Jodi Kantor

And as a result, and because everybody was really included in all these group emails,

you could witness the discussions between the more senior journalists.

And so anyway, to answer your question, like within a week of getting to Slate, I was home.

I was like, this is it.

There's no question.

I did the right thing.

What did that early environment teach you about how journalism actually worked as opposed from how it appeared on the outside?

The greatest lesson of Slate is that journalism can never be boring.

Michael Kinsley was merciless on anything he thought was boring.

I remember we were in a meeting at one point.

Somebody mentioned like some story they wanted to do.

And he said, that sounds like a perfectly worthy story.

I have no interest in reading.

Florals.

Exactly, exactly.

And that kind of defined his sensibility.

And I still think it's true today.

And it's true even of very difficult investigative pieces.

Journalism should not be homework.

It's not academic papers written for a specialized audience.