Mark Armstrong is a producer, writer, and singer, working at the intersection of storytelling and digital media.
He’s the editor of Nieman Storyboard at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, and he’s the producer and host of the Nieman Storyboard podcast, all about the craft of journalism and storytelling. He’s co-founder of Ursa Story Company, a podcasting company created with acclaimed authors Dawnie Walton and Deesha Philyaw, dedicated to outstanding storytelling from underrepresented voices. Their first show, Ursa Short Fiction, hit No. 4 on the Apple Podcasts charts (Arts) and was named one of Apple’s “Shows We Loved” for 2022.
Ursa’s podcast Reckon True Stories, hosted by Deesha Philyaw and bestselling author Kiese Laymon, was produced in partnership with Reckon News. The show was featured in Vanity Fair and ranked in Apple Podcasts’ Top Ten (Arts).
Mark founded Longreads in 2009. It started out as a Twitter hashtag and account dedicated to sharing essays and magazine-length stories from across the web. Longreads has since grown into a National Magazine Award-winning magazine and podcast with millions of readers and listeners.
Longreads has been hailed by The New York Times, Time magazine, and New York magazine for sparking a renaissance in longform writing on the internet. In 2014, Longreads was acquired by Automattic, parent company of WordPress.com and Tumblr.
Mark is also a singer-songwriter. He returned to music after a 15-year break and has released the singles “Good Dreams” and “Don’t Get Too Comfortable.”
INTERVIEWS, PODCASTS & WRITING
- Creative Wrapped 2025: When you’re making art, you’re building a house (2025)
- Mark Armstrong named editor of Nieman Storyboard (2025)
- Mark’s writing at Nieman Storyboard (2025)
- The Nieman Storyboard podcast (2025)
- Ursa Story Club: Producing live storytelling events in New York City and Philadelphia (2025)
- What Would You Tell Your Younger Self? On releasing the song “Don’t Get Too Comfortable” (2025)
- Creating a Joyful Mission (2024)
- Vanity Fair: ‘Kiese Laymon and Deesha Philyaw Go Deep Into the Writer’s Mind’ with Reckon True Stories (2024)
- Deesha Philyaw Joins Ursa as Co-Founder, Announces ‘Reckon True Stories’ Podcast with Kiese Laymon (2024)
- Rediscovering My Voice at Age 48 (2024)
- Happy 15th birthday, Longreads (2024)
- Thinking in Seasons (2023)
- Ursa Story Company’s First Birthday: Ursa Short Fiction named one of Apple Podcasts’ “Shows We Loved” in 2022.
- Everything I’ve Learned podcast: Naz Riahi on Pursuing Your Dream During a Pandemic (2021)
- The Remote Divide (October 2020)
- Interview: Recurring Payments on WordPress and the Future of Funding Publishers and Small Business (The Verge, 2019)
- Inside the Grand Meetup (Distributed Podcast, 2019): Interviews with Automattic employees about remote work and the importance of meeting in-person.
- Longreads Podcast: Author Jonathan Mooney on How Schools Fail Kids with Learning Differences
- Longreads Podcast: The Podcast That Explains Why We’re All Wrong
- Longreads Celebrates Ten Years at Housing Works in New York City (2019)
- Making the Case for Distributed Work in Seattle and Across the U.S. (Op-ed, Seattle Times, 2018)
- Amid the wreckage of fallen startups, Longreads is increasing the original reporting it funds (Nieman Lab, 2017)
- Automattic, Steward of WordPress.com, Snaps Up Longreads (Bloomberg, 2014)
- Longreads Partners with The Atlantic (2013)
- The Short Story of Longreads, According to Founder Mark Armstrong (GigaOm, 2013)
- New Media Innovators (New York Magazine, 2011):
“The Internet’s best collection of reading material.” - Long-form Journalism Finds an Online Friend (David Carr, The New York Times, 2010)