Isidra Mencos (@isidramencos) lived in Spain during an incredible inflection point. Franco died and along with him his authoritarian regime. It gave way to democracy. It gave way to personal freedom, sexual freedom, bodily freedom. And that’s where Promenade of Desire takes off.
Isidra’s book deals with intimacy, or a lack thereof; of being invisible in a big family and finding visibility through love and salsa dancing.
Continue reading “Episode 341: Isidra Mencos”
It’s that Atavistian time of the month! And this time we have J.B. MacKinnon, author of the feature “True Grit.”
This piece chronicles the harrowing journey a few feral cows made during a hurricane in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Let’s just say cows can swim … a LONG time if needed.
J.B. is the author or coauthor of five books of nonfiction. An award-winning journalist, his work has appeared in such publications as the New Yorker, National Geographic, and the Atlantic, as well as the Best American Science and Nature Writing anthologies. He is an adjunct professor of journalism at the University of British Columbia, where he teaches feature writing.
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What a surprise! Jeff Pearlman (@jeffpearlman), author of The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson, came by the show to talk about writing biography (but don’t bring up the word craft, okay?).
This was a wonderful conversation from a brilliant writer and reporter, and a great advocate for the writing community at large. He’s the host of Two Writers Slinging Yang.
Writing this story was the hardest one he’d ever reported. He wrote it in backwards chronology, a la Memento. Did you know I did something similar back in 2016? True story. Jeff got $4 a word for his 3,000-word story; I got $200 for a 5,000-word story. That should give you an idea what kind of astral plane Jeff Pearlman works from. He’s a pretty cool dude.
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By Brendan O’Meara
Matt Tullis, a survivor of childhood cancer, a professor, a writer, an author, a podcaster, passed away following complications from surgery.
If you want to help the Tullis family, here is a link to their gofundme page.
He was the author of Running with Ghosts, a memoir of his experience surviving cancer. It’s a wonderful book.
And it’s a tragic loss not only to his family, but also the nonfiction community. A tumor had surfaced, no doubt a result of the treatment he endured as a teenager.
Continue reading “Episode 338: Remembering Matt Tullis”
By Brendan O’Meara
Who doesn’t love an obsessive deep dive? Who doesn’t love a good rabbit hole? And what a rabbit hole Ander Monson‘s Predator: A Memoir, A Movie, An Obsession (Gray Wolf Press) is!
Ander (@angermonsoon) watched “Predator” more than 150 times so you don’t have to. It’s a great movie and Ander’s analysis of it reveals just how brilliant and salient it is. Sure, on the surface it reeks of brawn and would appear to be a rolling advertisement for gun perversion. But Ander folds in his experience into this unconventional memoir while we watch the movie with him.
Can’t recommend the book enough and this conversation should having you getting to the choppah to visit your favorite book seller.
Continue reading “Episode 337: Ander Monson”
By Brendan O’Meara
Cassidy Randall is a freelance writer based out of Montana, and her piece for The Atavist Magazine, “Alone at the Edge of the World,” just dropped.
It’s a harrowing piece and one that really flexes the muscles of what a reporter/writer can do to re-create scenes when they weren’t present for the “main action.”
We talk about how reading fiction helps her with her nonfiction, dealing with rejection, attention to rhythm in sentences, pacing, and a whole lot more.
Continue reading “Episode 336: Cassidy Randall”
By Brendan O’Meara
Steve Brusatte came on the show back in 2018 for his Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs. And he’s back! This time to talk about The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, From the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us.
Hey … that’s us!
Great conversation about how he pivoted from primarily dinosaurs to primarily mammals, climate change, and how dinosaurs and mammals got so damn big.
You can find Steve @SteveBrusatte on Twitter.
Continue reading “Episode 335: Steve Brusatte”
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By Brendan O’Meara
It’s always fun when scientists come on the show. We’ve had a volcanologist on in Jess Phoenix. We’ve had a guy who studies meteors in Greg Brennecka. We’ve had a paleontologies in Steve Brusatte (and he’s coming back). Now we have a physicist/writer in Katrina Miller!
Katrina (@__katrinarenee) is a brilliant writer whose essay tracks her journey as a physics PhD candidate, along with other pioneering Black women physicists. It’s a beautiful piece and it’ll be great to see what Katrina comes up with next. She’ll be wrapping up her dissertation soon, but she plans on pivoting to more science writing vs. academia.
Continue reading “Episode 334: Katrina Miller”
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By Brendan O’Meara
Cartooning is the best.
And Malaka Gharib (@malakagharib on IG) is one of my favorites. She’s funny, quirky, and wicked smaht.
She’s got a great newsletter (aren’t they ALL the rage these days?), A List of Beautiful Things.
In 2019, her first graphic memoir, I Was Their American Dream, was highly noted by all the notables. And her latest graphic memoir is It Won’t Always Be Like This (Ten Speed Press).
Continue reading “Episode 333: Malaka Gharib”Beer referral link. BRENDANO20 at checkout gets you a nice discount*
By Brendan O’Meara
David Maraniss is the author of several biographies, including his latest, Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe (Simon & Schuster). This book will make a great addition to your sports biographies. But like great stories involving sport, it’s about so much more.
David has written biographies on Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Vince Lombardi, Roberto Clemente and now the great Jim Thorpe.
In this conversation we talk about David’s “four legs of the table” for writing biography, navigating around people who won’t talk, world building in biography, and a whole lot more.
Continue reading “Episode 332: David Maraniss”