Articles

Dudley Clendinen on building stories from life and choosing grace in death: “I don't quibble with fate”

Dudley Clendinen on building stories from life and choosing grace in death: “I don't quibble with fate”

Our latest Editors' Roundtable examines Dudley Clendinen's “The Good Short Life,” a career journalist's startling response to being diagnosed with ALS. In addition to two books (“A Place Called Canterbury”…
September 30, 2011
Andrea Pitzer
September Editors' Roundtable No. 2: The New York Times on facing death

September Editors' Roundtable No. 2: The New York Times on facing death

Our second Roundtable of September examines “The Good Short Life,” by Dudley Clendinen. Diagnosed with ALS, Clendinen reflects on the past suffering of those closest to him and decides that he would…
September 29, 2011
Andrea Pitzer
Gene Weingarten on “the god of journalism,” compulsive editing and “The Peekaboo Paradox”

Gene Weingarten on “the god of journalism,” compulsive editing and “The Peekaboo Paradox”

After some months spent planning to write about Gene Weingarten's story “The Peekaboo Paradox” for this site, I caught up with the two-time Pulitzer winner in Texas this summer at…
September 28, 2011
Andrea Pitzer
“Why's this so good?” No. 13: Gene Weingarten peels the Great Zucchini

“Why’s this so good?” No. 13: Gene Weingarten peels the Great Zucchini

The Great Zucchini has a secret. And in “The Peekaboo Paradox,” Gene Weingarten exhumes the history that haunts the most popular children’s entertainer in Washington, D.C. The story, which ran…
September 27, 2011
Andrea Pitzer

Dexter Filkins on the case: murder in Pakistan

Dexter Filkins is hardly the first person to use a crime and its procedural aftermath to tell a story of corruption – such tales have dotted the landscapes of film and…
September 22, 2011
Andrea Pitzer
“Why’s this so good?” No. 12: Ian Frazier digs into piggery

“Why’s this so good?” No. 12: Ian Frazier digs into piggery

Environmental journalists often feel married to the tragic narrative. Pollution, extinction, invasion: The stories are endless, and endlessly the same. Our editors see the pattern and bury us in the…
September 20, 2011
Michelle Nijhuis
Corinne Reilly on trauma medicine in Afghanistan, after a decade of war

Corinne Reilly on trauma medicine in Afghanistan, after a decade of war

Our latest Editors’ Roundtable looks at Corinne Reilly’s print series “A Chance in Hell.” Part of a multimedia project from The Virginian-Pilot, the series brings readers snapshots from the lives…
September 16, 2011
Andrea Pitzer

September Editors’ Roundtable No. 1: The Virginian-Pilot on saving soldiers in Afghanistan

Our first Roundtable of September examines “A Chance in Hell,” by Corinne Reilly. Visiting a combat hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Reilly shows the endless challenges of trauma medicine just a helicopter…
September 15, 2011
Andrea Pitzer
“Why’s this so good?” No. 11: Tom Junod on Mister Rogers and grace

“Why’s this so good?” No. 11: Tom Junod on Mister Rogers and grace

When I was living in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and came back sometime later to see what was left, one of the things I found was the November 1998…
September 13, 2011
Susannah Breslin
Eric Moskowitz resurrects the pre-flight hours of 9/11

Eric Moskowitz resurrects the pre-flight hours of 9/11

Our latest Notable Narrative comes from the Boston Globe project “9/11: 10 years on,” a wide-ranging collection of print stories, slide shows and video. Many news organizations have unveiled impressive…
September 9, 2011
Andrea Pitzer