Looking back at six years of New Yorker stories
Joost Swarte's cover the week I started: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/05/17

Looking back at six years of New Yorker stories

I finished my job at The New Yorker on Friday, and I'm on a plane now to San Francisco where I'll start Monday as the editor of Wired. I couldn't be more excited about the challenges that await. But as I fly West, it seems like a good moment to mark some of the most memorable pieces I worked on in my six-and-a-half years at The New Yorker. I probably edited a thousand pieces in my time there, but here are twelve that jump to mind.

The Third Man: This profile of Jacob Zuma was the first story I worked on. And I still remember my feeling, somewhere between panic and pride, on the day it closed. Would this really soon be mailed to a million people?

Where's Earl Sweatshirt: I loved this profile, by Kelefa Sanneh, of the then-missing singer. The reporting was as dramatic as the prose, and it certainly set the record for most swear words in anything I edited.

The Consequentialist: This story will forever be remembered for one sentence late in the piece. "One of his advisers described the President’s actions in Libya as 'leading from behind.'" I knew people would notice the phrase, but I had no idea it would be used against Obama for years.

Looking for Mullah Omar: The profile is a sacred form at the magazine, and a good one usually requires access to the subject; Steve Coll was able to pull this one off, even though the person he was writing about had been in hiding for a decade.

The Perfect Stride: I'm a running nerd, and I take great pride in the magazine's coverage of the sport while I worked there. This piece was prescient, and then of course there was our epic on the Kip Litton marathon fraud.

Mastering the Machine: I edited John Cassidy's pieces for the print magazine and then, when I moved to the Web in the spring of 2012, he wrote consistently excellent commentary virtually every day. This was a particularly great piece about Ray Dalio and his very strange hedge fund.

My Friend, Stalin's Daughter: I only wrote one magazine feature in my time at The New Yorker—this piece about my long friendship with Svetlana Alliluyeva.

The Saudi Marathon Man: I often think back to our response to the Boston marathon bombing as the moment when the Website first truly became the vibrant, varied site it is today.

Mexico's Missing 43: One great thing about the Web is that you don't ever need to stop. And so I gladly asked Francisco Goldman to write nine pieces about the missing forty-three students from the Ayotzinapa Normal School. The series comes out to roughly forty-five thousand words, and it's still not done.

My Last Day As A Surgeon: I didn't edit this one so much as select an excerpt after being sent the galley. The author was a friend of mine in college, and his story of dealing with terminal cancer is one of the most moving and thought-provoking things you'll ever read.

An American Tragedy: David Remnick's response on election night.

Trump Enraged as Mexican President Meets with Meryl Streep Instead: Andy Borowitz often made me laugh out loud, and my last editorial act, on my last day, was to approve this post.

Aleksandr Namai

Partner, Investor, MB Alekso Namai.

8y

If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience and ability.

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Jennifer Canuog Teves

Soccorritore 118 presso Croce Rossa Italiana

8y

Great...and good job Mr. Nicholas...thanks for add me here....Goodluck again...thanks.

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Matthew King

$1B+ Invested in Bugatti Rimac, Anduril, Figure Robotics, Liquid Death, MoonPay, Terran Biosciences and Others @ Vanquish Venture Partners

8y

Thank you for your work, Nicholas Thompson and welcome to San Francisco! I picked up the first issue of Wired that I'd read in over a decade in my therapist's office the other day. It was the Facebook might save the world feature issue and it had some great content in it. Looking forward to seeing the direction you take and please don't hesitate to reach out if you need tips from an SF native on fun things to do, weekend escapes, and more: [email protected]

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Janne Nolan

Faculty, George Washington University

8y

Godspeed Nick. What a fabulous legacy you leave at the New Yorker as you move on to conquer ever more happy, shiny challenges. Really fun to watch you setting new records as you slay all these dragons.

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Stacey Osbeck

Luxury Childrenswear Assistant Store Manager

8y

Looking forward to your posts through the new Wired lens. Best of luck!

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