Articles

Story, interrupted: why we need new approaches to digital narrative

Story, interrupted: why we need new approaches to digital narrative

The way we tell stories in print has been mostly the same for some time now. Space constraints and graphic layout have made the narrative flow a broken one. With…
“Why’s this so good?” No. 10: Ralph Wiley tackles Jim Brown

“Why’s this so good?” No. 10: Ralph Wiley tackles Jim Brown

In “Nobody Else is Jim Brown,” sportswriter Ralph Wiley constructs a profile of perhaps the greatest football player in NFL history, a man so legendary that the word legend actually applies.…

The Go-Gos and the future of narrative nonfiction (or why you won’t see any new posts here for a bit)

It’s that time of year, where we take a break for a few days from the world of nonfiction storytelling to hit the beach, eat funnel cakes and read really…

The future of Baby Donuts: Patti Waldmeir on changing (and unchanging) life in modern China

Our latest Notable Narrative, “Little Girl Found,” is the tale of a baby discovered outside a Dunkin’ Donuts in Shanghai, China. Financial Times correspondent Patti Waldmeir, who was with a…

What we're reading: 9/11 ten years on, bat extinction and a 70-year-old mystery

In our latest roundup of narrative and narrative-ish pieces, we've pulled together stories reflecting on 9/11, researchers dealing with an unstoppable disease, the end of a family fishing dynasty, and…
“Why’s This So Good?” No. 9: Herbert Muschamp builds a metaphor

“Why’s This So Good?” No. 9: Herbert Muschamp builds a metaphor

What do Silly Putty, Superman and Marilyn Monroe have to do with architecture?Short answer: Nothing.Long answer:  Herbert Muschamp. In 1997, New York Times architecture critic Muschamp traveled to a then…
Cynthia Gorney on embracing complexity “while maintaining a sense of justified outrage”

Cynthia Gorney on embracing complexity “while maintaining a sense of justified outrage”

Our latest Editors’ Roundtable looks at Cynthia Gorney's story “Too Young To Wed,” from the June issue of National Geographic. In addition to her work for National Geographic, Gorney is a…
August Editors' Roundtable No. 2: National Geographic on the fate of child brides

August Editors’ Roundtable No. 2: National Geographic on the fate of child brides

Our second Roundtable of August examines “Too Young To Wed: The Secret World of Child Brides,” by Cynthia Gorney. Heading to Yemen and the Indian state of Rajasthan, Gorney meets a…
“Why's this so good?” No. 8: Katherine Boo takes on the ties that bind

“Why's this so good?” No. 8: Katherine Boo takes on the ties that bind

I only saw my great-aunt a few times – she lived far away – but in my family, she was kind of a legend. She wore purple every day, and kept a stash of…

Exhuming a life: Michael Kruse recovers the lost history of Kathryn Norris

What would happen if you disappeared today? What if no one noticed?In our latest Notable Narrative, St. Petersburg Times reporter Michael Kruse collects relics of the life of Kathryn Norris,…