This was originally published as Episode 14 on Dec. 6, 2015.
Always nice blow the dust off an older podcast. By virtue of the being older, the snap judgement is that they’re dated. I do go back through and re-edit the paperback podcasts to scrub out what feels dated and keep what’s evergreen.
It helps that, by and large, I try and produce evergreen interviews from the start, but this one had some references to a old job of Glenn’s, which didn’t really fit for 2023.
But what’s left is sure to give you a run for your money, man.
Susan Orlean makes her third trip back to the podcast (Ep. 61 and 121), this time to celebrate her latest book, a collection of her magazine work on animals titled … On Animals.
She’s the best selling author The Library Book, Rin Tin Tin, and The Orchid Thief. She’s been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1990s and, as many of you know, seeing a Susan Orlean byline is something like appointment reading. It’s special.
It’s called “The Snitch,” and details the story around the serial killer Scott Kimball, but, more specifically, the mistakes made by the FBI, thus turning this true-crime yarn on its head.
Is there anybody out there better than Patrick Radden Keefe? There are a few on his level, but I wouldn’t say anyone is better and here he is.
He says, “What can I leave out? And that point where I can start leaving things out becomes very liberating because then, in a way, the reporting continues, but it’s narrowing.”
Patrick also is the host of Wind of Change, the incredible podcast that tries to solve the mystery behind the Scorpions song “Wind of Change” and whether or not the CIA had a hand in writing it.
Keep the conversation going on social media @CNFPod and consider leaving a kind review of the podcast so more people can find it, CNFers like you. It only takes a few minutes to tap away but will have a HUGE impact on the show.
“The more you can immerse yourself in a story the better you can write about it.” —Julian Smith (@julianwrites)
“You gotta fall in love with your subject and sometimes people have to pull you out.” —Julian Smith (juliansmith.com)
Julian Smith is a freelance journalist covering science, conservation, and adventure for publications like Smithsonian, Wired, Outside, Men’s Journal, National Geographic Traveler, and The Washington Post.
He co-authored Aloha Rodeo with David Wolman, a fellow journalist he worked with before on this Epic Magazinepiece about two warring ice cream trucks. It’s…epic.
In Episode 95 of the creative nonfiction podcast he talks about his humble start in journalism, suspending disbelief, the power of creating something, and journalism as sport.
View on Zencastr
