Articles

A viral image, a question of provenance and a consideration of truth

A viral image, a question of provenance and a consideration of truth

In the 100-plus days since Vladimir Putin ordered his Russian army into Ukraine, I have done something I rarely do on social media: Forwarded shares, many days a week, of…
What to do when words fail you

What to do when words fail you

Sometimes the words just don’t work. I don’t mean they don’t come together easily or work well or string together in pretty rhythms. Those are annoyances we seldom get to…
A reporter explores the laws and emotion involved in helping her father die

A reporter explores the laws and emotion involved in helping her father die

Bloomberg investigative reporter Esmé Deprez researched a range of death-with-dignity issues after becoming her father's end-of-life partner
When gun violence visits: Previous work to guide your stories

When gun violence visits: Previous work to guide your stories

After 19 students and two teachers were gunned down in a classroom in Uvalde, Texas, the chorus rose: “Enough!” It came with a sad refrain: “It will happen again.”And it…
A writer's tribute to Roger Angell: For the love of the reading journey

A writer’s tribute to Roger Angell: For the love of the reading journey

For all my life, I’ve been a baseball agnostic. The thing I like most about baseball  is that, by and large, it is played outside in the summertime, generally in…
Eternal pain, intractable politics and public detachment

Eternal pain, intractable politics and public detachment

How much difference does three days make?Too much, at least when it comes to our gnat-like attention span. Three days is the time it takes for the public to shift…
A documentary film breaks rules and wins an Oscar

A documentary film breaks rules and wins an Oscar

EDITOR’S NOTE: All time codes in this post correspond to the YouTube version of “The Queen of Basketball.” It’s also available, with an introduction by filmmaker Ben Proudfoot, on The…
Lauren Hough goes on a hunt for Bonnie and Clyde and her Grandpa Chuck

Lauren Hough goes on a hunt for Bonnie and Clyde and her Grandpa Chuck

A celebrated memoirist returns to her native Texas on a quest to determine if her family stories were true
Packing a punch in a few words

Packing a punch in a few words

If you want to see some creative short-form storytelling, you can skip right past Twitter and TikTok and head straight to the news. Newspapers, news sites, TV news — any…
Stories behind bars: The power and pitfalls of "emotional truths"

Stories behind bars: The power and pitfalls of “emotional truths”

When I began reading Evan Allen’s powerful, critically acclaimed Boston Globe story about Anthony Pledger, all I could think about was Jimmie. Jimmie is a violent offender — a sanitized…