Nieman Storyboard

Author Tricia Romano joins Storyboard editor Mark Armstrong to talk about how she reported and wrote her oral history of The Village Voice, “The Freaks Came Out to Write: The Definitive History of the Village Voice, the Radical Paper That Changed American Culture.” Romano was a writer for the legendary New York City alt-weekly, and it was a Voice reunion in 2017, following the death of former Voice staffers Nat Hentoff and Wayne Barrett, that led her to take on the project. Romano talks about her process for staying organized during the project, how she supplemented her book advance with grants to help fund it, and how to determine whether an oral history is the right path for your book or story idea. Romano, who's also a Storyboard contributor, began her eight-year career at the Village Voice as an intern. As a contributing writer, she wrote features and award-winning cover stories about culture and music. Her reported column, Fly Life, gave a glimpse into the underbelly of New York nightlife. She has been a staff writer at the Seattle Times and served as the editor in chief of the Stranger, Seattle’s alternative newsweekly. A fellow at MacDowell, Ucross, and Millay artist residencies, and her work has been published in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, the Daily Beast, Men’s Journal, Elle, Alta Journal, and the Los Angeles Times, among other publications.Get the full show notes and reading list from this episode: https://niemanstoryboard.org/2026/02/19/tricia-romano-how-to-write-an-oral-history/Subscribe to the Nieman Storyboard newsletter: https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/Show CreditsHosted and produced by Mark ArmstrongEpisode editor: Kelly ArajaAudience editor: Adriana LacyPromotional support: Ellen TuttleOperational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter CanovaNieman Foundation interim curator: Henry ChuMusic: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana LacyNieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.

Award-winning journalist and executive producer Soledad O’Brien joins Storyboard contributor Christina M. Tapper for this week’s Nieman Storyboard podcast to discuss her career journey from TV news to documentaries, and how she came to embrace the form for storytelling on on social issues.As one of the most respected voices in journalism, working at NBC, MSNBC, and CNN, O’Brien founded Soledad O’Brien Productions, a media production company that explores stories of race, class, gender, and identity, in 2013. Most recently, she anchored and produced the political magazine show "Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien" during a 10-season run for Hearst TV. O’Brien’s reporting has been honored with 10 Emmys and three Peabody Awards.In 2025, O’Brien served as the executive producer for HBO Max’s documentary short, “The Devil is Busy,” about a day at an Atlanta abortion clinic and the fight for reproductive rights. O’Brien and her team decided to tell the story through Tracii, the head of security at the clinic who is a devout Christian. Patients and clinicians are featured in the documentary, but it’s Tracii’s story that is the thread from start to finish in this post-Dobbs era piece.Subscribe to the Nieman Storyboard newsletter: https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/Listening and Watching List:“Murder on the Towpath with Soledad O’Brien” “Who Killed JFK?”“War on La Radio”“The End of Affirmative Action”“Black and Missing”“The Perfect Neighbor”“Katrina: Come Hell or High Water”Geeta GandbhirChristalyn HamptonShow creditsHosted and produced by Mark ArmstrongEpisode producer and interview by Christina M. TapperEpisode editor: Kelly ArajaAudience editor: Adriana LacyPromotional support: Ellen TuttleOperational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter CanovaNieman Foundation interim curator: Henry ChuMusic: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana LacyNieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.

