Creative Nonfiction Podcast – Page 22 – Home of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast

Episode 211: What to Do When You Hate the Work with Rose Andersen

Rose Andersen is the author of The Heart and Other Monsters.

This episode is sponsored by Scrivener, by writers for writers.

“Great, so you’re at the point in the writing process where you hate all your work. We all do that.” — Rose Andersen (@roseandersen)

By Brendan O’Meara

Rose Andersen is the author of The Heart and Other Monsters (Bloomsbury, 2020) and we jam about that, the writing process, deadlines, music, groove, and addiction.

It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year, so you should listen here and then consider buying it for the memoir/true crime lover in your circle of CNFers.

And I’m bringing back the review-for-coaching deal. If you leave a review on Apple Podcasts, I will give you an hour of my editing/coaching time, a $50 value, so act fast!

Leave a review, wait for it to post, screenshot it, and email it to me creativenonfictionpodcast at gmail dot com. Then I’ll reach out. Keep the work to 2,000 words or fewer.

Also, if you’re feeling kind, link up to the show on social media, tagging the show @CNFPod so I can give you the props and elbow bumps you deserve!

Episode 210: Stephanie Gorton Looks to the Past with ‘Citizen Reporters’

Stephanie Gorton (Photo credit Rachel Hulin)

This episode is sponsored by Scrivener, by writers for writers.

Want the transcript to this episode?! PayPal brendan at brendan omeara dot com $5 and I’ll send you the PDF!

“But there was a sense that I had let down my younger self and ought to find a way to make writing at least in some way, a part of my part of my life.” — Stephanie Gorton.

By Brendan O’Meara

Stephanie Gorton (@sdgortonwords) is the author of Citizen Reporters: S.S. McClure, Ida Tarbell, and the Magazine that Rewrote America. It’s a ripping-good yarn.

In this conversation we talk about her Page Turner piece for New Yorker dot com about an H.P. Lovecraft conference in Providence, her home city. We riff on what it was like for her to go from publishing to writing. We talk about the social media and why anyone with platform would trust a journalist with their stories. It’s good, clean fun.

Keep the conversation going on social media by linking up the show and tagging it @CNFPod.

This podcast was sponsored in part by Scrivener, made by writers for writers! It’s also sponsored by Casualty of Words, a writing podcast for people in a hurry.

Be sure you’re subscribed to the podcast wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to my monthly newsletter for book recommendations, writing tips, and what you might’ve missed from the world of the podcast. You’re also entered to win books. What’s not to like?! Sign up below.

Episode 204: Peter Brown Hoffmeister on Self-Control, Internal Drive and Regret in Memoir

By Brendan O’Meara

Hey, there, CNFers, Peter Brown Hoffmeister returns to the show!

Peter is the author of the memoir The End of Boys and the novels Too Shattered for Mending and This is the Part Where You Laugh.

He’s also the creator of the new podcast Boring is a Swear Word, and it is a great listen. It’s not an interview show. It’s these little riffs, poems, and essays from his life. I highly recommend adding it to your podcast feed.

Speaking of podcasts, I’ve re-started the Casualty of Words feed. John Steinbeck had journals for his novels. I have a podcast to document the process and what you might glean from my rewrites. So you could say John Steinbeck was doing what I’m doing.

Anyway …

In this episode, we talk about:

Role models
Internal drive
Self-control
Taking in art to reach greater depth
Regret in memoir
And he reads a poem!

As you know, keep the conversation chugging @CNFPod across all the social networks. And if your work needs that kick in the pants, I’d be honored to serve you and your work. Email me and we’ll start a dialogue to whip that manuscript into the shape it deserves.

Episode 202: Ruby McConnell — … And Nothing but The ‘Ground Truth’

By Brendan O’Meara

Ruby McConnell is here.

She’s @rubygonewild across the socials. She and I jam a bit on Twitter, so I’ll link up to that. Here.

Ruby’s got a new book out: Ground Truth: A Geological Survey of a Life (Overcup Press, 2020).

It’s a damn good book and I’ll take you to the woodshed if you think otherwise.

Sorry.

Feeling aggressive.

Ruby is also the author of A Woman’s Guide to the Wild.

