When Journalism Becomes a Mission

On an upcoming episode of the Business Mindset Podcast, journalist Emily Palmer draws on her coverage of some of the most high-profile criminal cases of the past decade—from El Chapo to Anna Delvey to R. Kelly and Diddy—to explore what her reporting has revealed beneath the surface. Over time, she’s come to see that the most compelling question isn’t what people did, but why, and how much of that “why” is left out of the official narrative. That question led to Emily’s latest career pivot: she started Next PAGE, where she teaches creative writing workshops to youth with criminal records. Because to better understand human behavior, and ultimately reduce harm, we have to look beyond the act itself and toward the conditions that shape it, and the tools people need to make sense of their own lives.