Journalists Leah Sottile and Ryan Haas join Storyboard Editor Mark Armstrong to discuss the second and final season of their serialized podcast “Hush,” from Oregon Public Broadcasting. Sottile and Haas first began working together on the 2019 OPB/Longreads podcast “Bundyville,” and they've continued their collaborative work as journalists and podcasters ever since. This week, they've announced that they will be starting an independent publication called The Western Edge. (For updates, you can follow Sottile and Haas on Bluesky or on their individual Substacks.)Get the full show notes: https://niemanstoryboard.org/2026/01/22/leah-sottile-ryan-haas-true-crime-podcasting-journalism/Subscribe to the Nieman Storyboard newsletter: https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/Reading listLeah Sottile: Bluesky, SubstackRyan Haas: Bluesky, Substack“Hush Season Two: The Case of Sarah Zuber”Justin St. Germain, Oregon State University professor“Dying for a Fight”“In Cold Blood,” Truman CapoteOregon Public Broadcasting“Hush Season One: The State of Oregon v Jesse Lee Johnson”“Bundyville”“Twin Peaks”Justice for Sarah Zuber Facebook Page“When the Moon Turns to Blood” (Leah Sottile)“Blazing Eye Sees All” (Leah Sottile)“A Living Manifesto on Journalism in 2026 and Beyond” (Leah Sottile, December 2025)Show CreditsHosted and produced by Mark ArmstrongAssociate producer: Marina LeighEpisode editor: Kelly ArajaAudience editor: Adriana LacyPromotional support: Ellen TuttleOperational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter CanovaNieman Foundation interim curator: Henry ChuMusic: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana LacyNieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.

Award-winning journalist Tonya Mosley joins Storyboard contributor Christina M. Tapper for a discussion about interviewing, live coverage, and how to tell complex family stories. Mosley is the co-host of NPR’s “Fresh Air,” where she has in-depth conversations with newsmakers like politician and author Stacy Abrams, actor George Clooney, and artist Mickalene Thomas. It’s not just Mosley’s ability to have conversations with a wide range of people that make her one of the most notable interviewers in journalism and media. It’s also her research. “I have a wonderful team at ‘Fresh Air’ who puts together a research document and it's all the things that they can find out about the person, and they break it up: here's television work, here's audio work, here's what's been written about them. I read all of that,” she says. “But then the fun thing to do after that is to find the things that weren't in the document. So then I go digging myself.” In her own research, Mosley scours non-mainstream platforms, including Black media. It’s Mosley’s way of covering all of her bases and honoring the guest’s time.Read the full show notes: https://niemanstoryboard.org/2026/01/08/nprs-tonya-mosley-on-the-art-of-the-interview/Subscribe to the Nieman Storyboard newsletter: https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/Show CreditsHosted and produced by Mark ArmstrongEpisode producer and interview by Christina M. TapperEpisode editor: Kelly ArajaAudience editor: Adriana LacyPromotional support: Ellen TuttleOperational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter CanovaNieman Foundation interim curator: Henry ChuMusic: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana LacyNieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.

On the latest episode of the Nieman Storyboard podcast, photojournalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist Stephanie Keith joins Storyboard Editor Mark Armstrong to discuss her latest project, which became a powerful cover story for New York magazine: a series of photos taken in the corridors of 26 Federal Plaza in New York City, where undocumented immigrants showing up for routine hearings were being arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. She captured the sudden and heartbreaking moments where people were separated from their families, or taken away without their loved ones even knowing what happened. Get the full show notes: https://niemanstoryboard.org/2025/12/04/photojournalist-stephanie-keith-documenting-ice-new-york-magazine-cover/Subscribe to the Nieman Storyboard newsletter: https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Editors Mentioned Stephanie Keith“Portfolio: The Trap at 26 Federal Plaza” (Photographs by Stephanie Keith. Article by Andrew Rice and Paula Aceves, New York magazine, 2025)Keith's coverage of the Standing Rock protests (2016)Jody QuonAndrew RicePaula AcevesShow creditsHosted and produced by Mark ArmstrongAssociate producer: Marina LeighEpisode editor: Kelly ArajaAudience editor: Adriana LacyPromotional support: Ellen TuttleOperational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter CanovaNieman Foundation interim curator: Henry ChuMusic: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana LacyNieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.

