By Brendan O’Meara
Hey! We’ve got Cole Heilborn, a documentary filmmaker and founder of Port Side Productions, a company focusing on outdoor storytelling. His latest film is Inches to Miles, a film made in collaboration with Athletic Brewing. I’m an ambassador! Use BRENDANO20 at checkout for a slick discount, friend! (I don’t get any dough, just points toward beer.)
Continue reading “Episode 421: Cole Heilborn says, “We’re Gonna Find What We Find””By Brendan O’Meara
Look who it is! It’s Rebecca Renner (@rebeccarennerfl on IG), freelance journalist and author of Gator Country: Deception, Danger, and Alligators in the Everglades (Flatiron Books).
Rebecca‘s work has appeared in National Geographic, Outside Magazine, and The Paris Review, among others.
I was struck by Rebecca’s self-assuredness, something I categorically lack, which made me think during this conversation as it was happening, like, Wow, what must that be like?
Continue reading “Episode 420: Rebecca Renner Makes the Pig”
By Brendan O’Meara
It’s yet another Atavistian podcast, this with Maggie Gigandet, a freelance writer behind “The Extra Mile.“
After a horrific accident, doctors told Todd Barcelona that he’d likely never run again. So he and his wife decided to run farther than they ever had before.
Maggie used to be a trial attorney, and she made the pivot to freelance writing during the height of the pandemic, so we dig into how she made that change and what skills transferred over.
Continue reading “Episode 419: Maggie Gigandet Red Paperclipped Her Way into Freelancing”
Hey, CNFers, happy CNFriday, and, boy, what a fun episode we’ve got! It’s John Julius Reel! He’s @johnjuliusreel on the Instagrams and he’s the author of the memoir My Half Orange: A Story of Love and Language in Seville (Tortoise Books).
John is a writer, radio host, and language instructor based out of Spain and My Half Orange (a Spanish idiom for soul mate) bridges his native culture with his adopted one, and it’s the latter where he found a greater place in the world personally and artistically.
In this conversation (Cut down from two hours. I’ll post some of the outtakes for the Patreon gang.) we talk about letting the subconscious in on the joke, how to make memoir relatable, and the never-ending quest to impress your father.
Continue reading “Episode 418: Surrendering to the Subconscious with John Julius Reel”
Acamea Deadwiler (@acamea) is here with her debut memoir Daddy’s Little Stranger (Riddle Brook Publishing).
It started as an essay collection, but at the behest of her publisher, she was tasked with making it more of a traditional memoir. The result is a coming-of-age story of a young woman who grew up without a father and how she navigated her early life without that influence. Better put, how she navigated her early life with that absence.
We also talk about her influences, studying inspiration texts, what her basketball career taught her about what it takes to be a writer, and finding that elusive voice. Really rich talk.
Continue reading “Episode 416: A Lifelong Search for Voice with Acamea Deadwiler”
Always a treat with the one and only Glenn Stout visits the show be it to talk about new books he’s written or, in this case, to celebrate the cinematic release of Young Woman and the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World (Mariner Books).
Of the many books I’ve read of Glenn’s, this one’s my favorite and it, at long last, is in movie theaters starring Daisy Ridley.
In this episode, we talk about the journey of how this book came to be adapted, the hiccups along the way, how serendipity played a role in the adaptation, and a lot more book-writing stuff you’ll love to hear about.
Continue reading “Episode 413: Young Woman and the Sea, from Book to Movie”
As you know, we love repeat guests on the show, and Lilly Dancyger (@lillydancyger) fit the bill with her new book First Love: Essays on Friendship (Dial Press). This is right up there for a CNFy award, my non-existent gala for the best I’ve experienced in creative nonfiction. Maybe the perfect Galentine’s Day gift.
Lilly’s collection, at least to me, doesn’t feel essay-ish. It’s prismatic, but it feels united, these essays about her girlfriends dating all the way back to her first best friend, her first love, her cousin Sabina.
Lilly also is the author of Negative Space and the editor of Burn it Down. She’s the nonfiction acquisitions editor for Barrelhouse Books and a teacher at Columbia University School of Arts. She also does freelance editor, mainly in the memoir/essay realm.
Continue reading “Episode 412: Leaving the Emotional Moments Unsaid with Lilly Dancyger”
Earl Swift is our guest for Ep. 409. He is the author of more books than you have fingers including The Big Roads, Chesapeake Requiem, Across the Airless Wilds, and his most recent book Hell Put to Shame: The 1921 Murder Farm Massacre and the Horror of America’s Second Slavery. It’s published by Mariner Books.
Just when you think this country couldn’t find a way to let you down, well, just give it some time. In the spirt of David Grann’s Killers of the Flower Moon, Earl found a troubling story in its wicked cruelty, of a farmer, John S. Williams, who murdered 11 Black laborers rather than face charges for peonage. Earl expands on what this is in the book and in this conversation.
It got me thinking about the hidden histories of this country, atrocities and tragedies buried by the past. And it’s the serendipity of finding reference to these stories — research by catch — that people Earl can then expand and illuminate. Man, what a book.
Continue reading “Episode 409: Chain Smoking Book Projects with Earl Swift”
Ever want to know the ins and outs, the hopes and dreams, of a minor league basketball player? Alex Squadron (@asquad510), a sports writer for Slam Magazine, brings that insight to his debut book Life in the G: Minor League Basketball and the Relentless Pursuit of the NBA. It’s published by University of Nebraska Press.
Alex follows a cohort of players for the Birmingham Squadron … total coincidence. He had tremendous access to this team and these players, something you categorically never see at the higher levels of sport.
Continue reading “Episode 407: Alex Squadron Respects the Grind”
Hallie Lieberman (@hallielieberman) has now written for The Atavist Magazine twice, her latest chronicling the crimes of “The Handcuff Man” in her “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”
Hallie writes a lot about the sex industry and LBGTQ+ issues. She’s also the author of Buzz: A Stimulating History of the Sex Toy.
This conversation was a trip. Hallie is a force of nature, candid, and joy to speak with and, I hope, a joy for you to listen to.
In this episode we talk about the draw of dead pitches, rejection, perseverance, and how to find wills.
Continue reading “Episode 405: Hallie Lieberman and the Drawer of Dead Pitches”