This anthology collects the eleven winners of the 2018 Best American Newspaper Narrative Writing Contest at the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, an event hosted by the Frank W. Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism at the University of North Texas. First place winner: Kale Williams, ""The Loneliest Polar Bear"" (The Oregonian), relates the tale of Nora, a baby polar bear raised by humans in a zoo after being abandoned by her mother. Second place: Patricia Callahan, ""Doomed by Delay"" (Chicago Tribune), reveals the experiences of Illinois families with children diagnosed with Krabbe-a deadly disease that healthcare professionals could have screened for at birth, and ultimately treated, if it weren't for government bureaucracy. Third place: Christopher Goffard, ""Dirty John"" (Los Angeles Times), is an investigative story that explores the dynamics of domestic violence with a nuanced, psychologically complex narrative of family and survival. Runners-up include John Woodrow Cox, ""Twelve Seconds of Gunfire"" (The Washington Post); Tom Hallman Jr., ""His Heart, Her Hands"" (The Oregonian); Jenna Russell, ""The Last Refugee"" (The Boston Globe); Lisa Gartner and Zachary T. Sampson, ""Wrong Way"" (Tampa Bay Times); Casey Parks, ""About a Boy"" (The Oregonian); Jennifer Emily, ""Hope for the Rest of Us"" (The Dallas Morning News); Kent Babb, ""There's Nowhere to Run"" (The Washington Post); and Lane DeGregory, ""The House on the Corner"" (Tampa Bay Times).

The sixth and final instalment in our series of small, inspirational books from the editors of O, the Oprah Magazine, O's Little Guide to the Big Questions is a collection of thought-provoking stories and essays on the wisdom to be gleaned from asking (and answering) life’s biggest questions.

What matters most?

What is my purpose?

When is the right time to make a change?

Who is most important to me?

Asking (and answering) the big questions can be terrifying – but it is the only way to put yourself on the path towards living your best life. Big questions can be forces of empowerment, motivation and clarification. The editors at O, The Oprah Magazine have combed through the magazine’s extensive archives to assemble O’s Little Guide to the Big Questions, a collection of stirring, motivating, thought-provoking pieces from great writers and celebrated thinkers, that offers wise guidance and inspiration to anyone feeling lost or in need of a reset.

What does it feel like to be featured, quoted, or just named in a news story? A refugee family, the survivor of a shooting, a primary voter in Iowa-the views and experiences of ordinary people are an important component of journalism. While much has been written about how journalists work and gather stories, what do we discover about the practice of journalism and attitudes about the media by focusing on the experiences of the subjects themselves? In Becoming the News, Ruth Palmer argues that understanding the motivations and experiences of those who have been featured in news stories-voluntarily or not-sheds new light on the practice of journalism and the importance many continue to place on the role of the mainstream media. Based on dozens of interviews with news subjects, Becoming the News studies how ordinary people make sense of their experience as media subjects. Palmer charts the arc of the experience of "making" the news, from the events that brought an ordinary person to journalists' attention through the decision to cooperate with reporters, interactions with journalists, and reactions to the news coverage and its aftermath. She explores what motivates someone to talk to the press; whether they consider the potential risks; the power dynamics between a journalist and their subject; their expectations about the motivations of journalists; and the influence of social media on their decisions and reception. Pointing to the ways traditional news organizations both continue to hold on to and are losing their authority, Becoming the News has important implications for how we think about the production and consumption of news at a time when Americans distrust the news media more than ever.

Six years after the Marikana massacre we have still seen minimal change for mine workers and mining communities. Although much has been written about how little has been done, few have looked into how, in 2012, such tragedy was even possible. Lonmin Platinum Mine and the events of 16 August are a microcosm of the mining sector and how things can go wrong when society leaves everything to government and “big business”.

Business As Usual After Marikana is a comprehensive analysis of mining in South Africa. Written by respected academics and practitioners in the field, it looks into the history, policies and business practices that brought us to this point.

Translated from the German Zum Beispiel: BASF – Uber Konzernmacht und Menschenrechte, it also examines how bigger global companies like BASF were directly or indirectly responsible, and yet nothing is done to keep them accountable.