Writer, author, and cultural critic Sasha Bonét joins Storyboard contributor Christina M. Tapper for a wide-ranging conversation about Bonét’s writing process for “The Waterbearers,” a memoir about mothers and daughters. Bonét and Tapper discuss surrendering to how a story unfolds, rather than forcing it, and how to turn a physical place into a key character.Subscribe to the Nieman Storyboard newsletter: https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/Get the full episode show notes and reading list: https://niemanstoryboard.org/2025/11/13/sasha-bonet-leaving-room-for-story-family-home-character/Show CreditsHosted and produced by Mark ArmstrongEpisode producer and interview by Christina M. TapperEpisode editor: Kelly ArajaAudience editor: Adriana LacyPromotional support: Ellen TuttleOperational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter CanovaNieman Foundation interim curator: Henry ChuMusic: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana LacyNieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.

On the latest episode of the Nieman Storyboard podcast, journalist Claudia Rowe joins Storyboard Editor Mark Armstrong to discuss her most recent book, “Wards of the State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care,” which has been named a finalist for the 2025 National Book Awards. “Wards of the State” is a narrative nonfiction book told through the stories of six former foster kids to examine the failures of the American foster care system. Subscribe to the Nieman Storyboard newsletter: https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/Show creditsHosted and produced by Mark ArmstrongAssociate producer: Marina LeighEpisode editor: Kelly ArajaAudience editor: Adriana LacyPromotional support: Ellen TuttleOperational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter CanovaNieman Foundation interim curator: Henry ChuMusic: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana LacyNieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.

On the latest episode of the Nieman Storyboard podcast, award-winning journalist, author, and producer Danyel Smith joins Storyboard contributor Christina M. Tapper to discuss building the confidence to tell her own story and being a model for others to do the same. Smith, the first woman and first Black person to serve as editor-in-chief of Vibe, and who later served as editor of Billboard, is the author of “Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop.” The book is part memoir, part cultural criticism, while giving Black female music artists their due. Smith is also the host of the podcast “Black Girl Songbook” and a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame selection committee member. Get the full reading list and show notes: https://niemanstoryboard.org/2025/10/09/danyel-smith-confidence-to-tell-your-own-story/Subscribe to the Nieman Storyboard newsletter: https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/Show creditsHosted and produced by Mark ArmstrongEpisode producer and interview by Christina M. TapperEpisode editor: Kelly ArajaAudience editor: Adriana LacyPromotional support: Ellen TuttleOperational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter CanovaNieman Foundation interim curator: Henry ChuMusic: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana LacyNieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.

What makes an editor-writer relationship work? We sit down with a reporter and editor who have achieved something of a rarity in the news business — a 16-year partnership across multiple publications. Michael Kruse and his editor, Bill Duryea, first teamed up at the Tampa Bay Times (then St. Petersburg Times) in 2009. They moved together to Politico and Politico Magazine in 2015, where they continued to work together for ten years. Kruse is a senior staff writer there, and now Duryea has just joined the Washington Post as the senior editor for America. With Duryea's move comes an opportunity to reflect on their work together and what they've learned about reporter-editor relationships. Get the full reading list and show notes: https://niemanstoryboard.org/2025/09/25/michael-kruse-bill-duryea-lessons-reporter-editor-partnership/Subscribe to the Nieman Storyboard newsletter: https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/Show CreditsHosted and produced by Mark ArmstrongAssociate producer: Marina LeighEpisode editor: Kelly ArajaAudience editor: Adriana LacyPromotional support: Ellen TuttleOperational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter CanovaNieman Foundation interim curator: Henry ChuMusic: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana LacyNieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.

