EARL SWIFT
Journalist and author
News, events, and recent clips
Here's a grab bag of upcoming talks about Chesapeake Requiem, along with magazine pieces and rare interviews in which I didn't embarrass myself. Click on the images to connect.
Clips
PBS NewsHour nails it
Monday, October 8, 2018
Veteran reporter John Yang and PBS producer Jaywon Choe put together this remarkable nine-minute report on Tangier's dilemma and Chesapeake Requiem, which happened to air on the same day the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that a great global unraveling may be at hand. I spent pieces of three days on Tangier with the PBS crew. Their commitment to getting the story right was plain to me, and shines through this piece.
CBS This Morning does, too
Saturday, August 11, 2018
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I'm a big fan of CBS This Morning--it's been a morning ritual for me for years. Participating in this report by ace correspondent Chip Reid was a thrill--and yielded this smart, thorough and compassionate summation of Tangier's existential dilemma.
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Garden & Gun weighs in
Garden & Gun, August-September 2018
I'm pleased and humbled by this review of Chesapeake Requiem--not just because it's mighty nice, but because it was written (and beautifully) by acclaimed novelist and longform journalist Jonathan Miles.
The Washington Post's expert take
August 10, 2018
Steven Ginsberg grew up in Onancock, on Virginia's Eastern Shore--and thus brought an intimate familiarity with Tangier to this wonderful review of Chesapeake Requiem. One more thing: He happens to be the Post's national editor. I could not be more thrilled.
I love the Christian Science Monitor
August 7, 2018
Reviews do not get better than this. From Stephanie Hanes.
The Sea Is Come Up
Outside magazine, June 2018
This is the story of a father and son working aboard the Henrietta C., a Tangier Island crabbing boat, when it encountered a disastrous storm miles from land in April 2017--and the valiant efforts of their fellow watermen to save them. I came to know everyone in the tale during my time on the island, which made this a tough one to write.
A podcast with Dan Rodricks
October 3, 2018
I've been fortunate enough to twice sit for interviews with the redoubtable
Dan Rodricks, longtime columnist at Baltimore's Sun and the voice of that
cranky but lovable city. Here's the second conversation, this one about Chesapeake Requiem for the Sun podcast he hosts. It was recorded as we sat
on the edge of the Inner Harbor during the Baltimore Book Festival.
The New Republic ponders Tangier
August 31, 2018
The smart chronicler of politics and society here offers an essay on the book,
the island, and an African community facing all-too-similar changes.
CNN visits Tangier Island
Six minutes that brought the world running
Here's a June 9, 2017, CNN report on Virginia's Tangier Island, which is fast succumbing to the rising Chesapeake Bay, and its devotion to a president who believes climate change to be a hoax. The item put the island on the international map--maybe because Tangier Mayor James "Ooker" Eskridge has some memorable things to say at 5:00, or (much less likely) because I show up at 4:05.
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Up on Cove Mountain
Outside magazine, September 2015
This story rumbled inside me for far too long before Outside published it on the 25th anniversary of the events it describes. I've used the piece's original headline here. It's a long read, but I hope a worthwhile one.
Auto Biography on CSPAN's BookTV
Excerpted, for the good of all, from the original 40 minutes
BookTV was in attendance at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville in October 2014, and preserved my presentation on Auto Biography for the ages.
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Auto Biography on Gangrey: The Podcast
September 2014
A conversation with journalism prof Matt Tullis, then of Ashland University, on his podcast devoted to nonfiction narrative. Wonky in a good way.
HearSay with Cathy Lewis
All radio interviews should go so well
A lively conversation about Auto Biography with the super-smart Cathy Lewis of WHRV-FM, the NPR station in Hampton Roads. My segment begins at 21:20.
Midday with Dan Rodricks
A long, interesting talk with a real pro
Reached the WYPR studios breathless and wild-eyed after a high-speed dash across Baltimore--then was treated to a great interview by veteran columnist and radio host Dan Rodricks.