Alumni Profiles


Breaking Bread

Alexander Heffner ’12 plumbs the state of democracy.

by Jack R. Trapanick

“Kingmaker” to Gatekeeper

Stephanie Burt ’94 is the kind of poetry critic who provokes anger in other poetry critics.

by Tara Wanda Merrigan

Believe It or Not!

From the Missouri Compromise to the 2016 election, Kevin Young's Bunk takes stock of American hoaxes, con men, and race fantasies.

by Niela Orr

This Land Was Made For…

A Utah activist reflects on 40 years of land conservation—and what’s coming next.

by Nell Porter Brown

Up Close

Composer Ashley Fure wants people to listen to noise.

by Jennifer Gersten

Criminal Injustice

Alec Karakatsanis puts “human caging” and “wealth-based detention” in America on trial.

by Michael Zuckerman

The Portraitist

Elsa Dorfman, BI ’73, looks back on her photography.

by Sophia Nguyen

Carl Thorne-Thomsen

Brief life of a man of principle: 1946-1967

by Bonnie Docherty

“Practicing My Purpose”

The Grammy Award-winning songwriter Dan Wilson reclaims his catalog.

by Max Suechting

“Patchwork Futures”

Sci-fi meets the political thriller.

by Marina N. Bolotnikova

The Call of the Creeks

Landscape and bird artist James Coe reflects the Hudson Valley

by Nell Porter Brown