The New Yorker’s Interactives Visual Features Editor Sam Wolson joins Storyboard Editor Mark Armstrong for a conversation about his latest story, “There’s No Place at Home: A Mother and Her Trans Teen Decide to Leave the U.S.,” about a mother and her trans teenager deciding to move to Mexico after President Trump’s efforts to restrict gender-affirming care. The story is an interactive visual feature that combines photorealistic 3D models — using photos taken at the family’s house in Maine — with illustrations by Lilli Carré and reporting and writing by Wolson. For Wolson, “ there was something really powerful in that raw physicality of their home and what it means to leave a home that felt really valuable to the telling of this story in a way that I don't think you would've had if you just were hearing them talking about leaving it."Get the full show notes and reading list: https://niemanstoryboard.org/2025/09/11/new-yorker-sam-wolson-interactive-storytelling/Subscribe to the Nieman Storyboard newsletter: https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/Show CreditsHosted and produced by Mark ArmstrongAssociate producer: Marina LeighEpisode editor: Kelly ArajaAudience editor: Adriana LacyPromotional support: Ellen TuttleOperational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter CanovaNieman Foundation interim curator: Henry ChuMusic: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana LacyNieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.

Mark Armstrong sits down with Storyboard contributor and author-journalist Mallary Tenore Tarpley to discuss her new book, “Slip: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery.”“Slip” is a reported memoir, with Tarpley recounting her own diagnosis and treatment for anorexia following the death of her mother from breast cancer when Tarpley was 11 years old. She talks about the process of writing and researching the book, revisiting spaces from her childhood, and confirming memories through interviews, medical records, and journals that had been stored for years in her father’s attic. For resources including screenings, treatments, and free-to-low-cost support for eating disorders, please visit the National Eating Disorder Association to get help.Subscribe to the Nieman Storyboard newsletter: https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/Reading List: Authors, Books, and Stories Mentioned “Slip: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery” (Mallary Tenore Tarpley)Mallary Tenore Tarpley Nieman Storyboard archiveGoucher College low-residency MFA “The Night of the Gun” (David Carr)Write at the Edge (Mallary Tenore Tarpley's newsletter)“Write for Your Life” (Anna Quindlen)Other writing from Mallary Tenore TarpleyShow CreditsHosted and produced by Mark ArmstrongAssociate producer: Marina LeighEpisode editor: Kelly ArajaAudience editor: Adriana LacyPromotional support: Ellen TuttleOperational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter CanovaNieman Foundation interim curator: Henry ChuMusic: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana LacyNieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.

Mark Armstrong sits down with Lane DeGregory, the Pulitzer Prize-winning enterprise reporter for the Tampa Bay Times covering "hope and humanity." DeGregory, whose work has been featured frequently on Storyboard over the years, is now celebrating 25 years at the Tampa Bay Times. She takes us through her process — from connecting with the community, to developing story ideas, and earning the trust of your subjects. She also reveals who inspires her work — from fellow journalists to musicians and songwriters.DeGregory also hosts the journalism podcast WriteLane, and is the author of the 2023 anthology, "The Girl in the Window and Other True Tales: An Anthology with Tips for Finding, Reporting, and Writing Nonfiction Narratives." The title story from that book, "The Girl in the Window," won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 2009. DeGregory told the story of a girl named Dani who had suffered from severe neglect and was adopted by a new family. She returned to Dani's story ten years later, in 2017. Get the full show notes and reading list: https://niemanstoryboard.org/2025/07/31/pulitzer-lane-degregory-power-of-local-storytelling/Subscribe to the Nieman Storyboard newsletter: https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/Show CreditsHosted and produced by Mark ArmstrongEpisode editor: Kelly ArajaAudience editor: Adriana LacyPromotional support: Ellen TuttleOperational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter CanovaNieman Foundation interim curator: Henry ChuMusic: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana LacyNieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.

Storyboard contributor Christina M. Tapper sits down with Dana A. Williams, author of the new book “Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer’s Legendary Editorship,” for a conversation about Toni Morrison and her work as a trade editor at Random House, where she championed Black writers working in all genres and ultimately changed the publishing landscape. The book is the first to focus solely on the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer’s editing career, and it offers previously untold stories about Morrison's work and insights into the editor-writer relationship. Morrison edited more than 50 books, including works by Toni Cade Bambara, Lucille Clifton, Huey P. Newton, Leon Forrest, Gayl Jones, Angela Davis, and Muhammad Ali. She even edited a cookbook.  Morrison died in 2019 at age 88. Williams, professor of African American Literature and dean of the Graduate School at Howard University, had Morrison's blessing to write the book and the privilege of interviewing her, and also conducted research in Morrison's archives at Princeton University and Random House's archives at Columbia University.   Get the Nieman Storyboard newsletter: https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/Show creditsHosted and produced by Mark ArmstrongEpisode producer and interview by Christina M. TapperEpisode editor: Kelly ArajaAudience editor: Adriana LacyPromotional support: Ellen TuttleOperational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter CanovaNieman Foundation interim curator: Henry ChuMusic: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana LacyNieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.

