Great journalism to share

Hi everyone,

It’s been a while since you’ve heard from me. That’s because I have four stories at various stages of production. None has been published yet, and I’m eager to share them later in the year.

In the meantime, I’d like to share some of my favorite longform journalism of 2024—there’s been so much good stuff to read. At the bottom, I’ll also share a TikTik video and a couple of musical links.

My favorite story of ‘24 so far is Mitchell S. Jackson’s profile of the Rev. Al Sharpton, which ran in Esquire. Is the minister a beacon of the civil rights movement? Or should history remember him as a provocateur in a track suit? Sharpton’s legacy is complex, and Jackson sifts though it in a series of beautifully rendered scenes.

Alma Guillermoprieto has been my journalism hero for 30 years. She just published an article about the 43 students from a Mexican teacher’s college who disappeared ten years ago, and the families that are trying to learn the truth about their fate. I am grateful to see her byline in The New Yorker after a long absence.

When I read Erika Hayasaki’s bracing story of a young couple fleeing the Maui fire, I immediately added it to this semester’s syllabus. The article, published by New York Magazine’s The Cut, is a master class in patient interviewing and vivid storytelling.

Emily Gogolak’s “Lost Highway” describes the trials of trucking school. It’s a fine read, published by Harper’s.

Andrew Keh tells the mini-mystery of why a woman asked to be buried at America’s oldest pet cemetery. It ran in The New York Times.

Tom Scocca had his health until recently. He also had a job. Then he had neither. He tells the story of his unraveling in New York Magazine.

My friend Jonathan Katz, an independent journalist, went viral this week when he fact-checked the sex-trafficking claim from U.S. Senator Katie Britt’s rebuttal to President Biden’s State of the Union. I’m thankful for all journalists who do the legwork:

@katzonearth

This isn’t going to make her like TikTok more. #katiebritt #sotu #stateoftheunion #lies #politicians #biden2024 #trump2024 #immigration #t... See more

On a lighter note, I’ve been going down a rabbit hole of Catalan popular music, and I wanted to share two videos. You can appreciate them even if you don’t understand the language. The first comes from the duo Marcel i Júlia and their friend Alguer Miquel. It’s called “Joc de Mans” (“Game of Hands”), and it uses hands as a metaphor for how society is disconnected from the rhythms of life. Look at those beautiful hands:

Joan Dausá’s “Ho Tenim Tot” (“We Have Everything”) tells us to let ourselves be heard, and to jump at opportunities that we might not have tomorrow.

I’ll see you when the weather warms up.

All best,

Barry Yeoman

P.S. This newsletter might look a bit different. I’ve switched newsletter companies, from TinyLetter (which has closed down) to Beehiiv.