You never know when a story idea will land on your doorstep—or in your mailbox. When award-winning journalist Michelle Nijhuis learned about caver and microbiologist Hazel Barton from a friend, she had no idea Barton would be her ticket into a science story she had been itching to tell, about a fungus that is ravaging [...]
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Tags: Carpenter, Drafts, Edits, Environment, Field Reporting, Microbiology, Narrative, Nijhuis, Pitches, Smithsonian, Writer Interview 
3 Comments »For his first major feature, freelancer Brendan Borrell crisscrossed Bolivia for 2 ½ weeks in an old truck with notebook, recorder, and camera, waiting out roadblocks, going a long time between meals, and of course munching hot chili peppers. [What’s So Hot About Chili Peppers? appeared in Smithsonian in April 2009.] Here, Borrell tells the [...]
Posted in Behind-the-Story Interviews Tags: Borrell, Drafts, Erdmann, Field Reporting, Narrative, Pitches, Profile, Smithsonian, Writer Interview No Comments »