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Episode 141—Evan Ratliff on Garbage-ing, Legwork in Pitching, and ‘The Mastermind’

Evan Ratliff, author of ‘The Mastermind’, came by the show to talk shop. Photo credit: Jonah Green

“My system is, it’s okay not to have a system.” —Evan Ratliff (@ev_rat)

“I’m the opposite of the 500-words-a-day person. Sometimes I’ll be like, ‘I’m not gonna get anything done today.’ … Whatever …I’m a freelancer!”—Evan Ratliff

This week I spoke to Evan Ratliff, who puts the bad in badass. Yes, that means I put the ass in badass. Neither here nor there.

Evan came on the show to talk about his career as a freelance journalist and, most recently, his epic new book titled The Mastermind: Drugs, Empire, Murder, Betrayal. It’s a book that combines all the tools of the trade a master reporter needs to tell the globetrotting story

That’s right, this is The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show were I talk to badass writers, filmmakers, and producers about the art and craft of telling true stories. I try and unpack their origins and how they go about the work so you can apply those tools of mastery to your own work.

Episode 139—Dane Huckelbridge and the Deadliest Tiger the World Has Ever Known

Dane Huckelbridge, author of “No Beast So Fierce” joined me this week.

By Brendan O’Meara

“The freak-of-nature-tiger was actually a man-made disaster.” —Dane Huckelbridge (@huckelbridge)

Today’s guest for Episode 139 of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast is Dane Huckelbridge, author of No Beast So Fierce: The Terrifying True STory of the Champawat Tiger, the Deadliest Animal in History, published by William Morrow.

Dane, in my opinion, is the heir apparent to the most interesting man in the world. Just go to danehuckelbridge.com and check him out. It’s the best author site I’ve ever seen. Anyway.

Episode 138—Connor Ratliff on Falling Backward into Show Biz and How Improv Made Him a Better Listener

Connor Ratliff, an improve performer at Upright Citizens Brigade and countless other projects, hopped on the show to talk about improve and his essay in Paste.

By Brendan O’Meara

“You build good habits, but the terrain going forward should be unknown to you.” —Connor Ratliff (@connorratliff on Twitter)

Check this out. This is Connor Ratliff’s bio on the Upright Citizens Brigade website:

Connor Ratliff can be seen every Friday night performing with The Stepfathers, and every Sunday night performing in UCBT’s longest-running show, ASSSSCAT 3000. He is the creator of The George Lucas Talk Show, where real guests are interviewed by him while he pretends to be George Lucas. He was the warm-up comedian for The Chris Gethard Show on TruTV, as well as a frequent contributor to MNN version, where he launched his 2012 Presidential campaign and for which he co-created a series of experimental and animated shorts with award-winning artist Maelle Doliveux called The Lone Cornmeal Machine. He is also the co-star and co-creator of the web series I’m Too Fragile For This with Cathryn Mudon, and starred in the IFC web series, Bottled, and the current Comedy Central web series, Dollar Store Therapist. TV credits include Orange Is The New Black, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Search Party, The President Show, Debate Wars, The Characters, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Broad City, VEEP and hosting an episode of season 2 of The UCB Show on Starz. Feature films include Mike Birbiglia’s Don’t Think Twice, Netflix teen thriller Coin Heist and The Discovery, as well as the upcoming Standing Up, Falling Down (with Billy Crystal & Ben Schwartz). He has also appeared on This American Life and the Comedy Bang Bang podcast. You can hear Connor as the co-host of the podcast “12 Hour Day with JD & Connor” which is a 12-hour long podcast where every episode consists of an uncut and unedited twelve-hour conversation between himself and JD Amato. The Spirit Of Ratliff, his album of Secular XMAS songs & anti-Summer anthems written with singer/songwriter Mikey Erg is available as a limited edition 12″ Secular Red vinyl LP from State Champion Records. One time he got stuck on a train and Huffington Post and NBC News speculated that he had lost his mind. Google it, it was a real news story.

What an amazing body of work!

Episode 137—Bozos on the Same Bus with Bronwen and Brendan

Bronwen Dickey, author of Pit Bull: The Battle Over an American Icon, came by for the third time.

By Brendan O’Meara

“Clarity is the goal I want to be working toward. The more clear a piece of writing is, the more honest it feels.” —Bronwen Dickey (@BronwenDickey)

Ever feel like a garden gnome without a garden? That’s why I started this racket in 2013. This is the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I talk to badass writers, filmmakers, and producers about the art and craft of telling true stories.

Today’s guest returns for her third time. It’s Bronwen Dickey, author of Pit Bull: The Battle Over an American Icon. She is LITerally, my best friend even though we’ve never met in person. She was so sweet. She asked about my baseball book as soon as she came on the phone and indulged me for almost seven minutes. So naturally I cut it.

Episode 136—J. Hope Stein on Being a Not-So-Secret Secret Poet, the Sheer Love of Writing, and ‘Little Astronaut’

J. Hope Stein reads from her work with her daughter.

By Brendan O’Meara

Hey, this is the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I talk to badass writers (like Mary Karr), filmmakers (like Lisa D’Apolito), and producers (like Scott Neumyer) about the art and craft of telling true stories. I try and unpack their origin stories to see how they became the artists they are. You might even learn a thing or two worth applying to your own work.

