Susan Orlean

Susan Orlean is a best-selling author and a staff writer for the New Yorker.

Stories from this author

A long exposure of the Treasury at night illuminated by candlelight

Zooming In on Petra

How digital archaeologists are using drones and cutting-edge cameras to recreate the spectacular 2,000-year-old ruins in Jordan

What Makes the “Lion Whisperer” Roar?

He’s famous for getting dangerously close to his fearsome charges, but what can Kevin Richardson teach us about ethical conservation—and ourselves?

Bao Bao at 10 weeks. Scientists estimate that a giant panda ancestor split from the bear lineage 18 million years ago.

Get Up Close and Personal with Bao Bao in Amazing New Photos

Take an exclusive backstage tour of the National Zoo and meet Bao Bao, the newest giant panda star

Working like "little pistons," donkeys keep the medina humming. An estimated 100,000 people in the Fez area depend on the animals for their livelihood.

Morocco’s Extraordinary Donkeys

The author returns to Fez to explore the stubborn animal’s central role in the life of this desert kingdom