21 Days To Nieman

Mark Singer in Somewhere in America: One thing I'm not on the lookout for is the proverbial "colorful" or "weird" character or narrative, especially now that exotic behavior of the spurious, ready-for-reality-T.V. variety has become ubiquitous. What does strike me as authentic is the degree to which America, in this new century, has become a land of deep unease. Increasingly, I'm drawn to stories about how people, one way or another, are earnestly trying to hold on to something — whether it's the "right" to pray at a high school football game or skinny-dip on someone else's property or promote cockfighting or wave the Confederate flag ro refuse to pledge allegiance to the American flag. …

The…