We had a pretty rad conversation where we talk about how dance taught her the discipline it takes to be a writer and how geology is a, perhaps, the most writerly science. She’s a native Oregonian and a fellow Eugenian and, I don’t know, I had about as good a time as I’ve ever had on this show with Ruby.

Be sure you’re subscribed to the show wherever you get your pods and if you’re feeling kind, leave a nice review on Apple Podcasts. They’ve stalled and it’d be nice to crest that 100-rating threshold.

Keep the conversation going on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, all @CNFPod. And if you sign up for the newsletter, you’re automatically — and perpetually — entered in a raffle to win books. I give out reading recommendations and news you might have missed from the world of the podcast. It’s fun. You’ll dig it.

Episode 201: Walter Thompson-Hernandez on Journalism as Ethnography in ‘The Compton Cowboys’

By Brendan O’Meara

Man, what a show we’ve got for you with Walter Thompson-Hernandez. He is a Los Angeles-based writer who catapulted onto the scene with a feature he wrote about the Compton Cowboys.

It was one of those stories where as soon as published it blew up. Then agents are banging on his door, he’s got a book deal, movie deal and maybe the best of it all: a berth on The Creative Nonfiction Podcast: the show where I speak to badass people about the art and craft of telling true stories.

In speaking with Walter, it reminded me of conversations I had with Mike Sager, Eli Saslow and Maggie Messitt about taking deep dives into various subcultures (and I know I’m missing dozens who have been on this show).

Compton Cowboys is a brilliant book about a subculture tucked into the heart of Compton where, to quote the subhead of Walter’s NYT story, “A group of childhood friends wants to create a safer community and challenge the notion that African-Americans can’t be cowboys.”

I’d say more, but I don’t want to spoil this great conversation with Walter (@mychivas).

Dig the show? Keep the conversation going on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @CNFPod.

Sign up for my monthly newsletter that goes on the first of every month. Reading recommendations and what you might have missed from the world of the podcast.

And consider leaving a kind review on Apple Podcasts and share the show if I’ve made something worth sharing.

Get after it, CNFers!

Episode 200: Nick Flynn as Bewilderment

By Brendan O’Meara

In our conversation, Nick Flynn, author of Another Bullshit Night in Suck City and Stay: Threads, Conversations and Collaborations, says, “There’s a certain perverse pleasure in writing a memoir because it’s a bastardized genre. It’s a little bit of the Wild West. I mean, it’s filled with charlatans, posers, and huge egos. It’s a weird genre. It doesn’t have the cachet that the novel has. There’s a bit of a carnival atmosphere to it, which I was attracted to.”

So, you know, there’s that to look forward to.

This is episode 2-0-0 of CNF, the creative nonfiction podcast where I speak to badass people about the art and craft of telling true stories. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to keep the conversation going on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Tagging me and the show will let me jump in the fire with you.

I’d love to know your takeaways?

What resonated with you?

What inspired you?

Here’s to the next 200 of these things.

Also, the newsletter is where it’s at. Here’s a sample, and you can always subscribe in the form below, or the smaht bah up top, or even the pop up that’ll come on the screen.

Episode 198: Rani Shah — Blue High Heels, Dude Hats, and Wisdom from a Humble Jellyfish

By Brendan O’Meara

Rani Shah is the mastermind behind the beautiful, fun, and quirky book Wisdom from a Humble Jellyfish: And Other Self-Care Rituals from Nature (Dey St., 2020).

Lots of fun speaking to Rani about how her parents nurtured her creative side, but were worried about she’d make a career out of creative work.

We talk about day jobs, imposter syndrome, growth/fixed mindsets, power heels, and dude hats.

She’s the founder of Fuss Class, a south Asian satire site. Very Onion-esque. Rani hangs out on Instagram @raanstermonster. She came to play ball.

I think you’ll have fun with this one and I’d love to hear from you if you did. Email the show and ping us on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.

We need more submissions to our first ever audio magazine. The theme is Social Distancing: Essays from Isolation. 2,000 words/15-minute read. Deadline is MAY 1. Email your essay with SUBMISSION in the subject line to creativenonfictionpodcast at gmail dot com. I can’t wait to hear what you come up with.

Questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out. This a community. We’re in this mess together. Share this episode with your people and encourage them to share it to. If you don’t feel the need to share it, then I’ve failed at making something remarkable. And I’ll keep working harder and harder so that it continues to earn your endorsement and, more importantly, your valuable time.

