Articles

Michael Kruse and the woman who disappeared in her own home

In July 2011, Michael Kruse of the St. Petersburg Times (now the Tampa Bay Times) wrote a haunting story about the “disappearance” and death of a woman named Kathryn Norris. He did it…
August 31, 2012
Paige Williams
The best of Storyboard: What’s that sound?

The best of Storyboard: What’s that sound?

The best stories – even the written ones – have audio. Maybe it’s a sensibility: voice or style, which Ben Yagoda explores in his craft book The Sound on the…
August 30, 2012
Paige Williams

“Why’s this so good?” No. 56: Nora Ephron and the thing about breasts

Nora Ephron was a writer of many gifts. She was fearless. She was blunt. She was dazzlingly perceptive. She was writing at the right time. Her connections were fascinating. She could…
August 28, 2012
Wesley Morris

Jon Franklin and “Mrs. Kelly’s Monster”

Jon Franklin’s “Mrs. Kelly’s Monster,” which in 1979 won the inaugural Pulitzer Prize for feature writing, ran 33 years ago but never loses its power to captivate or instruct. Franklin…
August 24, 2012
Paige Williams
What we're reading: digital long-form enterprise, quest narratives, a goalie's dream, recession survivors, the curated Ayn Rand

What we’re reading: digital long-form enterprise, quest narratives, a goalie’s dream, recession survivors, the curated Ayn Rand

Five from the field:1. Rachel McAthy’s recent roundup of eight long-form digital projects included sites you probably already know about, like The Atavist, Byliner and Longreads, but also Matter, which recently…
August 23, 2012
Paige Williams

"Why’s this so good?" No. 55: Dave Gardetta, inside the Hollywood scene

Around the turn of the millennium, big changes swept Hollywood. Suddenly and as never before, screens were clotted with the teen-fodder likes of Scream and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and…
August 21, 2012
Benjamin Wallace

Jeneen Interlandi on "When My Crazy Father Actually Lost His Mind"

We’ve chosen Jeneen Interlandi’s recent New York Times magazine cover story about her father’s mental illness as our latest Notable Narrative. “When My Crazy Father Actually Lost His Mind” follows a…
August 17, 2012
Paige Williams

Notable Narrative: "When My Crazy Father Actually Lost His Mind," by Jeneen Interlandi

Our latest Notable Narrative, “When My Crazy Father Actually Lost His Mind,” is Jeneen Interlandi’s New York Times magazine story about an episode in her father’s debilitating bipolar disorder, and…
August 16, 2012
Paige Williams

“Why’s This So Good?” No. 54: John Jeremiah Sullivan and partisan politics

Politics should, in theory, be the subject of some of the most compelling narrative journalism. There’s built-in drama! There are winners and losers! The stakes are high! That’s why it’s…
August 14, 2012
Ann Friedman
Viewfinder: Video journalism that works

Viewfinder: Video journalism that works

Whenever I go out on an assignment I get a few of the same questions from onlookers who see me with my tripod and my reasonably large video camera: “What…
August 10, 2012
Sean Patrick Farrell