Staff Archives
142 Posts
Video September 16, 2021

Chatting the Pictures: Hurricane Ida, Chemical Plants Flare Louisiana Gulf

We know the levees held and the electric grid didn’t. But the other impact of Hurricane Ida, as the photo telegraphs, came from the chemical plants in “Cancer Alley.”

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Video September 14, 2021

Chatting the Pictures: Bernie Serves Up Massive New Deal

Maureen Dowd was looking for dish but Bernie Sanders would not be distracted from liberal's game-changing social spending and climate plan.

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Video September 4, 2021

Chatting the Pictures: The Military’s Night Vision “Leaving Afghanistan” Portrait

The viral photo of the last U.S. soldier leaving Afghanistan was a brilliant final bit of public relations.

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Coronavirus Video August 31, 2021

Chatting the Pictures: In One Embrace, All the Feelings of Back-to-School During Covid

As at-risk students return to campus after more than a year on lockdown, we discuss this surprisingly expressive and apolitical photo.

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Video August 22, 2021

Chatting the Pictures: On That US Transport Plane Swarmed By Afghans on a Kabul Runway

First reactions to the image of Afghans running alongside a U.S. military plane after Afghanistan fell to the Taliban.

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Video August 21, 2021

Chatting the Pictures: Climate Crisis Photo Delivers a Lot More than an Instagram Moment

Behind a selfie-in-progress at Horseshoe Bend in Arizona, the Colorado River at a 44 year historic low juxtaposes how we value the environment and how we’ve manipulated it.

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Video July 28, 2021

Chatting the Pictures: Photo of an Exhausted California Firefighter

We focus on mood and body language as this viral photo bluntly reflects on another early and overwhelming California fire season.

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Video July 17, 2021

Chatting the Pictures: A Covid Kiss That Is Harder to Read

Two people kiss through plastic bags marking love in the time of Covid. We discuss how the image parallels earlier pandemic hugs and kisses.

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Video July 12, 2021

Chatting the Pictures: Honoring Farm Worker Parents in Proud Graduation Photos

A student takes her graduation pictures in the same farm field she once worked with her parents. We compare it to others and explore the visual history.

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Biden Presidency Video June 25, 2021

Chatting the Pictures: Biden-Putin Summit Photo Cracks the Fourth Wall

Just an amusing photograph? We discuss how savvy it was for the media to circulate it, and how surprisingly informative it is.

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Media & Culture Video June 18, 2021

Chatting the Pictures: Beyond Cute

We explain how this Chinese panda at the National Zoo in Washington both offers lessons in photo editing and captures a post-pandemic mood.

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Middle East Watch Video June 16, 2021

Chatting the Pictures: Photo of Gaza Vigil an Appeal to the Senses

Amidst the rubble, this photo of Palestinian family members attending a candlelight vigil in Gaza makes an exquisite appeal to the senses.

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Video June 8, 2021

Chatting the Pictures: A Singular Picture of George Floyd’s Daughter Entering the White House

On the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death, this photo of his family visiting the White House stood above the others.

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Video June 3, 2021

Chatting the Pictures: Submerged Man in Miami and Kadir van Lohuizen’s Essential Climate Imagery

Considering a deep examination of the world's vanishing coastlines and the media challenge of making climate crisis images more impactful.

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Gun Violence Video May 21, 2021

Chatting the Pictures: The Ameriguns

Parker ‘Baret’ Fawbush stands with his family and his firearms for an American family portrait in Poseyville Indiana.

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Video May 11, 2021

Chatting the Pictures: Frank Thorp’s Portrait of Dion 100 Days after the Capitol Riot

This portrait photograph of Dion Montague is part of an NBC News feature, "After the Riot," marking 100 days since the Capitol attack.

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Coronavirus Video May 1, 2021

Chatting the Pictures: World Press Photo of The Year, A COVID-19 Hug

World Press Photo of the Year depicts a patron embraced by a nurse at a care home, Sao Paulo, Brazil, through a curtain of clear plastic.

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Gun Violence Video April 21, 2021

Chatting the Pictures: Riot Cop Photo Raises Question of “Who’s the Other?”

A prominent photo from the civil rights protests in Minnesota raises important questions about power and place.

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