Jordan Michael Smith (@WriterJMS) stops by for this month’s extra podcast to celebrate his piece for The Atavist Magazine.
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.
Jordan talks about:
Continue reading “Episode 260: Jordan Michael Smith Spins a True-Crime Yarn for The Atavist”
Ho! Ho! Ho! CNFers!
What’s that under the tree? It’s Lamorna Ash here to talk about her wonderful debut work of nonfiction Dark, Salt, Clear: The Life of a Fishing Town (Bloomsbury).
Great talk with Lamorna as we dig into how she’s dealing with the pandemic, feeling trapped at sea, drawing inspiration from other forms of art and so much more. She’s 26 years old and you can tell she’s going to be a star. Maybe she already is!
Say hi on social media @CNFPod and, if you have time, leave a kind written review on Apple Podcasts. Almost at 100. Been sitting there for a long, long time.
Being a member on Patreon is HUGE. You’ll be supporting the audio magazine, supporting writers, and making the product possible. No members means no magazine. If you liked Issue 1 of the magazine, consider supporting the next one.
For $4 a month, you’ll get access to new transcripts, the forthcoming audio magazines, and other goodies exclusive to members. Check it out.
Lee Gutkind (@LeeGutkind) has returned to the show after a long, long time, this time to talk about his wonderful new book My Last Eight Thousand Days: An American Male in His Seventies (University of Georgia Press).
We talk about a lot of stuff, like voice. Lee says:
Continue reading “Episode 233: Lee Gutkind on Magical Moments, the Rope Test, and ‘My Last Eight Thousand Days’”
Meichi Ng is the genius behind Barely Functional Adult, her wildly popular web comic. Her first book is … Barely Functional Adult: It’ll All Make Sense Eventually (Harper Perennial).
I can’t speak highly enough about it. It’s hilarious and heartfelt.
In this episode we chat about:
You can now become a Patreon member of the CNFin’ community. I have four tiers of membership and if you do the math on the BIG tier, it’s actually a killer deal.
Becoming a member supports the podcast, supports the audio mag, grants you exclusive content, transcripts, and access to me as an editor and coach. Every dollar goes into producing the show and leading to more creative independence, which means I can make more cool stuff for you.
I know it’s a big ask, but I figure it’s better than a tip jar as you’ll get some cool stuff in exchange for your membership.
Keep the conversation going on social media @CNFPod and consider leaving a kind review on Apple Podcasts. They help with the packaging of the show. If you can’t or don’t want to leave one on Apple, you can email me a review and I’ll read it on air and use it as I court sponsors.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the free monthly newsletter where I share reading recommendations, articles, blogs, and what you might have missed from the world of the CNFin’ podcast. First of the month. No spam. Can’t beat it.
Kermit Pattison (@KermitPattison) steps up this week to talk about his new book Fossil Men: The Quest for the Oldest Skeleton and the Origins of Humankind (William Morrow, 2020).
It’s a great read about the rivalries among scientists, the purity of the mission, discovery and inquiry. Kermit does an admirable job of making this science accessible.
We talk about:
Keep the conversation going on social media @CNFPod. Consider leaving a kind a review of the show wherever you listen to podcasts. I’ll be sure to read it on the air and give you the love you deserve.
A Patreon page is coming VERY soon, so I want to prime the pump for that. I’m excited to offer some cool goodies and access and coaching for those who are willing to take the leap. It’ll help keep the lights on. This enterprise is free, but it ain’t cheap!
Norton Anthology of Poetry
A John Le Carre novel
Collected Works of Charles Dickens
Fossil Men
A blank journal
A special call out to journalists and nonfiction writers who could use some extra support in these unpredictable times. Writers House Pittsburgh is accepting applications for a 6 month residency starting as early as January 2021. The Writers House is a physical home and long-term residency seeking to provide housing stability, mentorship, and community when you need it most. Head over to WritersHousePittsburgh.org to learn more. Applications will close on November 30th.
Edward Parnell, the author of Ghostland: In Search of a Haunted Country (William Collins), comes by the show to talk about the new book, a book that is part travel log, culture log, and memoir.
It is a haunting read, a mournful read, so naturally I dug it.
You can find Edward @edward_parnell on Twitter.
We talk about our shared love of Kurt Vonnegut, keeping the fun in writing, his approach to take this book away from the traditional grief memoir path, and lots more.
Keep the conversation going on social media @CNFPod and be sure to sign up for the monthly newsletter where I give out reading recommendation, podcast news, and writing tips. This month I plan to try something new: An exclusive Zoom link to have a little happy hour. First of the month. No spam. Can’t beat it.
By Brendan O’Meara
“I spend a lot of time thinking about promotion. This isn’t Field of Dreams,” says Kristen Meinzer, @kristenmeinzer on Twitter.
You might remember Kristen from her first soiree on the podcast a few months ago when she and Jolenta Greenberg came by to talk about the book they co-wrote, How to be Fine.
She’s back for a solo show to talk about her book So You Want to Start a Podcast: Finding Your Voice, Telling Your Story, and Building a Community that Will Listen (William Morrow, 2019).
I’m self-taught, been doing this thing for eight years, and I found so many incredible nuggets in this book. The thing is, it’s ostensibly about podcasting, but you can apply the principles to anything.
We talk about structure in writing and in podcasting, why are you starting a podcast and who is it for, pet peeves in podcasting, mistakes new producers make, promoting a show, and what exactly a producer does.
Good stuff.
Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, tell a friend, and consider leaving a kind review on Apple Podcasts. Keep the conversation going on social media. It’s @CNFPod across Twitter, IG, and FB.
Gotta get that monthly newsletter! Here’s a link to the archive. It only goes back to March 2019, but you’ll get the drift.
Stepping up to the plate this week is Melissa Faliveno (@melissafaliveno), author of Tomboyland, a collection of essays published by Topple Books.
It’s a love letter to her midwest roots and the topics are so wide ranging, yet have this connective tissue that once you’re in the thick of reading it you like “How the fuck did she do this?”
Seriously.
In this episode we talk about how she finds the groove, her workspace, the books she keeps on her desk, softball, BDSM, and F5 tornados.
Keep the conversation going on social media @CNFPod across them all. If you feeling kind, link up to the show and consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. A complimentary editing consult awaits you: Just screenshot your review, email it to the show, and I’ll reach back out.
You’ll also want to subscribe to my monthly newsletter that goes on the first of the month. Book recommendations, cool articles, podcasts, and what you might have missed from the world of this podcast. First of the month. No spam. Can’t beat it.
Melissa’s work has appeared in Bitch magazine, the Millions, Prairie Schooner, Isthmus, DIAGRAM, Midwestern Gothic, and Green Mountains Review. She’s a Best American Essays notable writer as well.
Please enjoy this conversation, friend.
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.
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Get after it, CNFers!
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.