Work

In 1982, as an intern, I spent 24 hours in the Cowlitz County (Washington) jail undercover. Photo via the Longview Daily News.

A worldwide range

Illegal gunmakers in the Philippines. Neo-Nazi skinheads in Oregon. A killer winter in Mongolia.

I have chased stories all over the world, but I’ve saved only a few in digital formats. Which means many are lost to the ether. Others remain frozen in archives in text-only form, preventing me from showing the photographs that ran with those articles.

Gunmakers crank out knockoff name-brand firearms for the Philippine underworld. Photo © Russell Working.

In addition, I’ve crafted stories, white papers, blog posts and other content for an array of companies. These include Phillips auctions, Nasdaq OMX, Workplace by Facebook, Fidelity Bank and others.

For editors and corporate clients asking for a link to my work, here are a few examples:

Above, a boy teases the livestock in Cairo, Egypt’s camel market—the world’s largest. Photo © Russell Working.

Columbia Journalism Review piece on stolen valor

Sample from a hardbound, coffee table-sized book for the auction house Phillips

While we’re at it, here’s a video in which I was interviewed about the last emperor of China’s watch.

Chicago Tribune Magazine piece on a preacher rebuilding after a fire

Another Trib piece features a dance honoring an American heroine in China

New York Times op-ed on viewing North Korean TV from China

Here’s a New York Times business section piece on ostrich farming in Russia.

Essays and creative nonfiction

An award-winning short essay for Narrative magazine

Creative nonfiction for TriQuarterly on the legacy of the gulags

Doug Glover’s Numero Cinq welcomed a CNF piece on a Russian poet and me

A Numero Cinq CNF piece on North Korea

What happens when a Russian governor claims an aristocratic society gave him $1 million?

Travel writing

My New York Times travel piece on Chicago’s water taxis

Whitepapers

For the Guinness Book of World Records, advice on landing coverage for events

For Red Touch Media, the joys of newsjacking

Internal culture for Workplace by Facebook

For Nasdaq OMX, how to build relationships with journalists

Fiction

And why not? An award-winning excerpt from my novel, which inspired the name of this blog

“The Evil Gesture,” a short story

“Fingers,” an excerpt from my novel The Red Corner, ran in the Great Lakes Review.