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.
Carl is the author of five books, including The Lunatic Express, Savage Harvest, and The Last Wild Men of Borneo. He is a former contributing editor to National Geographic Traveler and Wired. His work also has appeared in Outside Magazine, Smithsonian, and Men’s Journal, among others. Pretty epic stuff.
In this episode we riff on his love of journalism and how he got the bug, the depth of reporting needed to pull off great narrative nonfiction, and treating subjects with dignity and respect (even MAGA supporters who book the “fake media”).
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