June 2022 – Home of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast

Episode 322: Leah Sottile

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By Brendan O’Meara

Leah Sottile (a fellow Oregonian) is the author of When the Moon Turns to Blood: Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell, and a Story of Murder, Wild Faith, and End Times (Twelve Books). She’s the producer behind Bundyville seasons 1 and 2, and a superstar freelancer who work has appeared in Playboy, The Atavist, Outside Magazine, and The New York Times Magazine.

She’s basically everything I want to be in life … and look at those tattoos!

Leah (@leah_sottile) came to play ball and we dig into what it’s been like reporting on the far right, early freelancing wins, building reporting skills, and her heavy metal radio shows. It’s a good one, CNFers.

Episode 321: Ruby McConnell

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By Brendan O’Meara

Well, well, well, look who came back to the podcast for her third time: It’s Ruby McConnell (@rubygonewild)!

She’s the author of the wonderful collection Ground Truth: A Geological Survey of a Life, as well as the author of A Woman’s Guide to the Wild. Past episodes with Ruby can be found here and here.

We had a nice conversation about juggling projects, when writing becomes a slog, style, ambition, and patience. If you’re a little frustrated, you’re going to enjoy this conversation.

Episode 320: Howard Bryant

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By Brendan O’Meara

Howard Bryant is the author of many, many books, most recently Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original (Mariner Books).

It’s a tremendous books, one that delves into the life of the great lead-off hitter Rickey Henderson and puts his life into context, builds a world around Rickey.

Howard is the author of The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron, Full Dissidence: Notes from an Uneven Playing Field, and The Heritage, among many others. He has covered baseball for many years, is a senior writer for ESPN, and is a contributor to NPR’s Weekend Edition. He also was the 2017 guest editor for Best American Sports Writing.

Episode 319: Neal Bascomb

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By Brendan O’Meara

Many of you know I’m a newsletter junkie. I collect them like baseball cards.

And Neal Bascomb, author of Faster, Red Mutiny, and several other gripping books of narrative journalism, has newsletter out called Work/Craft/Life.

Neal (@nealbascomb) profiles regular people about the craft of their work. Each profile is a wonderful character sketch of how people go about their work. It’s like Humans of New York, Studs Terkel, This American Life, and Walt Harrington’s Acts of Creation rolled into one. It’s great, and Neal’s just getting started with profiles of an abstract artist, a chef, and an ER doctor. Soon, he’ll have one of a war reporter.

We talk about how this departure stemmed from book burnout, what energizes him about these profiles, and how he disagrees with John McPhee about tape recorders.