Episode 357: Adam Popescu

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By Brendan O’Meara

Los Angeles-based journalist and writer Adam Popescu (@adampopescu) is here! He visited Congo and wrote about how Virunga, its national park, is the first of its kind to mine Bitcoin.

This piece is the intersection of his taste. Check this from his website:

He specializes in narratives on power, culture, wildlife, climate, and the dark side of big tech.

Once you dig into his piece for MIT Technology Review, you’ll see all those boxes checked off.

Adam is a globe-trotting journo and has been to just about every corner of the world. You’re either wired for it or you’re not and Adam most certainly is. In this conversation we talk about:

  • The logistics of traveling abroad
  • What he carries with himself (he can’t exactly pop off to a Walmart)
  • His relationship to mortality and putting himself in dangerous situations
  • Why it’s important to tell stories of and from far-flung places

Juicy stuff.

He’s also the author of the novel Nima.

Adam recommended books from African authors, Congo, Inc. by Koli Jean Bofane and the Nobel Prize-winning Paradise by Abdulrazah Gurnah.

The show’s Instagram handle, @creativenonfictionpodcast, and you can always keep the conversation going on Twitter @CNFPod.

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