Articles

Michael J. Mooney interview: Unseen lives

Excerpts from an August 2009 interview with Michael J. Mooney, reporter for Florida’s New Times, whose stories won a slot in the Best American Crime Reporting and Best American Sports…

Escape from North Korea

In our second Notable Narrative for August, North Korean defectors ride a train 2,000 miles across China in an effort to make their way to South Korea. National Geographic’s Tom…

Why Didn’t They Stop Him?

The first Notable Narrative for August recounts the history of Vernetta Cockerham, a woman whose estranged husband killed one of her children and very nearly ended her life, too.The story,…

Steve Luxenberg interview on Annie's Ghosts: A Journey into a Family Secret

Excerpts from a July 2009 interview with Steve Luxenberg on his memoir, which traces the discovery that his mother had an institutionalized sister whose existence she kept secret from her children for…

Playing the right way: Tom Friend on his Chauncey Billups piece for ESPN.com

Excerpts from a July 2009 interview with Tom Friend on his story “The Disposable Superstar”:How long did you take on the Chauncey Billups story?I spent a week in Denver and I…

The Disposable Superstar

After playing for six teams in five years, NBA star Chauncey Billups had a reputation as a prodigy who didn’t pan out. “The Disposable Superstar,” our latest Notable Narrative, is the story…

For Their Own Good

July’s first Notable Narrative tells a story of abuse at The Florida School for Boys. St. Petersburg Times reporters Ben Montgomery and Waveney Ann Moore use the account of one…

In a City Under Strain, Ladling Out Fortification

In our second Notable Narrative for June, cook Ines De Costa makes soup at a social club in the ailing city of Fall River, Massachusetts. New York Times columnist Dan…

Killer Blue: Baptized by Fire

June’s first Notable Narrative recounts the story of Blue Platoon, Killer Troop, whose soldiers returned to the U.S. in 2009 after finishing one of the last 15-month combat tours in…

The Monster Inside My Son

Our second notable narrative for this month chronicles dual transformations. An autistic young man who had found his footing collapses into rage and violence. And a mother who once wrote…