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I try to break it down into sections, when you get the end of a 1,000, or 1,500 words, you’ve made it to the next drop cap, and that feels important.
Anna Altman, Ep. 372
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Anna Altman (@bananaaltman) is a freelance journalist and a social worker in training, and she just wrote and reported her second feature for The Atavist Magazine called “The Quality of Mercy.” It deals with compassionate release for the terminally ill and the one man at the center of it advocating for his fellow inmates.
In this episode we dig into how she arrived at this story and the unique challenges of reporting this piece in the ten-minute chunks Anna had with her central figure, Gary Settle, as they spoke through the prison phone system.
We also hear from Seyward Darby, editor-in-chief for The Atavist and the lead editor of this piece, about the unique challenges this story presented as well as what she looks for when listening to an interview with writers she admires. You see, I like this show to appeal the whole spectrum of CNFers … from novices to the super skilled, of which Seyward is wicked skilled, guy.
The show’s Instagram handle, @creativenonfictionpodcast, and you can always keep the conversation going on Twitter @CNFPod.
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This episode pairs well with:
Kelly Loudenberg and Maddy Crowell, both wrote stories for The Atavist that dealt with inmates and our prison system.
