Michelle Nijhuis is a project editor at The Atlantic, a contributing editor at High Country News, and an award-winning reporter whose work has been published in National Geographic and the New York Times Magazine. She is co-editor of The Science Writers’ Handbook and lives in White Salmon, Washington. Her new book Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction is out now.
On April 20th, Michelle will join Annabelle Gurwitch and Sanjena Sathian in our next edition of “Seriously Entertaining” where they will each tell stories tied to the theme “Only Home We’ve Ever Known.” Register here for the show!
What are you reading right now for solace or escape or entertainment?
A lot of people enjoy true crime, but I much prefer fake crime, where nobody gets hurt and the trail leads, however circuitously, toward justice. I enjoy fake espionage, too. (RIP, John le Carré.)
If you could live inside a fictional world, which one would you choose?
Send me to Victorian London to tag along with Sherlock Holmes, or to Oxford to meet up with Harriet Vane. Better yet, make me their reference librarian; I’l scour the archives while they do the legwork.
Are there any quotes you use to inspire you?
Jenny Diski, in her book What I Don’t Know About Animals, writes that “Our presence on the planet is a problem, but not a problem to be solved.” Our relationships with other animals have always been vexed, and always will be; we can still make them better.