Articles

What we're reading: kung-fu college, the new immortals, and life in isolation

Reflections on Tiananmen Square 20 years on. A look at the use of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons today. A father rolling through an infantile old age as part of…

The essence of story, in a 358-word song

When I was little, my mama worked the early shift at the seafood plant. She’d drop me off at my Aunt Janice’s house before dawn and they’d lay me down…
Meg Kissinger on writing the tough stories

Meg Kissinger on writing the tough stories

Our February Editors’ Roundtable tackled “The law creates barriers to getting care for the mentally ill,” a story by Meg Kissinger of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Addressing the difficult question…
February Editors' Roundtable: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on patients' rights

February Editors’ Roundtable: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on patients’ rights

Our February Roundtable looks at “Law creates barriers to getting care for mentally ill,” by Meg Kissinger. In her narrative, Kissinger touches on violence, mental health and 40 years of…
Audio danger: NPR’s Kelly McEvers on trauma and the calculus of risk

Audio danger: NPR’s Kelly McEvers on trauma and the calculus of risk

[The second installment in an ongoing series of posts by Julia Barton about audio narratives. –Ed.]The title of this series, “Audio danger,” is mostly tongue-in-cheek. But not in the case…

Thomas Lake calls out Michael Jordan

If character is destiny, you wouldn’t know it from reading our latest Notable Narrative. In “Did This Man Really Cut Michael Jordan?,” Thomas Lake introduces Clifton “Pop” Herring, the high…
“Why’s this so good?” No. 30: Sally Jenkins picks Kwame Brown

“Why’s this so good?” No. 30: Sally Jenkins picks Kwame Brown

The thing about being the first pick in the NBA draft – especially if you’re 19-year-old Kwame Brown, the youngest No. 1 pick ever – is that you become the subject of…
Beth Macy on Edna Buchanan, sources in conflict, and stories too sad to tell

Beth Macy on Edna Buchanan, sources in conflict, and stories too sad to tell

Our January Editors’ Roundtable looked at “After the battle, Mike Sword’s war within,” a story by Roanoke Times reporter Beth Macy about the death of an Air Force veteran in Virginia after…
January Editors' Roundtable: The Roanoke Times on PTSD and hard questions

January Editors’ Roundtable: The Roanoke Times on PTSD and hard questions

Our January Roundtable looks at “After the battle, Mike Sword’s war within,” by Beth Macy. In her story, Macy explores the death of a combat veteran in southern Virginia, tracing…
“Why’s this so good?” No. 29: Andrea Curtis and the rhythm of mercy

“Why’s this so good?” No. 29: Andrea Curtis and the rhythm of mercy

As a rule, I’m not one of those readers who flips ahead to the last few pages of an article or book before committing myself to reading it. I like…