Episode 196: How to Be Fine with Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer

By Brendan O’Meara

Man, this was fun, CNFers. We’ve got Jolenta Greenberg (@JolentaG) and Kristen Meinzer (@kristenmeinzer) in the CNFin’ house.

They are the co-hosts of By the Book, a podcast where they read a self-help book, follow its “recipes,” and report back. It’s a great show and the inspiration for their book, How to Be Fine: What We Learned from Living by the Rules of 50 Self-Help Books (Willam Morrow, 2020).

I think this episode pairs well with Austin Kleon, Jeff Goins, Chase Jarvis, and maybe a little Allison Fallon.

So many great insights about negative self-talk, what they feel is fundamentally lacking in most self-help books, and how to ultimately be kinder to yourself.

This book comes at a good time because things are rough. Things are topsy-turvy. We need people like Jolenta and Kristen doing their thing and thankfully their work is out there for us.

As you know, you can keep in touch on social media by following the show @CNFPod wherever. Also, if you’re feeling kind, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. Share this show if it means something to you. We’d be honored if you did.

[Again, no art because my website host hasn’t fixed the issue yet.]

Episode 195: Ben Cohen and ‘The Hot Hand’

By Brendan O’Meara

“I know if some one else wrote this book, I would be very envious and jealous and never let myself feel the end of it,” says Ben Cohen, NBA writer for The Wall Street Journal and author of The Hot Hand: The Mystery and the Science Behind Streaks (Custom House, 2020). He’s @bzcohen on Twitter.

This was a fun book, especially if you like Malcolm Gladwell-style books that orbit one idea. This book takes you all over the place, not just basketball, so I think you’ll have a lot of fun with it. If I didn’t already put in the last newsletter, I’ll be sure to include it in the next one.

In any case, don’t forget that we’re putting out our very first audio-mag on the theme: Social Distancing, essays from/on isolation. They must be 2,000 words or fewer (that’s a 15-minute read) and be original work. Email you submission to creative nonfiction podcast at gmail dot com, ya dig?

That’s as good a time as any to say that I’m thinking of all you out there. Some have it pretty rough. I can’t complain. I have shelter, food, clothes and a job (for now) that lets me work from home. And I’ve got this podcast that I get to make for you.

This show only work if you share it hand to hand. Be an Ambassador CNFer and spread what we’re doing around. @CNFPod on all the social platforms.

You can pair this episode with people like Scott Eden or Greg Hanlon.

Other writers mentioned were Michael Lewis and J.R. Moehringer.

Episode 194: Michael Schulman — Driven by Joy, New Yorker Profiles, and the ‘Secret Word’

By Brendan O’Meara

“Selection is as creative as generation,” says Michael Schulman on the podcast.

Michael Schulman is a staff writer for The New Yorker and author of Her Again, a biography of the early life of Meryl Streep. Go check it out. I haven’t read it yet, as I came to Michael’s work through his profiles in The New Yorker.

As coincidence would have it, once I had lined up Michael to be on the show, he appeared on This American Life during the introduction to the Everyone’s a Critic show.

In any case, it was Michael’s profile on James Cordon that prompted me to reach out, but I also loved his work on Adam Driver and Bo Burnham as well.

In this show we talk about how his work is driven by joy, how he boils down each story down to a single, secret word, and how his background in theater led to his break at the magazine. Some great stuff here.

This episode is sponsored in part by Bay Path University’s MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing.

Follow the podcast on social media @CNFPod across all the various platforms and sign up for that newsletter.

And did you listen to the long introduction to this episode yet? I’m publishing the first CNF Pod audio magazine with the theme Social Distancing: Essays from/of Isolation. Word limit is 2,000 as we want the reading to be 15 minutes or less. Email submissions to creativenonfictionpodcast at gmail dot com. DEADLINE IS MAY 1, 2020.

In this time of social distancing and isolation, hearing essays from this challenging time can bring us together. I hope you’ll submit your best work. I’d be honored to publish it three or four of however many submissions I receive.

OK, readyyyyyy, break!

PS: I’m having technical difficulties uploading photographs, so that’s why you haven’t seen author photos for the past few episodes. Hoping the host I pay money to will figure it out.

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