December 2022 – Home of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast

Episode 349: Madeline Bodin

It’s that Atavistian time of the month! This time we speak with Madeline Bodin, a freelance journalist based out of Vermont.

Her piece “The Curious Case of Nebraska Man” is the story of a fossilized tooth that spurs the debate over evolution and creationism and, as often happens in this country, pins science into a corner where it must be defended again, again, and again.

In this pod, I also speak with editor-in-chief Seyward Darby. Sidebar: She has a new piece in The Guardian about abused beagles. Is there nothing she can’t do? Maybe play drums …

Audio Magazine Issue 3: Heroes

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By Brendan O’Meara

That took a long time, didn’t it? At long last, Issue 3 of the audio magazine is here on the theme HEROES!

Big ups to our contributors who made the issue to those who submitted who didn’t make it into the final product.

Here’s a little bit of information from each of the writers:

Episode 348: Carl Hoffman

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By Brendan O’Meara

Carl Hoffman is here (@lunaticcarl and @carlhoffmanstories)! He’s the author of Liar’s Circus: A Strange and Terrifying Journey into the Upside-Down World of Trump’s MAGA Rallies (Custom House).

I read this quick, as most of you will, and it is a strange and terrifying dive into the virtual reality chamber of MAGA Trump supporters. Carl is a long-time travel writer, and he turns that gaze and immersion at our own country.

It called to mind a conversation I heard with Henry Rollins, who has traveled all over the world, where he said the place he feels most unsafe in the world is … America.

Episode 347: Emily Fox Kaplan

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By Brendan O’Meara

It’s been a long time since we featured a writer from the Pipe Wrench Magazine roster, so it was it nice to welcome Emily Fox Kaplan to CNF Pod HQ to talk about her piece “Searching for Zarahemla.”

It’s a trippy travel piece that has a very David Foster Wallace vibe to it, though Emily hasn’t read any DFW. Just as well. Far be it from me to be a the bro to say, ‘You gotta read him.’

But read his tennis writing …

Episode 346: Lyndsie Bourgon

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By Brendan O’Meara

Hey CNFers, Lyndsie Bourgon (@lbourgon) is here to talk about Tree Thieves: Crime and Survival in North America’s Woods (Little Brown Spark).

This was a nice conversation that dug into the serendipity of reporting, getting our heads around organizing research, as well as the cultural identity that’s tied to logging and how that leads to timber poaching, a $1 billion “industry” in the U.S.