Episode 16: Michael Kruse

When Michael Kruse visited the podcast, he was a staff writer on the enterprise team at the Tampa Bay Times. In October and November 2013, Kruse published a three-part series titled “The Last Voyage of the Bounty.” It chronicled a tall wooden ship bound for St. Petersburg, Fla., as she sailed straight into Hurricane Sandy. Sixteen sailors were aboard that ship, and not everyone survived.

Since then, Kruse joined Politico, where he has been writing feature stories on those who ran and are still running for president. He wrote at least two pieces on Jeb Bush, including “Jeb ‘Put Me Through Hell'” and  “The Year That Changed Jeb Bush Forever.” He’s written about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Kruse has been recognized for his writing and reporting a number of times. Most recently, he won the Paul Hansell Award for Distinguished Achievement in Florida Journalism. He also won the American Society of News Editors distinguished nondeadline writing award. His story, “A Brevard woman disappeared, but never left home,” was included in the anthology “Next Wave: America’s Next Generation of Great Literary Journalists.” He’s given a TedX talk on the importance of story, and has written the book “Taking the Shot: The Davidson Basketball Moment.”

On top of writing for the Tampa Bay Times, Kruse has also been published by Grantland, Yahoo sports, Our State and Men’s Health magazines and Harvard’s Nieman Storyboard, among others.