3 ways to become a better writer
On the last morning of a silent meditation retreat, my teacher announced that he would tell us the three most important things about continuing a meditation practice at home. For a week, we had had a respite from daily life: no talking, no internet, no personal sagas, no decisions about what to do next. The normal […]
On My Bookshelf: It’s What I Do by Lynsey Addario
An afternoon shopping at New York’s Strand bookstore is an exercise in both decadence and restraint. Like most book lovers, I’ve back and forthed my reading habits to acknowledge the portability and economy of an e-reader. My criteria for buying physical books have become more specific: art and reference books, and out-of-print titles are the […]
What to watch: Movies for the media
This trio of films have all found audiences with the general public, but may have particular resonance with journalists, photographers, and related members of the media. Finding Vivan Maier “Finding Vivan Maier” is both an introduction to the work of the prolific street photographer, as well as a dive into who she was and why […]
Best of 2014: What I read, listened to, and watched
Most journalists will tell you that one of the best parts of the job is speaking with people whom you wouldn’t otherwise get to meet–and of course, ask them all sorts of questions. One that almost always elicits genuine, passionate responses from creatives is, “What artists from other genres inspire you?” Today’s post is my […]
On Instagram and Scooping Yourself
This morning, after I’d briefed the photographer about the story in progress, we waited in the parking lot of a community hall for a source to arrive and escort us to a new location. I walked to the slightly crumbling mural of O.R. Tambo, snapped a photo, and posted it to my nascent Instagram account. […]
Jerry Seinfeld: How to Write a Joke
The wronger it feels, the righter it is, says Jerry Seinfeld about joke writing.
Vanity searches and Danzy Senna
Whenever Google finds somebody with my name (such as me, or the real estate agent, or the OB/GYN, or the Chicago English lecturer) doing something new, a message alert pops up. The main purpose of this is to catch new articles when they are published online. Sometimes vanity searches turn up reprints or references, such […]
Wole Soyinka turns 80
Over time, most interviews, be they phoners or even in-person, start to blur together. Some stand out in your memory because of a great conversation or odd location; Wole Soyinka was a bit of both. When I met him for lunch a few years ago, it was with a small group of other journalists, so […]
On My Bookshelf: New Life, No Instructions
Cherry red. Deep blue. When visiting New York, off-white with a thin seafoam stripe. Whomever designs veterinary surgical tape knows that when your dog comes out of the back room, the best response is, “Ooh, how cute you look, all bandaged up!” My dog, a red fawn Shar-pei, has always gotten a lot of attention, […]
Face in the Kenyan Crowd
These have been boom years for cartography geeks, and talking with Juliana Rotich–the Kenya-based, MIT-trained innovator behind crowdmapping sensation Ushahidi, as well as many other BAFA projects–was one of those interviews that makes it easy to love being a journalist. The creation of a healthier ecosystem in Nairobi’s Silicon Savannah where entrepreneurs can thrive depends […]
Rituals
Via InfoWeTrust.com I’ve been reading Mason Currey’s new book, Daily Rituals, with an odd sort of interest. It’s not dissimilar to the questions writers get about what tool they use to write. (I still favor the Pilot Razor Point pens from the 1980s.) The take-away is that the details of your schedule’s rituals and routines […]
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