I’ve got J. Hope Stein for you today. Her latest book of poetry is titled Little Astronaut and it is about early motherhood. I don’t have nor want children. That is a spouse-approved sentence, and I loved this little book about being a parent. That should tell you something right there.

Episode 135—Leanna James Blackwell Talks About Fallow Periods, Running with Ideas, and 90s Grunge

Leanna James Blackwell wrote an essay. It’s good. Real good.

By Brendan O’Meara

Tweetables by Leanna James Blackwell (@baypathmfaCNF)

“Don’t worry if you go through a fallow period. It doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.”

“When that idea comes, don’t wait, grab it, run.”

Okay, this is The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I talk to badass writers (like Laura Hillenbrand), filmmakers (like Emer Reynolds), and producers (like Alexandra DiPalma) about the art and craft of telling true stories, how they became who they are, and the habits and routines that make them special, so maybe you can apply those tools of mastery to your own work.

We got Leanna James Blackwell for you today, for episode 135 of this racket. But we’ll get there. We’re gonna talk about a lot of things, and especially her long essay “Lethe” which appeared as Issue No. 22 of Creative Nonfiction’s True Story. I love these little things, man. You should subscribe. That’s a free shout out if I ever heard one.

Episode 133—Vanya Erickson Speaks Fluent ‘Boot Language’

By Brendan O’Meara

“We all need little successes.” —Vanya Erickson (@vanyaerickson.author on Facebook.

Today’s episode is also brought to you by the noun despair, “Driven to despair, he threw himself under a train.” despair: the complete absence of hope.

I don’t know what to say, man. Happy New Year, that’s a start. How are YOU? What’s going on with YOU? It’s just you and me here, man. I’m Brendan O’Meara and this is my podcast, The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to badass writers, filmmakers, and producers about the art and craft of telling true stories.

Episode 128—David Lee Morgan on Positivity, Trust, and Telling the Story Straight

David Lee Morgan, a prolific sports writer, now teaches high school English in his native Ohio.

“Let them tell the story, let them find the story that maybe they didn’t even know was the story.” —David Lee Morgan (@DavidLeeMorgan)

“That’s how I overcome that self doubt. ‘Hey, do you trust yourself? Do you have enough material for people to say he is an expert or he really knows the topic of which he’s writing?’ Then if you do then you just write on.” —David Lee Morgan

If you’re anything like me, and one assumes you are because you find some value in this humble little podcast, you need constant prodding in a sense. That can either be to get your work done or to get your brain in check. I’m one of those dudes who gets pretty down pretty easily, so it helps to have guests on who inspire me.

Enter David Lee Morgan, @davidleemorgan on Twitter.

David was a long time sports writer for the Akron Beacon Journal and most recently he turned his attention to teaching high school English, a move he doesn’t regret in the slightest. For the people who say “If you can’t do teach,” one of the more insulting things you can say to any artist who teaches or teachers who don’t make art, I give you David, who not only is a brilliant writer, but by the very nature of his attitude and approach, makes him that rare teacher that inspires with every lesson.

To be frank, I haven’t been in David’s classroom, but if my 90 minutes with him is any indication of what it’s like to sit at a desk in his class, well, sign me up. I might have done better on the SAT.

Episode 127—Sam Chiarelli ‘Digs’ Deep with Dino Memoir

Sam Chiarelli is the author of the memoir “Dig: A Personal Prehistoric Journey.”

By Brendan O’Meara

Did you know it’s Dinovember? Not die as in death, but dino as in dinosaurs, which is how and why today’s guest is Sam Chiarelli (@DinophileSam on Twitter), author of the memoir Dig: A Personal Prehistoric Journey, published by Hippocampus Books.

Episode 124—Natalie Singer on Finding the Time to Write and Living a Creative Life Around Day Jobs

By Brendan O’Meara

“What I’m doing when I’m not working is thinking.” —Natalie Singer (@Natalie_Writes)

Hey, this is The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the best artists about the craft of telling true stories. Today I welcome Natalie Singer, author of California Calling: A Self Interrogation to the show.

We talk about confidence, or the lack thereof, books as mentors, and day jobs and feeling shame for day jobs. I hope to change that perception over the next six million episodes, but shame is real, man, it is real. This brought up the great story about Andre Dubus III and how he wrote his famous book in 17-minute spurts.

Well, are you subscribed to the show? You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and just about anywhere else you get your pods. If you like this episode, tell one friend. Hand the show off like a baton and let them run with it. I’d love to see the show grow. For a small show, we get some big headliners. I’d love to keep that going. The headliners bring more ears so that we little people can get some attention we might not otherwise get. It’s getting there. We march on.

Got a newsletter you should consider subscribing to. I give out reading recommendations, but I’m also thinking of sprinkling in some other cool stuff I’ve stumbled on over the past month in the vein of Austin Kleon’s newsletter. I love his newsletter. I’m gonna Steal Like an Artist. See what I did there?

Okay, this is my conversation with Natalie Singer…

Thanks to our sponsors: Goucher College’s MFA in Creative Nonfiction and Creative Nonfiction Magazine.

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