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Episode 250: Lindsay Jones and Her Atavist Story ‘The Lives of Others’

Lindsay Jones took a deep dive into the cottage hospital industry in Canada, specifically in Newfoundland, and what she found was shocking, alarming, but ultimately heart warming.

It was not unlike when the great journalist Earl Swift spent time on a small island town in Chesapeake Bay and said, “The process of being a fly on the wall doesn’t rely on folks forgetting you’re a reporter.”

And not unlike when Scott Eden made the trip down to Peru, or when Phil Hoad shadowed a couple pet detectives, Jones takes us to a new place, small, intimate, and beautiful.

Oh, and the writing is great, too.

Episode 248: Humble and Important Gifts with Bronwen Dickey

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By Brendan O’Meara

“My mind is a very bad neighborhood and I should not go there alone,” says Bronwen Dickey in her fourth trip to the podcast

She was here for Ep. 21, 45, 137 and now 248.

It’s always a good time when I get to catch up with her.

Episode 247: Jason Naylor, In Living Color

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By Brendan O’Meara

How’s this for a pull quote from Jason Naylor (@jasonnaylor on Instagram):

How do you find your style? How do you find your voice. And the truth is, I think that you don’t find it until you stop trying to find it. You just make work. If you’re a writer, you just keep writing. If you draw, then you just keep drawing, and the more you do it, you start to see patterns, you start to see a rhythm in what you’re doing. And then one day you look back and you realize, ‘Oh, I actually I can see that I have a voice.’

How brilliant is that?

Episode 246: Jenni Gritters on the Freelance Life, Not Waiting for Perfect, and Sh*t Sandwiches

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By Brendan O’Meara

Jenni Gritters is here.

She’s a freelancer and she is not a struggling freelancer in the ways that many of us identify as a struggling freelancer, which is to say: we po’.

Jenni, @jenni_gritters, along with her co-pilot on The Writers’ Co-op Podcast Wudan Yan, are thriving. Through strategy and rigor, Jenni is a six-figure earner, this during the pandemic, this when many writers are struggling to make a go of it.

She turned her skill into money, which allows her to double down on her skill and do more projects that are more personal-driven.

I like to think of some content/branded writing gigs like when Jake Gyllenhaall does a blockbuster movie so that he can then do the art-house stuff he probably wants to do. Book your Marvel movie, then go write your memoir. Haha.

Episode 245: Phil Hoad and his Atavist Story ‘Cat and Mouse’

Phil Hoad

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By Brendan O’Meara

Phil Hoad (@phload) is a journalist based in the south of France and his latest piece is featured in The Atavist. It’s titled “Cat and Mouse.”

It tells the story of two animal rights activists and their drive to find who they think is a serial killer of cats, rabbits, and foxes, but mainly cats.

In this bonus episode, I speak with lead editor Jonah Ogles (@jonahogles) about Phil’s pitch, what makes certain pitches have legs while others don’t, and the importance of figuring out how to end things. It’s much like when I spoke with Atavist editor-in-chief Seyward Darby.

Then Phil unpacks the story from there.

Episode 244: Jackie MacMullan on the Fear of Failure, Writing that Teaches You, and the Final Chapter of ‘Best American Sports Writing’

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By Brendan O’Meara

Jackie MacMullan, the legendary basketball writer, is on the podcast to talk about judging what we know to be the final installment of The Best American Sports Writing.

She’s chronicled the NBA (big ups to Louisa Thomas) since the early 1980s for The Boston Globe, Sports Illustrated and now ESPN.

Her five-part series on mental health in the NBA was widely lauded and a must-read.

Episode 243: Claire McNear of The Ringer Talks All Things Writing, Jeopardy!, and the Late Great Alex Trebek

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By Brendan OMeara

Claire McNear is a staff writer for The Ringer and the author of Answers in the Form of Questions (Twelve).

“The times that I write best, the times that I’m able to write a lot are the times that I’ve got a fire under me. And that is what happens with a deadline. That is what happens when it’s 10 p.m. and you’ve written like, 150 words that day,” Claire says on the podcast.

Episode 242: ‘How Are You Going to Change the World?’ asks Damon Brown

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By Brendan O’Meara

Damon Brown returns!

Had a great time talking about his new book Build from Now: Know Your Power, See Your Abundance and Change the World.

Damon’s all over the place. He’s talkin’ TED, he’s coaching, he’s almost written thirty books, he’s the primary caretaker of his two young boys, all of that and he’s one of the most generous people I’ve ever met. I think you’ll agree.

Episode 241: Carolyn Holbrook and the Indispensable Nature of Writing and Teaching

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By Brendan O’Meara

“I do a lot of encouraging people to journal and to just write it out, sing it out, dance it out, whatever you need to do,” says Carolyn Holbrook, author of Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify: Essays (University of Minnesota Press).

Episode 240: Scott Eden Pans for, Finds Gold in his Atavist Story ‘The Gilded Age’

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By Brendan O’Meara

Scott Eden returns to the show to talk about his incredible and ambitious piece for The Atavist titled “The Guilded Age.”

This extra interview in your feed is part of a new partnership with The Atavist where I interview that month’s featured writer about that month’s story to provide readers and listeners some extra depth to the experience.

In this very first one with The Atavist, Scott talks about:

Developing sources as an investigative reporter
How COVID affected this story … right at the very end
Finding a new angle on something that was already covered
And that moment when a machete was brandished in Peru

I hope you dig this extra bit of goodness. If you’re new to The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, it’s the show where I speak to badass people about the art and craft of telling true stories. Subscribe wherever you podcast!

If you want to support the show, the audio magazine we produce and help keep the lights on at HQ, consider becoming a member at patreon.com/cnfpod.

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