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5(ish) Questions: Radio storytelling pioneer Jay Allison and the bite-size "Sonic IDs"

5(ish) Questions: Radio storytelling pioneer Jay Allison and the bite-size “Sonic IDs”

Jay Allison is a pioneer in the world of radio storytelling. Nearly 25 years ago, he founded Atlantic Public Media, which in turn birthed WCAI, the public radio station for…
February 8, 2018

“No single gesture would do more to demonstrate continuity and stability … “

“No single gesture would do more to demonstrate continuity and stability — to show that the government of the United States would continue to function without interruption despite the assassination…
February 7, 2018
"The Watchdog" on the importance of storytelling in consumer reporting

“The Watchdog” on the importance of storytelling in consumer reporting

You might not think of consumer columnists as narrative storytellers, or investigative reporters. But journalist Dave Lieber, “The Watchdog” for the Dallas Morning News, is a big fan of the…
February 6, 2018
Forget the politics of immigration -- read about the real lives of immigration

Forget the politics of immigration — read about the real lives of immigration

This week on Storyboard we spotlighted some wonderful journalism (and songwriting) about immigration. I know I might be biased, because I spent the bulk of my career at the Los…
February 2, 2018
Francisco Cantú and "The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches From the Border"

Francisco Cantú and “The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches From the Border”

I remember first hearing Francisco Cantú’s story sometime last year, spooling out from my car speakers as I wound through mountain curves many hundreds of miles from the border he…
February 1, 2018

“For what are we without hope in our hearts / That someday we’ll drink from God’s blessed waters / And eat the fruit from the vine / I know love and fortune will be mine / Somewhere across the border.”

Why is it so great? Springsteen’s eternal theme of the runaway American dream runs through this song and the entire album it’s on, the Nebraska-esque “The Ghost of Tom Joad.”…
January 31, 2018
5(ish) Questions: Richard Marosi and "Without a Country"

5(ish) Questions: Richard Marosi and “Without a Country”

Stories about anti-immigrant raids and deportations can take on a sheen of the generic: a series of action-movie snapshots coupled with thousand-foot views of policy, statistics and ideology that tackle…
January 30, 2018
A salute to storytelling in the Middle East: Syria, Saudi Arabia and Shadid

A salute to storytelling in the Middle East: Syria, Saudi Arabia and Shadid

This week we spotlighted the storytelling of the Middle East on Storyboard. Too often the coverage is of the bird’s-eye-view variety, either because of dangerous conditions or cultural differences. But…
January 26, 2018
The evolution of wartime journalists in Syria: from activists to reporters

The evolution of wartime journalists in Syria: from activists to reporters

Six years ago, in the early days of the Syrian uprising, a group of anti-government activists in a Damascus suburb decided to start their own newspaper.[pq]“If I look back to…
January 25, 2018

“He longed for a past as imagined as it was real.”

Why is it great? This story was part of the late writer’s Iraq coverage that won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting. It captures Iraqis’ sense of loss in…
January 24, 2018