Oliver’s work has appeared in The American Prospect, AARP, The Believer, BookForum, Men’s Health, Mother Jones, The New York Times, The Paris Review, Salon, and elsewhere.
These are some of the stories he likes best.
“Crossing the Ocean with Dad”—AARP
“This was a terrible idea. Three days into what could be a 20-day ocean crossing, and he’s bleeding everywhere.”
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“Now Comes the Reckoning: Black Lives Matter Hits the Labor Movement”—Common Dreams
“Silence from the lawyer. He’s looking down, sharing his bald spot with us, pretending to write something. The bald spot looks tanned. During the pandemic, when workers were being denied vacation time and made to work double shifts, pictures appeared on a top executive’s Facebook page showing him on vacation in Aruba.”….
“Last Men Out”—Men’s Health
“The reason for this assignment was, to the reporter, not immediately clear. There is, after all, no real story in how the game of baseball is loved. No questing hero. No dramatic rise and fall. The love of the game is what it is.”
COVER STORY: “The Reinvention of Justin Bieber”—Men’s Health
Read the highly controversial, unexpurgated profile of the pop sensation.
US Weekly teaser: “It’s safe to say that Justin Bieber’s Men’s Health interviewer is not a Belieber. Oliver Broudy spent a day with the 21-year-old pop star for the magazine’s April 2015 cover story, but he did so, it seems, rather unenthusiastically…”
COVER STORY: “Tom Brady, the Mind Behind the Arm”—Men’s Health
Want to understand why Forbes recently ranked him as the 11th-highest-paid athlete on the planet? And again recently ranked him and his dazzling wife among the world’s most powerful couples, one step above the Clintons? Do like he does. Watch the film.
“Brain Savers: Mobile Stroke Units to the Rescue”—AARP Magazine
It is among the most feared medical emergencies. What else but a stroke could make you think you’d rather have a heart attack? Gold Medal, National Health Information Award. 2022 Merit Award, National Mature Media Awards.
“Living With Ghosts”—Yankee
At dusk on a spring night several years ago a stranger arrived at my door. He was old and uncertain, watery-eyed and paper-skinned, his clothes ill-fitting. How he arrived there was a mystery. Finalist, National City and Regional Magazine Awards.
“The Bridge”—Men’s Health
“Most suicide interventions here are resolved, one way or another, in 15 minutes. This one went on for 8 hours. Even today, no one who works the bridge remembers anything like it. In fact, ask people who were there and they’ll tell you it was a career high point, an epic struggle between light on one side and darkness on the other. The very goddamn thing every good cop signs up for in the first place.”
“The Man Who Feels No Pain”—Men’s Health
“Instinctively we attune ourselves to him. Because as much as there is to be learned about the nature of pain from studying someone who has never felt it, there may be even more to be learned about our own nature from someone who is missing its most human component.”
“The Redemption of Royal Holmes”—Men’s Health
“At night the beasts stir. Rapping, screaming, banging. Someone wants you to know he’s ready to kill himself. Someone else beats on your wall all night — you never learn why. The very walls themselves are inscribed with a thousand voices, frayed bits of failing code from men long unraveled: Bible scripture, racist credos, gang boasts, witless epitaphs. That’s the hole. You lie there now, at the bottom of the world. Your name is Royal Holmes.”
“Kill All Superheroes”—The Believer
“Hey, that’s my rental!” I shouted “Don’t hit the car, OK? We get the idea! In fact,” I said, recollecting myself, “drop the bananas, lady!”
“The Master and Mike Dimeglio”—Tin House
He was young, confused, and longing for direction. Then, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity suddenly presented itself: to spend ten years studying the dying art of white crane kung fu on a remote mountaintop, with a genuine kung fu master. An Utne Reader selection.
“The Art of Fiction #181”—The Paris Review
“I recall lying on a bed, looking at a manuscript on the floor as I reached to turn pages, and thinking to myself, I must mean everything I say, every word.”
“The Death and Life of Nick Chisholm”—Men’s Health
A decade ago, he lay in his hospital bed, unable to move but alert enough to overhear doctors telling his family he wouldn’t survive. That made him angry. Angry enough, in fact, to prove them wrong.
“Dead Man Driving”—Men’s Health
Car crashes happen to other guys, right? Maybe they don’t have your quick reaction time or uncanny ability to multitask behind the wheel. Or maybe they’re simply lesser drivers. If you believe that, let us introduce you to Adam LaBar, 1970-2008. We suspect you’ll recognize him. We hope you’ll learn from him. Now required reading at the FBI Academy in Quantico, and a National Magazine Award Finalist.
“Should We Be Taking Life Advice From Corporations?“—The Smart Set
“The thing is, it’s actually not always easy to reject these corporate come-ons. Especially when social justice issues are at stake. These are not just messages that we need to hear personally but messages that we wish others could hear.”
“When Does Idealism Become a Liability?”—Medium
“I live in one of those perfect New England college towns. Recently, it imploded…”……….. ………………. …………….. ……………………….. ………….. ……………… …………………
“The Persistence of Memory”—Popula
“It’d be interesting to know why this perfume is so important to you,” my shrink said.………….. ………………. …………….. ……………………….. ………………
“I Built a Throne”—Popula
“I built a throne in my front yard. Does that sound crazy?
It may sound a bit less crazy when you learn the reason for it…”…..
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Has Assange Turned Me Into An Anarchist?”—Mother Jones
WikiLeaks wants to topple the Information State. Bring it on. ……… ………….. ………. …….. ………. …………… …………….. ……. …………… …………..
“Are We Doomed?”—Salon.com
Jared Diamond, author of “Guns, Germs, and Steel” and “Collapse,” says that if America doesn’t change its ways it’ll go the way of the dodo — no matter what Bill Gates, George Bush or Michael Crichton says.
“The Practical Ethicist”—Salon.com
“The Way We Eat” author Peter Singer explains the advantage of wingless chickens, how humans discriminate against animals, and the downside of buying locally grown food.
“Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Biceps”—Men’s Health
These men, and others like them, have started a muscle revolution in Afghanistan. Their thinking: If they can build their bodies, then maybe — just maybe — they can rebuild their nation.
“Rum Diary”—The Morning News
He was wearing thick, tinted glasses, a white floppy-brimmed hat, and tennis shoes, above each of which was visible about three inches of swollen, reddened calf. He looked unwell.
“Revenge of the Nerds”—Mother Jones
An inside look at the teenage subculture that spawned JFK, Bob Shrum, Michael Moore, Karl Rove, and…Brad Pitt? ……
“Bones of the Lion”—The Believer
Selling the George Plimpton papers. Discussed: Authors’ Estates, Literary Appraisers, The Virtues of Bulls, Tax Law, The Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, Norman Mailer, Saul Bellow, Susan Sontag, Joyce Carol Oates, Christie’s, The Paris Review, Playboy Photo Shoots, Infantry Uniforms, The Aesthetics of Junk Mail, Andy Warhol, Failed Consumer Products, Jack Kerouac’s Barroom Scribblings, Irrational Buyers, J.D. Salinger’s Letters, Hunter S. Thompson, Allen Ginsberg, Sotheby’s.
Oliver Broudy 