Author

Kari Howard

@karihow

I'm the woman who left a dream job as Column One editor at the Los Angeles Times because I wanted to move to Maine. Go figure how happiness works. Former editor of Nieman Storyboard. I love music almost as much as (and sometimes more than) beautiful storytelling, so expect to see that here too.

“This is a love story, and I apologize; it was inadvertent. But I want it clearly understood from the start that I don’t expect it to turn out well.”

Why is it great? Have you ever read a book and found it hard to get over a terrible first line? You want to move on, and the other 100,000…
March 15, 2017
5(ish) Questions: Diarmid Mogg and the crazy-compelling "Small Town Noir"

5(ish) Questions: Diarmid Mogg and the crazy-compelling “Small Town Noir”

Anna Mae McNeil stares past the camera, the smudge of an old bruise under her right eye. The words “New Castle, Pa., No. 220” are written in white ink below…
March 14, 2017
Let's hear it for women writers like Dorothy Parker and Zadie Smith the *other* 364 days

Let’s hear it for women writers like Dorothy Parker and Zadie Smith the *other* 364 days

This week, International Women’s Day really grabbed the spotlight with the Day Without a Woman protests and homages to role models on social media (shout-out to Nieman Lab’s great Instagram…
March 10, 2017

“Hazel Morse was a large, fair woman of the type that incites some men when they use the word ‘blonde’ to click their tongues and wag their heads roguishly.”

Why is it great? With this opening line to her famous short story, Parker does so many things: She gives us an image of Hazel that’s Kodachrome clear: I can…
March 8, 2017
Notable Narrative: Bernt Jakob Oksnes and "The Baby in the Plastic Bag"

Notable Narrative: Bernt Jakob Oksnes and “The Baby in the Plastic Bag”

The words appear on a blank white screen, accompanied by an atonal, ominous peal of music.“One frosty October morning, a newborn baby boy is found inside a plastic bag inside…
March 7, 2017
The politics of language, from terrorists vs. freedom fighters to "carnage" in Chicago

The politics of language, from terrorists vs. freedom fighters to “carnage” in Chicago

We seem to have two recurring motifs going on this week on Storyboard — animals and the politicization of language. On the animal front, we have Christopher Solomon’s “cute even when…
March 3, 2017
Guy Larson and "Merv Curls Lead" -- it's kind of like "The Office" on ice

Guy Larson and “Merv Curls Lead” — it’s kind of like “The Office” on ice

You know when you absentmindedly click on a product and an ad for the thing seems to stalk you online for the rest of your life? (I once thought the…
February 23, 2017

“The only break from the darkness comes when the sub drops through clusters of bioluminescence that look like stars in the Milky Way.”

Why is it great? This piece about mining companies exploring the bottom of the ocean creates an upside-down outer space. The whole story is a kind of extended metaphor between…
February 22, 2017
Meet the phone phreaks, the grandfathers of today's hackers (Russian or otherwise)

Meet the phone phreaks, the grandfathers of today’s hackers (Russian or otherwise)

Just in time for the weekend, here’s a little list of some of the things I’ve been listening to and reading this week, some of it online — Storyboard included,…
February 17, 2017
Reporters who go deep -- something we need more of in a time of national divisions (and short attention spans)

Reporters who go deep — something we need more of in a time of national divisions (and short attention spans)

Just in time for the weekend, here’s a little list of some of the things I’ve been listening to and reading this week, some of it online — Storyboard included,…
February 10, 2017