Articles

"Power of Narrative" Conference: How Shakespeare would go viral

“Power of Narrative” Conference: How Shakespeare would go viral

What does Shakespeare have to do with clickbait? How much in common did ancient indigenous peoples have with the Twitter community? Was Dante’s “Inferno” the original “explainer” story?Amy O’LearyThe surprising…

Esquire Classic: Colum McCann, Bitcoin and the Winklevoss twins

The last time most of us heard of the Winklevoss twins—hell, the first time we heard of them—was in David Fincher’s acerbic 2010 movie, The Social Network. You remember: Tyler…
Journalism and Art: Complementary and Collaborative Storytelling

Journalism and Art: Complementary and Collaborative Storytelling

As journalists use art to bring stories off the page, artists adopt reporting techniques to address social issues

Esquire Classic: Elizabeth Kaye and great profile writing

Esquire has long been fascinated by men in power—and by the frailties and anxieties that lie just beneath their polished facades. Beginning in the late eighties, contributing editor Elizabeth Kaye…
Radio Diaries' Joe Richman and "The Last Man on the Mountain"

Radio Diaries’ Joe Richman and “The Last Man on the Mountain”

Joe RichmanJoe Richman practices narrative without narration. His production company, Radio Diaries, crafts public radio stories whose characters do all the talking. In the absence of a reporter’s voice, which…
Annotation Tuesday! Sarah Schweitzer of the Boston Globe on “The life and times of Strider Wolf”

Annotation Tuesday! Sarah Schweitzer of the Boston Globe on “The life and times of Strider Wolf”

Sarah Schweitzer has spent almost two decades honing her narrative instincts at The Boston Globe and the St. Petersburg Times. In April 2015 she was acknowledged by the Pulitzer Prize…

When journalists follow the money, it can lead to great stories

The audacious claim by the government of Bangladesh that hackers spoofed the Federal Reserve Bank of New York into giving them tens of millions of Bangladesh’s dollars has us salivating…

Why’s This So Bad? Confirmation Bias and Failed Narratives

There’s a scene in Evelyn Waugh’s scathing journalism send-up “Scoop” where Wenlock Jakes, the world-beating American reporter (based on John Gunther of the old Chicago Daily News), is sent to the…
Annotation Tuesday! "Criminal" and "The Fifth Suspect"

Annotation Tuesday! “Criminal” and “The Fifth Suspect”

Phoebe Judge and Lauren Spohrer launched “Criminal” in 2014, with producer Eric Mennel. Judge and Spohrer had worked together on “The Story” with Dick Gordon, a public radio program that went…

From Esquire Classic: “Love in the Time of Magic”

Mid February marked the anniversary of Magic Johnson’s 1992 return to the NBA after having retired the previous fall, when he announced he was HIV positive. He turned in a…