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Margaret Talbot

Margaret Talbot joined The New Yorker as a staff writer in 2004. She is the author, with David Talbot, of “ By the Light of Burning Dreams: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the Second American Revolution.”

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15 picks · 2005–2023

Featured Picks

The Villa Where a Doctor Experimented on Children
a reporter at large · October 2, 2023

As a girl in Austria, Evy Mages was confined to a mysterious institution in Innsbruck. Decades later, she learned why. Margaret Talbot reports.

How the Real Jane Roe Shaped the Abortion Wars
books · September 20, 2021

Margaret Talbot on Joshua Prager’s “The Family Roe” and the all-too-human plaintiff of Roe v. Wade, who captured the messy contradictions hidden by a polarizing debate.

The Women Who Want to Be Priests
annals of religion · June 28, 2021

Margaret Talbot writes about women who feel drawn by God to the calling—and won’t let the Vatican stop them.

Is the Supreme Court’s Fate in Elena Kagan’s Hands?
profiles · November 18, 2019

She’s not a liberal icon like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but, through her powers of persuasion, she’s the key Justice holding back the Court’s rightward shift, Margaret Talbot writes.

The Addicts Next Door
a reporter at large · June 5, 2017

West Virginia has the highest overdose death rate in the country. Locals are fighting to save their neighbors—and their towns—from destruction.

Forbidden Love
a critic at large · November 30, 2015

Margaret Talbot on Patricia Highsmith’s “The Price of Salt,” which turned an erotic obsession into literary art.

The Populist Prophet
profiles · October 12, 2015

Margaret Talbot on Senator Bernie Sanders, and how he emerged as a persistent challenger to Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary.

The Story of a Hate Crime
a reporter at large · June 22, 2015

Why were the Muslim students Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha, and Razan Abu-Salha murdered in Chapel Hill? Margaret Talbot reports.

Home Movies
profiles · October 28, 2013

Alexander Payne, High Plains auteur.

About a Boy
a reporter at large · March 18, 2013

Margaret Talbot writes about transgender youths and about Skylar, a teen-age boy who was born a girl, and had surgery at sixteen in order to transition.

Nightmare Scenario
a reporter at large · November 16, 2009

Can we learn to rewrite our bad dreams?

The Lost Children
a reporter at large · March 3, 2008

Margaret Talbot on what tougher detention policies mean for the children of undocumented immigrants, from the March 3, 2008, issue of the magazine.

Stealing Life
profiles · October 22, 2007

Margaret Talbot’s 2007 profile of the show’s creator, David Simon, with a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of “The Wire” ’s fifth season.

Duped
a reporter at large · July 2, 2007

Can brain scans uncover lies?

Supreme Confidence
profiles · March 28, 2005

Margaret Talbot on Justice Antonin Scalia. “Scalia revels in intellectual combat. And his certainty runs so deep that he views detractors with mild amusement.”

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