Story Lab - May 16, 2010

Pick of the day: Gulf fishermen live with Big Oil

Just when you think a story is so big that every possible angle has been covered, a writer comes along with a new one. The story, in this case, is the oil spill in the Gulf. The writer is Joel...

By Annys Shin | May 21, 2010; 9:14 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Story Picks
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Pick of the day: Geriatric ex-gangsters

Sometimes, there are subjects journalists and filmmakers can't resist. One of them is organized crime. Lately, it seems the only thing better than a live gangster is an old one. The more he looks and sounds like Jerry Stiller, the...

By Annys Shin | May 20, 2010; 9:26 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Pick of the day: The lost tribes of Radio Shack

I loathe Radio Shack and have never understood its allure. Maybe that's because every microcassette recorder I have ever bought there has broken. I'm sure they would have broken had I bought them from anywhere else, but since there is...

By Annys Shin | May 19, 2010; 7:35 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Blowback: Is it unfair to use anonymous sources?

My story Sunday about tensions between parents with small kids and other folks in public spaces generated a lot of comments and email, but the reaction that took me by surprise was a call from Mel Antonen, the father...

By Annys Shin | May 18, 2010; 12:46 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: The Blowback | Tags: Journalism sourcing, Lincoln Park
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Pick of the day: Forgotten amidst the oil spill

In Tuesday's edition of the Post, Lonnae O'Neal Parker writes about the families of the 11 victims who died when an oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico last month. The voices of victims' families are a standard part...

By Annys Shin | May 18, 2010; 12:17 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
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A profile in precociousness

When I think of inventors or innovators, I picture exalted folks such as Thomas Edison and Eli Whitney, the type of figures phone book-size biographies are written about. Inventors can be compelling characters after all. Their achievements provide an instant narrative arc to their lives, making even missteps that came before it seem, in retrospect, fateful. But 'what if that "Ah ha!" moment comes at 18? What's your destiny then?

By Annys Shin | May 17, 2010; 12:20 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Story Picks | Tags: Eli Whitney, Kirill Gura, New Yorker, Russia, Thomas Edison, Wikipedia
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