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Bill Donahue is a writer for Outside, Harper’s, Wired, The New York Times Magazine, and more…

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February 28, 2022February 28, 2022 by Bill Donahue

The Voyagers

How do you escape Joseph Stalin? In June 1945, Soviet naval mechanic Valeri Minakov slipped away from the coast of Siberia in a small, homemade walrus-skinned boat, intent on reaching Alaska. He suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. His six-year-old son, Oleg, was sitting in the bow.  
The Atavist
Edited by Jonah Ogles


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July 6, 2020July 6, 2020 by Bill Donahue

The Price of Gold

 What happens when your neighborhood is demolished to make way for the Olympic Games? A visit to Vila Autodromo, a favela in Rio de Janeiro.  

The Washington Post Magazine
Edited by David Rowell

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March 13, 2019August 2, 2019 by Bill Donahue

Sh*thole World Tour

A  deep dive into the culture and magic and pain of three countries that Trump maligned with an obscenity–Haiti, El Salvador, and Liberia. 

The Washington Post Magazine
Edited by David Rowell

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December 29, 2017January 5, 2018 by Bill Donahue

Taking Aim On The New Cold War

A backcountry ski journey through the minus 30 degree chill of the Arctic, in the company of nine U.S. military men training to face down Vladimir Putin’s Russian warriors.

Ski 
Edited by Sam Berman. Photo by Heath Sandall.

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September 6, 2016October 10, 2017 by Bill Donahue

Refugee Runner

Yiech Pur Biel was born amid a civil war in South Sudan. Soldiers burned down his village, his parents left him, he grew up in a refugee camp. Now he’s readying to compete in the Olympics.

ESPN
Edited by Vic Seper. Photographs by Georgina Goodwin.

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May 26, 2016October 10, 2017 by Bill Donahue

Refugees, Inc.

Two Norwegian brothers are cashing in on the refugee crisis.

Bloomberg Businessweek
Edited by Brad Wieners. Photos by Espen Rasmussen.

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March 23, 2014October 9, 2017 by Bill Donahue

The Hero’s March

Searching for the ghost of Russian novelist Mikhail Lermontov (1814-41) in the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia.

The Washington Post Magazine
Edited by David Rowell. Photographs by Oleg Gritskevich.

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February 19, 2014October 10, 2017 by Bill Donahue

Letter from Abkhazia

A journey through a Russian client state on the Black Sea.

Harper’s Magazine
Edited by Christopher Cox. Photographs by mirzOyan.

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September 20, 2013October 10, 2017 by Bill Donahue

Mongolia Rising

Mongolia strikes it rich on gold and coal.

The Washington Post Magazine
Edited by David Rowell. Photograph by Lauren Knapp.

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© 2022 Bill Donahue. All rights reserved.

Site photography:
Cycling in the hills of New Hampshire, by Hector Emanuel.
Cross country skiing in the Alaskan Arctic, by Otso Könönen.
Interviewing Syrian refugees in Idomeni, Greece, by Julius Motal.
Among the Maasai in Kenya, by Georgina Goodwin.
At the desk, by Julie Keefe.
Outside the barn, by Michele Olvera.
Scrambling across Thompson Peak boulder field, by Justin Garwood.

Website by curio museum design.