”

Notable Narrative: Daniel Miller and the Los Angeles Times’ “Selling Stardom”

The show business reporter takes a walk on the seamier side of Hollywood, and meets a lot of wannabes with broken dreams (plus an agent who breaks down in front…

“This is a love story, and I apologize; it was inadvertent. But I want it clearly understood from the start that I don’t expect it to turn out well.”

— Eve Babitz: "Slow Days, Fast Company: The World, the Flesh, and L.A."
5(ish) Questions: Diarmid Mogg and the crazy-compelling "Small Town Noir"

5(ish) Questions: Diarmid Mogg and the crazy-compelling “Small Town Noir”

The Scotsman's website is a rabbit hole of midcentury mug shots and the stories of the everyday people of a Pennsylvania town at probably the worst moment in their lives
5(ish) Questions: Jesse Lenz and The Collective Quarterly magazine

5(ish) Questions: Jesse Lenz and The Collective Quarterly magazine

The co-founder of the "slow journalism" publication says its aim is to create an outlet for journalists who are willing take time with a story and “show genuine interest in…

“Hazel Morse was a large, fair woman of the type that incites some men when they use the word ‘blonde’ to click their tongues and wag their heads roguishly.”

—Dorothy Parker, "Big Blonde."
Notable Narrative: Bernt Jakob Oksnes and "The Baby in the Plastic Bag"

Notable Narrative: Bernt Jakob Oksnes and “The Baby in the Plastic Bag”

The Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet bucked the short-attention-span trend by committing to a nine-part serial -- and it paid off both in readers and a powerful narrative about an infant left…
5(ish) Questions: Latino USA producer Marlon Bishop on the backstory of the NPR show’s most downloaded episode ever

5(ish) Questions: Latino USA producer Marlon Bishop on the backstory of the NPR show’s most downloaded episode ever

A show that was more than a year in the making about the controversial prisoner Oscar López Rivera scored journalism gold, coming out just days after the Puerto Rican was…