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Paywalls are necessary, and they’re killing democracy
A local news site paywall notice For all the attention paid to keeping traditional media alive, not much has been said about how to keep an audience for the survivors ...
The mind-meld of a great idea
The cover of How Covid Crashed the System Dr. David Nash and I had thought Covid had killed our book idea. But in August of 2020, we simultaneously realized the ...
My first big break
The cover of The Whale and the Supercomputer Among the great (and some hilariously awful) editors I have worked with over the decades, Rebecca Saletan was among the best. From ...
Truth-telling and the decision to kill
The cover of The Land We Share by Christine Cunningham and Steve Meyer Christine Cunningham explained to me the choice she made between being a vegetarian and a hunter. For ...
Facing the final final deadline
The cover of Saving for the Future, by Dave Rose Dave Rose had his wry smile even as he told me why we needed to finish up his book faster ...
Everyone has a story. Lou Grant said so
Ed Asner in the Lou Grant show, 1977. Wikimedia Commons. During our second conversation, over coffee, it came out that what Dan wanted most at 36 was to grow up ...
If you must write, you can write
I was ready to go home at the end of my work day when I got a call about a possible mutiny at sea. November 1990. We were in the ...
The best thing about the best writing
Mildred Wohlforth at her desk In 1934, my grandmother, Mildred Wohlforth (pen name Mildred Gilman), went to Germany to interview Hitler on assignment with the New Yorker. After she confronted ...

Charles Wohlforth has written many of his own books, has ghost-written others, and helps many writers find their own way into print. Learn how to work with Charles.
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