Journalism Land

In this episode, freelance journalist Annie Hylton talks about her story, “Dirty Laundry: An Investigation,” which was published last year in Dissent Magazine. The long form investigation exposes grave abuses in New York's commercial laundry industry.  “It’s a crucial time to look at how various policies coming out of the Trump administration or even at the state level are impacting excluded communities.”  “Even the most mundane situation can turn into a reporting opportunity.” Annie is an international investigative journalist. She's covered human rights abuses in Guatemala, women's health and abortion rules in Ethiopia, and unaccompanied children fleeing gang violence to the U.S. among other issues.  Here is her website: https://www.anniehylton.com https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/dirty-laundry-investigation    

In this episode, journalist Amos Barshad talks about his story, “Why are the Soccer Hooligans of Argentina killing each other?” which was published last year in The Fader Magazine. The story peeks into the lives of the most diehard fans of Newell’s Old Boys, Leo Messi’s hometown team. “The best thing you can do is to start with an idea. If you believe it’s worth pursuing, keep pursuing it no matter what. Don’t let the fact that your pitch gets rejected by a bunch of places dissuade you, don’t let the fact that it’s hard to find someone to talk to dissuade you, don’t let the fact that of course, the writing is hard, dissuade you. Just make sure you finish the piece. Then you’ll look back and you’ll be proud no matter what.” Amos is a staff writer at The Fader. Prior to the Fader, he wrote for Grantland. He’s also been published in The New York Times Magazine, and New York Magazine and a slew of other places.  You can find more of his work at his website: http://amosbarshad.com/ http://www.thefader.com/2016/06/01/argentina-soccer-hooligan-murders-old-boys-barra-brava

In this episode, freelance journalist Laura Kasinof talks about her longform Virginia Quarterly Review feature, "The New Berliners." The story looks at how Syrian refugees are adjusting to new lives in Germany through the prism of one family.  “I was honest with what I wanted to do. This story is important. I want to watch and record what it’s like for you because I think it’s important to tell the story of Syrian refugees.” Laura has extensively reported for The New York Times, along with Harper's, Guernica, The Atlantic, and Foreign Policy, to name a few. She is also the author of the reporting memoir, Don't Be Afraid of the Bullets: An Accidental War Correspondent in Yemen.   Find more of her work at her website: http://laurakasinof.com http://www.vqronline.org/reporting-articles/2017/04/new-berliners    

In this episode, Paris-based journalist Scott Sayare talks about two longform pieces he wrote, "The Ultimate Terrorist Factory, Are French prisons incubating extremism?" which he wrote for Harper's, and, "The Untold Story of the Bastille Day Massacre," which he wrote for GQ.  "Think about where people’s interests lie. Go to the people whose interests are closer to your own, which is to say, for having the information made public. Chances are good that the lawyers defending terror suspects are going to be much more amenable to the notion of public access to the information than the prosecutors would be." Besides Harper's and GQ, Scott has also written for The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Atlantic, among other places. For more information about his work, check out his website.  https://harpers.org/archive/2016/01/the-ultimate-terrorist-factory/ https://www.gq.com/story/nice-france-bastille-day-attack-untold-story  

In this episode, freelance writer Bridget Huber talks about her longform California Sunday Magazine piece, "The Living Disappeared." The piece tells the story of people who were killed by Argentina's military dictatorship in the late 1970s and early 1980s, along with what happened to their children. Thirty years later, people are working to reunite lost children with their biological families. She also produced a radio adaptation.  Bridget talks in-depth about how she learned of the topic, how she pitched the story to editors, and then how she reported and wrote the story.  “The search for these people is still very much alive. In fact, the grandmothers who spent all these years searching are getting old now, some are dying. So it’s even more urgent now.” Besides California Sunday, Bridget has written for The New York Times, The Associated Press, and Mother Jones.  https://story.californiasunday.com/the-living-disappeared http://www.npr.org/2017/07/21/538575576/the-stolen-child-searching-for-118 http://www.bridgethuber.info/    

In this episode, New York Magazine staff writer Reeves Wiedeman talks about his piece, "The Dirtbag Left's Man in Syria." Reeves goes into detail explaining how he reported and wrote the piece.    "He had opened up his life to me, which is not something I take likely."   Besides New York Magazine, Reeves has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and Men's Journal, among other places. You can find out more of his work at http://reeveswiedeman.net/.      http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/04/brace-belden-pisspiggranddad-syria-isis.html  

In this episode, Texas-based freelance writer Rachel Monroe talks about her Bleacher Report piece, "The Life of a Smoke Jumper." Rachel goes into detail explaining how she reported and wrote the piece.  “Maybe we don’t all talk about how often we face rejection, even people who have careers that seem pretty solid. Pitches get rejected, editors don’t reply to emails, stories get written and killed, all of this happens all the time to everybody.” Rachel has written for The New Yorker, New York Magazine, Outside Magazine and a slew of other places. You can find out more about her work at http://www.rachel-monroe.com.    http://thelab.bleacherreport.com/life-of-a-smokejumper/  

In this episode, freelance environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb discusses his recent Mother Jones story, The Deliciously Fishy Case of "the Codfather." Ben tells how he first found the story, and techniques he used in his writing and reporting of the story.  “Get out there and meet the people. It’s really easy to do everything over the phone… but all of my best reporting experiences have come when I’ve gotten out into the field.” Ben has written for High Country News, Pacific Standard, Modern Farmer, and Boston Magazine among other places. Check out his website for more information about his work: http://bengoldfarb.com/ http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/03/codfather-carlos-rafael-fish-fraud-catchshares