One Great Moment

“… it’s not terribly unusual to see grown men crying …”

Cynthia Barnes of Denver Westword in her obit of a local bartender

By Erik Ness • June 2, 2023

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Story Annotations

Reconstructing a murky maze of blame

Lauren Smiley of Wired spent four years tracking the first pedestrian fatality involving a bicyclist, Uber and a self-driving car

By Chip Scanlan • June 1, 2023

Story Craft

Climbing the “ladder of abstraction” to evoke empathy and elevate your message

A concept adapted from theories of rhetoric can help writers choose details that add both intimacy and universality to a story

By Korrina Duffy • May 31, 2023

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Notable Narratives

“Poetic explorations” in a podcast from inside and outside prison walls

By Julia Barton
May 18, 2023

The final post in the revived "Audio Danger" series gives voice to the moments and memories of imprisoned people

Notable Narratives

A true crime podcast that is more about truth than crime

By Julia Barton
May 8, 2023

The third post of the revived "Audio Danger" series explores the reporting that revealed indigenous lives "Stolen" in a residential school in Canada

Notable Narratives

A podcaster follows a then-cop into the breach of the U.S. Capitol

By Julia Barton
April 26, 2023

The second post of the revived "Audio Danger" series analyzes the powerful storytelling behind an episode of the podcast "Will Be Wild"

Notable Narratives

John Lennon, Jimmy Breslin and (deadline) narrative as the sum of its parts

By Lauren Kessler
April 7, 2023

Narrative Elements 1: A narrative nonfiction writer and teacher starts a series that explores narrative journalism element by element

Notable Narratives

How a 19th century widow stopped the presses — and pioneered deadline reporting

By Lauren Kessler
March 29, 2023

Miriam Leslie inherited a media empire from her husband, then reinvented it with journalism we take for granted today

Notable Narratives

A doc film that gently unspools surprises

By Line Vaaben
March 17, 2023

Filmmaker Eloisa Diez follows a trans man's journey to create a family of his own ~ and confronts her own storytelling stereotypes

Notable Narratives

A top Danish journalist reflects society in autopsies, trans surgery and pork roast

By Jacqui Banaszynski
September 23, 2022

Author and narrative reporter Line Vaaben offers gems from her 20-year immersion into the craft of storytelling

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

By Jacqui Banaszynski
June 16, 2022

A news photographer helps assess how a "photo illustration" with a point-of-view can convey, rather than undermine, reality

Notable Narratives

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

By Charles P. Pierce
June 3, 2022

"Sports Guy" author and politics blogger Charles P. Pierce with a reflection on legendary sportswriter and baseball fan Roger Angell

Notable Narratives

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

By Lauren Kessler
May 13, 2022

Author Lauren Kessler finds echoes of her work in a prisoner profile by Boston Globe reporter Evan Allen that reveals the journalist's role in the story

Notable Narratives

What a modern reading of “The Canterbury Tales” can teach us

By Lisa Grace Lednicer
April 15, 2022

A journalist's mother tuned her, and then her daughter, into the sound of written language by reading Chaucer aloud in Middle English

Notable Narratives

Icy waters, lost treasures, timeless tales and the tricky route to immortality

By Andrea Pitzer
April 6, 2022

A biographer of Arctic explorers writes about the discovery of Shackleton's Endurance and why adventure narratives hold our attention through time

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