If your idea of a perfect holiday includes time to relax with a good story – or three – you have come to the right spot. Browse our storytelling collection at your leisure, and share it with a friend.
Yes, there really is a Santa Claus...city. But you have to really, really believe. And look very, very closely. Because Santa Claus, Ga., is easy to miss. The city is too small to have a traffic light, but there are candy cane stripes on street sign poles year round. All but one of its nine or so streets have Christmas-themed names: Reindeer Street, Rudolph Way, Sleigh Street. At Reindeer Trail in a city park, a sign bans alcohol and four wheelers, then says, “Remember Santa is watching you.” Santa Claus, the Georgia city, does its ho, ho, hos softly. By Matt Kempner
Thankful for holiday workers: While most of us spend Thanksgiving Day with family and friends in the comfort of a cozy home where we’ll eat and drink to excess and maybe watch a little football, thousands of Atlantans will rise to an alarm clock and show up at work as usual to keep the city’s essential services humming along for the rest of us. Meet some of them in our special report, The Thanksgiving Shift.
The Dancer is the compelling story of Gerard Alexander, a professional modern and ballet dancer who ended up homeless in Atlanta. Told in two parts. By Matt Kempner. It also includes a documentary by Kempner and the filmmaking team of Ryon and Tyson Horne.
- Read Part 1: A beautiful and tragic life
- Read Part 2: An unexpected finale
- Watch “The Dancer” documentary
On a random day in 1958, Floy Porter Culbreth caught a movie at the Plaza Theatre on Ponce in Atlanta – her neighborhood movie house. But she left her wallet behind. For unclear reasons, she never retrieved it. Instead, it landed in a storage closet in the manager’s office, forgotten. That closet was later walled off during renovations and subsequent theater owners had no idea it even existed. Theater finds and returns a wallet lost 65 years ago. By Rodney Ho.
Woody Morgan was whisked into Shepherd Center with two fractured vertebrae in the spring of 2008. Life-flighted from Florida, he was unable to move any of his limbs. In August, Morgan, now 35, returned to Atlanta’s highly regarded Shepherd Center — this time as a doctor. His life was upended by paralysis, but he refused to give up his dreams. By Helena Oliviero.
Doing cold calls can be tough. Metro Atlanta resident Angad Sahgal found it particularly challenging. But he also has a family of helpers. He made his first real sale. Then he called his mom. By Matt Kempner.
Listen: A visit to Plains, told by the neighbors and friends of Jimmy Carter. One of the AJC’s most-listened podcast episodes from Politically Georgia, recorded earlier this year. An intimate visit with the people of Plains. By Greg Bluestein and Patricia Murphy.
Jimmy Carter first laid eyes on Rosalynn Carter in 1927 when she was a baby, brought into the world by Carter’s mother Lillian Carter, who was a nurse. He married her on July 7, 1946. In 1961, they built a house together in Plains. “They were married for 77 and a half years,” said longtime family friend Jill Stuckey. “And they were still passionately in love with each other.” Rosalynn and Jimmy: A life together, holding hands, to the end. By Ernie Suggs and Katherine Landergan
Everyday Heroes: Amazing Georgians who are making a difference and inspiring us. Meet 51 ordinary people (plus one adorable dog named Reggie) whose extraordinary acts inspire us all. A special project of the AJC’s Inspire Atlanta, with our news partners.
He didn’t intend to become the ‘bluebird guy,’ but he’s been that for nearly 25 years. The story of Gene Neal and the bluebird boxes he built, much to the delight of golfers at Cobblestone Golf Course. Somewhere, over the fairway, bluebirds fly. By Mark Davis.
For a family in Avondale Estates, the 10-year-old’s announcement came out of the blue. Or so it seemed. “I want to make the world’s largest sticker ball,” Sofie Moricle told her parents on a spring day in 2018.. How a huge sticker ball helped a family cope with pandemic, cancer. By Helena Olivero
In May 2022 Young Thug and a little more than two dozen alleged gang members were indicted and that really set the tone for this case because it’s been nothing short of expansive. There’s a lot going on here – and that’s just what’s happening inside the courtroom. Watch Young Thug & YSL Trial, In Context. By Joseph Ferguson.
Cumberland Island’s wild horses aren’t just equine, they’re plaintiffs. Unbeknownst to them, Cumberland’s 125 to 175 feral horses are the lead plaintiffs in a lawsuit that accuses federal and state agencies of negligence by allowing the horses to become ill, malnourished and deprived of a normal life expectancy. The wild horses of Cumberland Island are suing the government. By Bill Rankin.
On the evening of Aug. 3, 1995, André 3000 and Big Boi, the baby-faced members of a scrappy rap group out of Atlanta called OutKast, walked into an already simmering conflict. It was the 1995 Source Awards, a defining moment in hip-hop culture’s history, on its most defining night. The oral history of ‘the South got something to say.’ By Ernie Suggs and DeAsia Paige.
- Explore the AJC’s special presentation, 50 Years of Atlanta Hip-Hop, including our longform documentary, The South Got Something to Say.
The Essence Festival started in 1994 as a one-time “party with a purpose,” to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the magazine. It was so successful that organizers decided to make it an annual event. Why the Essence Festival has become a key gathering place for Black culture. By Ernie Suggs.
Swamp mystery: A question is gnawing at the researchers who ply the waters of the Okefenokee Swamp: Why are some alligators there losing their teeth? Out of the murky waters of the Okefenokee, an alligator mystery. By Mark Davis.
For the dinosaurs, first came the asteroid, now code enforcement. Millions of years ago, it’s believed a cataclysmic cosmic strike wiped out the dinosaurs. But in Dunwoody, city codes are the latest threat to the Tyrannosaurus rex and other plastic and inflatable reptiles outside Lisa Torres’ home. Code complaint endangers Dunwoody’s beloved ‘Dino House.’ By Sara Gregory.
Just when I thought cafeterias were a thing of the past, along came Magnolia Room Cafeteria in Tucker. When this time-warpy spot opened in 2017, I remember stopping by with Atlanta Journal-Constitution food editor Ligaya Figueras and mansplaining to my new Midwestern friend that the Jell-O creations most definitely were not desserts. No, ma’am, they were salads! (And if you believe that, macaroni’s a vegetable.) When it comes to old-school comforts, Magnolia Room remains near and dear. By Wendell Brock.
- Comfort food in Atlanta: Browse our 50 favorite feel-good dishes. (Award-winning editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich even drew a picture to go with his pick)
Seeing Red (And Black): Behind the scenes of how Georgia’s LED light show impacts home-game experience
From Sara K. Spencer
RELATED: More AJC videos from our YouTube channel.
Ebon Sledge has one less thing to worry about now that she and her eight kids have settled into a house instead of living week to week in a Griffin motel. Atlanta organization Open Doors helped place them in an affordable rental in the metro area. Family of 9 gets housing help while daughter waits for a kidney. By Laura Berrios.
Binge-listen or choose an episode from these popular AJC podcasts
Breakdown: The Trump Georgia investigation
Politically Georgia from the AJC and WABE
Photos of the month from November 2023
