Strictly Q&A

Jennifer Senior follows a personal trail to undo the erasure of her disabled aunt

The Atlantic writer uncovers the painful truth behind the treatment of a generation of Americans warehoused in asylums and denied by families

By Carly Stern • November 29, 2023

Jennifer Senior's mother, Rona, and aunt, Adele, at Adele's group home in November 2021.

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From the Editor

A “gratitude alphabet” as writing practice

The editor embraces a columnist's invitation to use the alphabet as a meditation on gratitude and a celebration of words

By Jacqui Banaszynski • November 28, 2023

Personal Essays

Two Native American journalists talk turkey about Thanksgiving

University of Montana journalist Jason Begay, of the Navajo Nation, talks to Washington Post journalist Dana Hedgpeth, of the Haliwa-Saponi tribe, about living with and correcting history

By Jason Begay • November 23, 2023

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Strictly Q&A

Jennifer Senior follows a personal trail to undo the erasure of her disabled aunt

By Carly Stern
November 29, 2023

The Atlantic writer uncovers the painful truth behind the treatment of a generation of Americans warehoused in asylums and denied by families

Strictly Q&A

Nonfiction author Kim Cross breaks down how to sell a book proposal

By Carly Stern
November 17, 2023

The narrative journalist details the upside of rejection, the importance of timing, the value of a good agent and the reality of advances

Strictly Q&A

Chasing the emotional escape of Dungeons & Dragons on death row

By Trevor Pyle
October 4, 2023

Author and one-time prisoner Keri Blakinger worked through nicknames, bureaucracies and emotional truths to write about gaming on death row

Strictly Q&A

A meditation on violence, grief and healing in Uvalde, Texas

By Trevor Pyle
August 24, 2023

The rivers that run through southwest Texas inspired author Kimberly Garza to tell a different story of her hometown's tragic school shooting

Strictly Q&A

Sally Jenkins on her intimate interview with Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert

By Esther Landhuis
August 18, 2023

The Washington Post sports columnist used a career of trust and "sincere curiosity" to talk to the tennis greats about rivalry, cancer and friendship

Strictly Q&A

Six profiles and a first-person approach give dignity to the many faces of homelessness

By Trevor Pyle
April 21, 2023

A reporter for the Chicago Reader teams with a freelance photographer to document the personal cost of society's "lattice of failure"

Strictly Q&A

Auschwitz stories told by those who lived them

By Andrea Pitzer
February 24, 2023

The director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland has collected hundreds of survivor testimonials, told with a rawness that no outsider could

Strictly Q&A

How a documentary filmmaker captures “lived experience”

By Kristen Chin
January 20, 2023

Omar Mullick, who made "Flight/Risk" about the Boeing 737 MAX crashes, discusses pros and cons of print vs film story work

Strictly Q&A

The mastery of Supreme Court reporting, Part IV: Pre-reporting possibilities

By Trevor Pyle
December 2, 2022

Mark Sherman of the Associated Press anticipates the impact of even the most unlikely Court ruling, then pre-reports and pre-writes multiple ledes

Strictly Q&A

The mastery of Supreme Court reporting, Part III: Analysis and meaning over scoops

By Trevor Pyle
December 1, 2022

Ian Millhiser of Vox views the Court through a political lens and draws on his law school degree to translate "demon" legal language

Strictly Q&A

The mastery of Supreme Court reporting, Part II: The intersection of law and politics

By Trevor Pyle
November 30, 2022

Pulitzer winner Lawrence Hurley recently moved from Reuters to NBC where he focuses on the "practical impact" of Court rulings

Strictly Q&A

The mastery of Supreme Court reporting, Part I: authoritative, clear and fast

By Trevor Pyle
November 29, 2022

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post strives to make his coverage accessible without losing complexity or context; legal experts help

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