Every week, I shine the spotlight on some of the best storytelling in the business and offer my comments. “3 Great Stories of the Week” will post every Monday at 8 AM.

A once-sunny Jeb Bush, bristling in the long shadow of Donald Trump (9/2/15, New York Times): I rarely use this space to post stories about politics, but in this case I made an exception.

How many think pieces and “hot takes” have been written about Donald Trump? None, I will argue, is as fascinating as Jonathan Martin’s study of the Presidential hopeful arguably most affected by Trump’s current dominance: Jeb Bush.

For everyone dismissing Trump’s candidacy, the fact remains that he has legitimately affected the Republican race for the past few months. He has obviously altered Jeb Bush’s approach, as Martin illustrates beautifully in this story for the New York Times.

People often wonder if campaign reporting fails to live up to its purpose. In this case, Martin’s article succeeds strictly because of time spent with the candidate, as he details numerous instances where Bush seems to deviate from his script and make an off-the-cuff remark about Trump.

The summer that never was (8/30/15, New York Times): Just like the Bush/Trump story, this piece from Tim Kreider appears in the New York Times.

That might be all the two articles have in common.

Kreider is a prolific essayist and author who hardly struggles to discuss his personal life in a universal way. In an era where so many people write first-person entries in blogs and social media posts, Kreider stands in an elite class in his ability to connect. This piece talks about the tenuous point in an adult’s life where the seemingly infinite possibilities of life suddenly seem to shrink:

I suspect that the way I feel now, at summer’s end, is about how I’ll feel at the end of my life, assuming I have time and mind enough to reflect: bewildered by how unexpectedly everything turned out, regretful about all the things I didn’t get around to, clutching the handful of friends and funny stories I’ve amassed, and wondering where it all went. And I’ll probably still be evading the same truth I’m evading now: that the life I ended up with, much as I complain about it, was pretty much the one I chose. And my dissatisfactions with it are really with my own character, with my hesitation and timidity.

Sax player celebrates 96th birthday on stage (8/31/15, KARE-TV): This story marks the end of an era.

I have spotlighted, in this space, six different stories in three years from the dynamic KARE-TV duo of Boyd Huppert and Jonathan Malat. Their approach to feature storytelling often achieves near-perfection, from Huppert’s sublime writing to Malat’s thoughtful photography and editing.

Now one member of the duo is moving on.

Malat has taken a year-long job with a TV station in Denmark; Huppert put together a farewell piece that aired on KARE-TV two weeks ago. One week later, the station aired the duo’s final story together. It’s immaculate: a tender smile-bringer about a newly 96-year-old saxophone player. I will say no more about it; just watch the story, and appreciate the craft.

Have a suggestion for “3 Great Stories of the Week”? E-mail me at matt@tellingthestoryblog.com.