Posts From Author: national geographic

Writers and Storytelling: Michelle Nijhuis

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 […]
Read More

Don’t Throw Momma From The Train

I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the said Joint Resolution, do hereby direct the government officials to display the United States flag on all government buildings and do invite the people of the United States to display the flag at their homes or other suitable places on the second Sunday in May as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country. So wrote President Wilson on May 9, 1914, a hundred years ago today, marking the institution of Mother’s Day in the US (read the full proclamation here). It came about through the sweat of one Anna Jarvis, moved by her own mother’s death to campaign for wider recognition of the role of mothers in society. Later, as the holiday became increasingly commercial, she came to regret her exertions and mounted a series of spirited attacks on those who sought to exploit it for profiteering or fundraising, including Eleanor Roosevelt. She lost: according to the National Geographic, Americans will spend nearly $20 billion on mom this year. According to Hallmark, it falls behind only Christmas and Valentine’s Day in terms of greetings […]
Read More