Author

“Then away out in the woods I heard that kind of a sound that a ghost makes when it wants to tell about something that’s on its mind and can’t make itself understood, and so can’t rest easy in its grave, and has to go about that way every night grieving.”

Why is it great? For Halloween, I decided to use this wonderfully spooky line from Mark Twain (who in his writing and his speaking was a true master of the…
October 30, 2017
Reporting on racism in America: One writer confronted with rage, another driven by it

Reporting on racism in America: One writer confronted with rage, another driven by it

These words from journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones sum up this week’s posts on racism and white supremacism better than I ever could: “The truth is even though this is fundamental and foundational…
October 27, 2017
Nikole Hannah-Jones on reporting about racial inequality: "What drives me is rage"

Nikole Hannah-Jones on reporting about racial inequality: “What drives me is rage”

New York Times Magazine writer Nikole Hannah-Jones doesn’t pretend to be an objective observer of her subject: racial segregation.[pq]”Our job as storytellers – if we want to get people to…
October 26, 2017

“Along with these tots and second-honeymooners, there were Harvard freshmen … “

“Along with these tots and second-honeymooners, there were Harvard freshmen, giving off that peculiar nervous glow created when a quantity of insouciance is saturated with insecurity; thick-necked Army officers with…
October 25, 2017
The power of immersion journalism -- for a year, or the moment we're living in now

The power of immersion journalism — for a year, or the moment we’re living in now

Immersion journalism usually means the kind of reporting that Ted Genoways does: He and his photographer wife spent a year practically living with a soybean farmer and his family in…
October 20, 2017
5(ish) Questions: Ted Genoways and his year-long embed on a family farm

5(ish) Questions: Ted Genoways and his year-long embed on a family farm

For more than 15 years now, Ted Genoways has been exploring narratives of how America reaps its food.[pq]”I think that every story works best when the writer is something of…
October 19, 2017

“There was a kind of autumnal stain in the air that reminded me of the smell of leather work gloves, a high-school locker room at homecoming, the inside of an ancient canvas tent.”

Why is it great? Chabon has tapped into that greatest of sensory effects: the ability of smells to take you back to a place, a moment, a memory. The last…
October 18, 2017
Journalist Dena Takruri on being millennial, Arab American and a woman on camera

Journalist Dena Takruri on being millennial, Arab American and a woman on camera

For Dena Takruri, the power of journalism rests on its ability to give voice to the voiceless.[pq]”I’ve always been upfront about my identity and background, and it’s shaped who I…
October 17, 2017
This week Storyboard launched a series on the unicorn of longform: the story pitch

This week Storyboard launched a series on the unicorn of longform: the story pitch

I’m so excited about this series we’ve just launched on Storyboard called “The Pitch,” in which we try to demystify the unicorn of longform: the story pitch. Contributor Katia Savchuk will…
October 13, 2017
5(ish) Questions: "Bodega Stories" creator talks about her love for the corner store

5(ish) Questions: “Bodega Stories” creator talks about her love for the corner store

One of my earliest childhood memories was having cash in my hand and roaming a baqala, or a corner store, in my Middle Eastern hometown. I remember the South Asian…
October 12, 2017