“This American Life” reporter and editor Nadia Reiman joins Storyboard Editor Mark Armstrong for a conversation about immigration, mass deportation under Trump’s presidency, and finding the human stories amid ongoing raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).Reiman has worked for “This American Life” since 2018, and in 2019, she was part of the producing and reporting team for “The Out Crowd,” an episode examining the first Trump administration’s policy on asylum seekers, which was honored with the first-ever Pulitzer Prize in Audio Reporting. Before working at “This American Life,” she was a senior editor at “Latino USA” and producer for StoryCorps. She’s worked in radio production since 2005.  Get the full show notes: https://niemanstoryboard.org/2025/07/03/nadia-reiman-stories-immigration-this-american-life/Get updates from Nieman Storyboard: https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/Show CreditsHosted and produced by Mark ArmstrongAssociate producer: Marina LeighEpisode editor: Kelly ArajaAudience editor: Adriana LacyPromotional support: Ellen TuttleOperational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter CanovaNieman Foundation interim curator: Henry ChuMusic: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana LacyNieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.

The Black List founder and CEO Franklin Leonard joins Storyboard Editor Mark Armstrong for a conversation about the state of storytelling in Hollywood, and how true stories intersect with entertainment. Leonard was working as a development executive for Leonardo DiCaprio's production company when he started The Black List 20 years ago, first as a survey of the best unproduced screenplays. The list became an immediate sensation, getting passed around Hollywood, and it has since grown into a company and online community for people to upload and review unproduced screenplays and unpublished novels. Hundreds of scripts from the annual Black List survey have been produced as feature films and earned Academy Award nominations —including more than 50 wins and four Best Pictures: "Spotlight," "Slumdog Millionaire," "The King's Speech," and "Argo." Read the full show notes: https://niemanstoryboard.org/2025/06/19/the-black-list-franklin-leonard-based-on-true-story-hollywood/Get updates from Nieman Storyboard: https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/Show CreditsHosted and produced by Mark ArmstrongAssociate producer: Marina LeighEpisode editor: Kelly ArajaAudience editor: Adriana LacyPromotional support: Ellen TuttleOperational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter CanovaNieman Foundation curator: Ann Marie LipinskiDeputy curator: Henry ChuMusic: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana LacyNieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.

Washington Post technology reporter Drew Harwell joins Storyboard Editor Mark Armstrong for a conversation about his feature story on “Emilycc,” a Texas-based Twitch streamer who has livestreamed her entire life, 24 hours a day, for the last three years. For his story, “Inside the life of a 24/7 streamer: ‘What more do you want?’,” Harwell traveled to Texas to meet Emily, and he wrote it with the understanding that he was bridging two very different worlds — the streaming community on Twitch and the readers of The Washington Post. Get the full show notes: https://niemanstoryboard.org/2025/06/05/washington-post-drew-harwell-twitch-streamer/Sign up for the Nieman Storyboard newsletter: https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/Show creditsHosted and produced by Mark ArmstrongAssociate producer: Marina LeighEpisode editor: Kelly ArajaAudience editor: Adriana LacyPromotional support: Ellen TuttleOperational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter CanovaNieman Foundation curator: Ann Marie LipinskiDeputy curator: Henry ChuMusic: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana LacyNieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.

