Peter Canby

Peter Canby on Truth

For Peter Canby, former head of fact checking at The New Yorker, truth isn’t just a philosophical abstraction — it has real life consequences. When big stories break in the pages of The New Yorker, it can turn the lives of its subjects – and writers – upside down. Join us on November 18 to hear Canby share war stories from managing these detonations before stories go to print. From speaking with everyone mentioned (including blind sources) and filling in missing sides of the argument, to negotiating the complicated dance between the writer, the writer's sources, and the editor, learn how he empowered his team of fact checkers to pursue the truth.

About Peter Canby

Peter Canby was a senior editor at The New Yorker and ran the fact-checking department. He is the author of “The Heart of the Sky: Travels Among the Maya.” His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, New York Review of Books, The Nation, Harper’s, and elsewhere. His work has been anthologized in Best American Science Writing, Best American Travel Writing, and Best Adventure and Survival Stories.