Author Archive

Articles by Alissa Quart | Email the Author

 

1. Reports

   Get Real

   January 17, 2012 06:00 AM

   Dionicio is a heroin addict who was terribly abused as a child and turned to drugs and crime when he was a teenager. Now, he speaks directly to the camera about his struggles, then ties off... Continue reading

2. Reports

   The Long Tale

   September 20, 2011 06:00 AM

   When author Jon Krakauer started looking into the altruistic claims of his former friend, the best-selling author of Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson, he uncovered quite a story. Mortenson was... Continue reading

3. Feature

   The Trouble With Experts

   June 29, 2010 08:00 AM

   Actress Jenny McCarthy’s favorite line is, “My son is my science.” She’s an autism activist who insists that vaccines caused her son’s neurological disorder, a claim that has near-zero support in scientific literature. Years ago, she might... Continue reading

4. Feature

   The Rise of True Fiction

   December 8, 2009 02:30 PM

   Staff Sergeant Will James fiddles with the bomb like an IT tech on methamphetamine. He works quickly despite his seventy-pound bomb suit and, as he labors on one IED, discovers five more hidden nearby in the sandy dirt of... Continue reading

5. Feature

   Expensive Gifts

   July 24, 2009 08:30 AM

   One evening in February 2009, the artist Shepard Fairey spoke at the New York Public Library. He was discussing his famous silkscreen poster Hope, which bore Barack Obama’s face, shadowed by swirling red and blue patterns. At the event, Fairey... Continue reading

6. Essay

   The Sarcastic Times

   March 3, 2009 08:37 PM

   On a Wednesday night in December, Rachel Maddow, in a toreador-style black jacket, waits for her show to start. She types last-minute notes on her computer with the intensity of a graduate student. At the 30 Rock news television studio,... Continue reading

7. Essay

   Music Lessons

   November 18, 2008 11:22 AM

   He takes the stage clad in a black turtleneck. his famous line is, “Green is the new red, white, and blue.” Tonight, and other nights, he is paid tens of thousands of dollars to perform. He spent a year touring... Continue reading

8. Essay

   Flickring Out

   July 24, 2008 09:00 AM

   Clichés are sometimes true. Here’s one—photographers don’t like to give speeches. At a recent event, photographer Antonin Kratochvil screened slideshows of his work: American soldiers coolly observing the Iraqi distressed and dead; Lebanese militant youths standing restlessly near decaying... Continue reading

9. Behind the News

   Obsessed with Our Destroyers

   May 28, 2008 11:18 AM

   We the media are obsessed with our destroyers. We could even be said to love (or love to write about or edit) the many individuals who are taking us down. These include the mega-moguls and their hedge fund cousins who... Continue reading

10. Cover Story

    Lost Media, Found Media

    May 20, 2008 09:00 AM

    If there were an ashram for people who worship contemplative long-form journalism, it would be the Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism. This March, at the Sheraton Boston Hotel, hundreds of journalists, authors, students, and aspirants came for the weekend... Continue reading