Nieman Storyboard contributor Christina M. Tapper sits down with Akiba Solomon, an award-winning senior editor at The Marshall Project, the nonprofit news organization dedicated to covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Solomon edited The Language Project, about the terms journalists use to write about incarceration. Tapper and Solomon discuss the importance of people-first language, alternatives for dehumanizing words that are a part of our lexicon, and how to work with writers and subjects who are incarcerated. Get the full show notes: https://niemanstoryboard.org/2025/05/22/marshall-project-akiba-solomon-how-journalists-write-about-incarceration/Sign up for the Nieman Storyboard newsletter: https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/Reading List: Authors, Books, and Stories Mentioned The Language Project (Edited by Akiba Solomon, The Marshall Project, April 2021)Life Inside (Edited by Akiba Solomon)FWD.us: People First Language Guide Prison Journalism Project: Language Around IncarcerationAngela Davis on the term “lockdown,” in conversation with GirlTrek (May 2021, 48:48 mark)"The Warmth of Other Suns" (Isabel Wilkerson)"When Crack Was King" (Donovan X. Ramsey)More by Akiba Solomon"How We Fight White Supremacy: A Field Guide to Black Resistance" (by Akiba Solomon and Kenrya Rankin)"Naked: Black Women Bare All About Their Skin, Hair, Hips, Lips, and Other Parts" (edited by Ayana Byrd and Akiba Solomon)Show CreditsHosted and produced by Mark ArmstrongEpisode producer and interview by Christina M. Tapper Episode editor: Kelly ArajaAudience editor: Adriana LacyPromotional support: Ellen TuttleOperational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter CanovaNieman Foundation curator: Ann Marie LipinskiDeputy curator: Henry ChuMusic: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana LacyNieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard: https://nieman.harvard.edu/

New York Times bestselling author, journalist, and athlete Kim Cross joins Storyboard Editor Mark Armstrong for a conversation about reporting for narrative nonfiction — focusing on reconstructed narratives and her feature story for Bicycling magazine, "The Alchemists," about the Afghan women who broke gender barriers in cycling before the Taliban took over their country. "They, as teenage girls, had convinced their culture to change its mind about the fact that women were not allowed to ride bicycles," Cross said.Read the full show notes: https://niemanstoryboard.org/2025/05/08/kim-cross-narratives-women-cycling-afghanistan/Cross is a Storyboard contributor and the author of books including the bestselling "What Stands in a Storm," "The Stahl House," and "In Light of All Darkness." Her stories have appeared in The New York Times, Outside, Bicycling, Garden & Gun, and ESPN, among other publications. Her work has been recognized in “Best of” lists by The New York Times, the Columbia Journalism Review, The Sunday Long Read, Longform, Apple News Audio, and Best American Sports Writing. Cross also teaches feature writing through Harvard Extension School, and she's teaching a workshop on reconstructed narratives May 28-June 1 in Archer City, Texas.Sign up for the Nieman Storyboard newsletter: https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/Show creditsHosted and produced by Mark ArmstrongAssociate producer: Marina LeighEpisode editor: Kelly ArajaAudience editor: Adriana LacyPromotional support: Ellen TuttleOperational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter CanovaNieman Foundation curator: Ann Marie LipinskiDeputy curator: Henry ChuMusic: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana LacyNieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.

