Story Annotations

Josh Sanburn went deep into a place of death — and found a story that teems with life.In “The Last of the First Responders,” published in June in Vanity Fair, …

Ann Patchett writes about Reese Witherspoon: No celebrity dirt, a storytelling structure, lots of dialog about books and houses and feminism

At first glance, there are few frills or fireworks in “Tatiana’s Luck,” Hannah Dreier ‘s profile of an immigrant living in a crowded New Jersey house stalked by COVID-19. In the…

One of the things that distinguishes the coronavirus outbreak from disasters that have come before is the disorienting flood of research and information. Credit — or blame — that on…

Surprising stories spring from any number of places. Investigative or narrative or explanatory stories often start with curiosity sparked by a local news story or feature. That’s what happened when…

America’s quadrennial obsession with Iowa has passed like the season’s last snow storm, there for a turbulent moment but forgotten three days later. The nail-biting over bad election apps and…

Coronavirus is no longer something happening somewhere else — no matter where you are — or something that will soon become yesterday’s news. As of this week, cases have been…

An investigative narrative exposes a system where the bounty hunter rules

When she got the story assignment, ESPN senior writer Elizabeth Merrill could hardly believe it:A Villanova basketball star, Shelly Pennefather, won the 1987 Wade Trophy as the top female player…

Four centuries ago this year, a privateer named the White Lion anchored off Point Comfort, an English colony in what is now Hampton, Virginia. In its cramped hold, it carried…