Two-time National Magazine Award winner Tom Junod often writes from home. But not always, and especially not on deadline. In a recent Facebook post, he mentioned that when he is on deadline, he seeks refuge, places where he … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: This essay first appeared in The Cabin, a center for writers in Idaho. It is used with permission. Also, read Kim Cross’s Writer’s Survival Guide: Tips for defying distraction. On … Read more
Some journalistic tenets are almost sacred, among them: The story is not about us. But sometimes, the story is. Or at least the journalist is living the same story as his or her sources and readers. That is especially … Read more
Canadian freelancer Eva Holland didn’t just report her debut nonfiction book, “Nerve: Adventures in the Science of Fear.” She lived it. For the book, she plummets out of an airplane, stands … Read more
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 inadequate phone banks and questions of a … Read more
When Dashka Slater looked at California’s parole system, she saw more than a sprawling bureaucracy; she saw a place where people struggled toward redemption. When she followed those seeking parole, the journalist and author found more than crimes and … Read more
While there are no dearth of journalism textbooks on the market, many skim over well-trod territory rather than dive deep into a specialty field. And those that do take that deep dive — whether writing about how to interview … Read more
It’s a predictable moment: A reporter needs some relevant emotion for story, so — recorder running and notebook poised — asks: “How does it feel?” You can insert the situation of your choice: Trial verdict. Lottery win. Pink slip. Read more
I started the year on the road. I left a job of more than seven years — a happy, busy job that taught me so much until it didn’t and it was time to seek new adventures. It was … Read more
Editor’s note: It’s Thanksgiving, that singular and, for many, favorite American holiday. We welcome you to hunt around for stories of the true origins of the day, rather than the many mythical versions framed over the years. Here, we just … Read more