“My fundamental instinct remains a sense of wonder, a luminous amazement at existence”

“When experiences are common—universal, even—you can still find language for them that illuminates them in a new way”

"I feel like I bring that same investigative approach that I did to the lab to investigative journalism."

“Telling people what to do is beyond my purview. My obligation is to report on what is”

"I interview the driver every time I get in a taxi, and it always yields interesting results"

“Are you ready to get your hands dirty?” she asked, pointing to my little gold rings. I pulled them off and stuck them in my pocket. I forced a smile, breathing through my mouth, and nodded yes. Roxy was all long legs, long hair, long everything. She was a Dutch-descended marine biologist from Curaçao, a studier of corals, an avid gardener, and a barefoot hike enthusiast.

Kira Compton learns how to write outside of a bar

Sheila Regan conducts a not-very-scientific investigation into the effects of drugs on writing

On the morning of the Great Bear Run, a race held every spring in our Boston suburb, my son rolled around on my bed, near tears. “I can’t do it,” he said.

You will glow. How many other employers could promise this? You will paint light, taste light, swallow light. We will teach you to shape the paintbrushes with your lips, like the china painters before you.