Storyboard Editor Mark Armstrong welcomes Mary Schmich, the Pulitzer Prize-winning former columnist for the Chicago Tribune and host of the podcast "Division Street Revisited," which follows the stories of seven people featured in Studs Terkel's 1967 oral history book, "Division Street: America." Schmich teamed up with former colleague Melissa Harris, who came up with the idea for the show, and a group of acclaimed journalists to research and produce the podcast. In Terkel's original book, the people profiled used pseudonyms — so Schmich, Harris, and the team tracked down their real identities and surviving family members, and pulled audio recordings from a recently digitized archive of Terkel's work. Sign up for the Nieman Storyboard newsletter: https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/Schmich has won the Pulitzer Prize and the Studs Terkel Award for her work as a columnist at the Chicago Tribune. She grew up in Georgia and Arizona as the oldest of eight children, and she graduated from Pomona College and attended journalism school at Stanford. From 1985 until 2021, she worked at the Chicago Tribune, where she was a features writer, a national correspondent and, for 29 years, a columnist. "Over the years, I cultivated three essential mantras, which [were]: Panic is my muse. Deadlines crowd out doubt. It always gets done," Schmich said.  Get the full show notes and reading list: https://niemanstoryboard.org/2025/04/24/mary-schmich-podcasts-division-street-revisited/Show creditsHosted and produced by Mark ArmstrongAssociate producer: Marina LeighEpisode editor: Kelly ArajaAudience editor: Adriana LacyPromotional support: Ellen TuttleOperational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter CanovaNieman Foundation curator: Ann Marie LipinskiDeputy curator: Henry ChuMusic: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana LacyNieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.

Storyboard editor Mark Armstrong sits down with Makena Kelly, senior writer for Wired covering the intersection of politics, power, and technology, about the magazine’s coverage of Trump's second term and how it has aggressively covered Elon Musk and DOGE's takeovers of federal agencies. Amid its breaking news coverage, Wired published “Inside Elon Musk’s Digital Coup” on March 13, a longform narrative that aimed to step back and tell the larger story of what was happening inside these agencies. Kelly's was one of nine bylines on the 5,400-word piece, and on the Storyboard podcast she talks about how Wired's editorial team — led by global editorial director Katie Drummond and including senior editor Leah Feiger — helped organize the reporting and make sense of a rapidly developing story. Subscribe to the Nieman Storyboard newsletter: https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/Reading List:“Inside Elon Musk’s Digital Coup” (Wired, March 13, 2025)Makena Kelly at Wired Politics Lab NewsletterMakena Kelly at The Verge"How to leak to a journalist." (Laura Hazard Owen, Nieman Lab) Show CreditsHosted and produced by Mark ArmstrongAssociate producer: Marina LeighEpisode editor: Kelly ArajaAudience editor: Adriana LacyPromotional support: Ellen TuttleOperational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter CanovaNieman Foundation curator: Ann Marie LipinskiDeputy curator: Henry ChuMusic: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana LacyNieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.

On the debut episode of the Nieman Storyboard podcast, host and Storyboard editor Mark Armstrong sits down with acclaimed journalist and author Erika Hayasaki, for an in-depth conversation about trauma-informed reporting, questions of "telling a story versus taking a story," and when it makes sense for journalists to include their own stories in their work.Full show notes: https://niemanstoryboard.org/2025/03/28/podcast-erika-hayasaki-trauma-informed-reporting-reported-essay/Books by Erika HayasakiSomewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family The Death Class: A True Story About LifeSign up for the Nieman Storyboard newsletterShow CreditsHosted and produced by Mark ArmstrongAssociate producer: Marina LeighEpisode editor: Kelly ArajaAudience editor: Adriana LacyPromotional support: Ellen TuttleOperational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter CanovaNieman Foundation curator: Ann Marie LipinskiDeputy curator: Henry ChuMusic: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana LacyNieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard. Follow our other publications:Nieman ReportsNieman Lab

Nieman Storyboard is all about the craft of journalism and storytelling. Join host and Storyboard editor Mark Armstrong (Longreads, Ursa Story Company) for conversations with journalists, writers, and producers, in their own words, talking about how they do the work. We'll talk about stories that span every genre and platform — from longform narratives and books, to podcasting, documentaries, and social media.  This show is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard. Sign up for the Nieman Storyboard newsletter:https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/Email us: [email protected] Music: “Golden Grass - Sour Mash,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)Cover design by Adriana Lacy Follow us: Nieman Foundation: https://nieman.harvard.edu/Nieman Storyboard: https://niemanstoryboard.orgNieman Reports: https://niemanreports.org/Nieman Lab: https://www.niemanlab.org/