June 2023 – Home of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast

Episode 377: Carlos Barragan

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By Brendan O’Meara

Always nice to reach that Atavistian time of the month and this month has a great piece that combines the personal and the journalistic, “The Romance Scammer on My Sofa.”

These scammers, Yahoo Boys, as they’re called, spam people — the lonelier the better — in an effort to steal money. They’re based largely out of Lagos, Nigeria and there’s a great chance one of these Yahoo Boys has knocked on your door in one way or another.

They prey on the vulnerable, the lonely, and, for a short time, victimized Carlos’ mother, which led him on something of a manhunt to find the scammer, but what he found was a greater understanding of his mom.

Carlos is a journalist and student at the Columbia School of Journalism. You can find him on Twitter @CarolosBarraganT, and I hope you’ll head to magazine.atavist.com to read his piece and potentially subscribe. And, no, I don’t get any kickbacks, CNFer.

Episode 376: John Vaillant

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An interview, well done, elevates everybody. The interviewer gets what they want, they get this material and this deep detail, but the older I get, the more I realize that pretty much 90% of what human beings want out of life is to be seen and heard.
John Vaillant, Ep. 376

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By Brendan O’Meara

John Vaillant is here, CNFErs, to talk about Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World (Knopf). It’s an incredible feat of writing, reporting, and research and takes us to the devastating 2016 wildfire that tore through Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada.

John is the author a The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival, The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed, and The Jaguar’s Children.

You can find him on Twitter @johnvaillant and in this conversation he notes how Twitter actually helped him (what?!), and we also dig into interviewing for scene, not treating interviewing as an extraction industry, but more renewable, and fire, lots of fire.

Episode 375: Hattie Fletcher and Stephen Knezovich

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You don’t have a lot of room to fart around and throw in stuff that doesn’t matter, you have to focus on what you’re doing and get it done, and then get out.
Hattie Fletcher, Ep. 375

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By Brendan O’Meara

Got a two-for-one deal here, CNFers. It’s Hattie Fletcher and Stephen Knezovich, two of the brilliant minds behind Short Reads, a weekly email missive of flash nonfiction.

They are formerly of Creative Nonfiction Magazine until a failure in leadership forced Hattie, Stephen, and a handful of others to leave the magazine. What came of that experience is Short Reads.

So in this episode we talk about email marketing, building an email list, writing short nonfiction vs. long nonfiction. It’s a concentrated dose of goodness.

Stephen also is an accomplished collage artists, so be sure to check out his website to get a sense of what his work is about. Collage is the bomb.

Episode 374: Christine Yu

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That imposter syndrome is a big piece of it because I always question am I the right person to write this story? Am I the best person to write this story? Why am I writing this story? Why will someone talk to me about this? That’s always a hard piece of it for me.
Christine Yu, Ep. 374

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By Brendan O’Meara

Christine Yu (@cyu888) is the author of Up to Speed: The Groundbreaking Science of Women Athletes (Riverhead Books).

This is a great conversation about what the athletic science community has gotten wrong — or just straight-up lazy — when it comes to the science behind women’s athletics. The book deals largely with the male-female binary and doesn’t really delve into the experiences of trans athletes. That’s for another book, one presumes.

Episode 373: Seth Godin

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Honey is not the purpose of a hive. Honey is a sign that the hive is functioning well.
Seth Godin, Ep. 373

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By Brendan O’Meara

What a treat! Seth Godin returns, this time to talk about leadership in his new book The Song of Significance: A New Manifesto for Teams (Portfolio).

Seth talks about leadership vs. management and also how we develop leadership like a muscle. There’s a tension when someone wants to lead, but maybe doesn’t know how for fear of failure, fear of rocking the status quo, fear of judgement. Seth makes the impossible feel possible. It was a thrill and honor to spend some time with this wonderful person.