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What I like most about the Economist - the obituaries. Each one is about a person who I hadn't heard of before, but after reading it I wish I had. Sometimes it
by nindalf 6y ago
What I like most about the Economist - the obituaries. Each one is about a person who I hadn't heard of before, but after reading it I wish I had.
Sometimes it's the story of an unsung hero, whose life story shines a new perspective on an event we're aware of. For example, the recent obituary of Nikolai Antoshkin, the general who led the response to the Chernobyl reactor.
Other times, it's an ordinary person who lived their life in an ordinary way. But in the wider context, their lives have extraordinary meaning. I'm reminded of the obituary of the last speaker of the Eyak language, which was as much an obituary for the language as it was for them.
OP talks a lot about the style and how they keep it simple, but there is so much beauty in that simplicity.
- lenocinor 6y agoThey made a book of them in 2008 if you (or anyone else) is interested.
- klelatti 6y agoMy favourite is still Jack Scott and Reg Varney (a British weather forecaster and the star of the sitcom "On the Buses") in one week in 2008 . Just so unexpected as subjects for the Economist and beautifully done in capturing the spirit of a certain period in British life. [1] https://www.economist.com/obituary/2008/12/04/jack-scott-and-reg-varney https://www.economist.com/obituary/2008/12/04/jack-scott-and...
- peter303 6y agoThe NYTimes has wonderful obituaries too. In conventional newspapers junior reporters write these and it is pretty boiler plate. In superior news sources these are works of art by senior journalists.