By Brendan O’Meara
Steve Brusatte came on the show back in 2018 for his Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs. And he’s back! This time to talk about The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, From the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us.
Hey … that’s us!
Great conversation about how he pivoted from primarily dinosaurs to primarily mammals, climate change, and how dinosaurs and mammals got so damn big.
You can find Steve @SteveBrusatte on Twitter.
Continue reading “Episode 335: Steve Brusatte”
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By Brendan O’Meara
It’s always fun when scientists come on the show. We’ve had a volcanologist on in Jess Phoenix. We’ve had a guy who studies meteors in Greg Brennecka. We’ve had a paleontologies in Steve Brusatte (and he’s coming back). Now we have a physicist/writer in Katrina Miller!
Katrina (@__katrinarenee) is a brilliant writer whose essay tracks her journey as a physics PhD candidate, along with other pioneering Black women physicists. It’s a beautiful piece and it’ll be great to see what Katrina comes up with next. She’ll be wrapping up her dissertation soon, but she plans on pivoting to more science writing vs. academia.
Continue reading “Episode 334: Katrina Miller”
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By Brendan O’Meara
Cartooning is the best.
And Malaka Gharib (@malakagharib on IG) is one of my favorites. She’s funny, quirky, and wicked smaht.
She’s got a great newsletter (aren’t they ALL the rage these days?), A List of Beautiful Things.
In 2019, her first graphic memoir, I Was Their American Dream, was highly noted by all the notables. And her latest graphic memoir is It Won’t Always Be Like This (Ten Speed Press).
Continue reading “Episode 333: Malaka Gharib”
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By Brendan O’Meara
Seyward Darby is here to talk about her investigative piece about the alleged sexual misconduct at a progressive public school in Los Angeles. It’s the first piece she’s ever written for the magazine she edits, something she was cognizant of when reporting and writing this piece. As a result, she was that much harder on herself. The title of the piece is “Fault Lines,” and you most certainly need to check it out.
We talk about how she handled reporting on and interviewing the Jane Does at the center of this case and how she was able to make the story “Atavisty.” Consider subscribing to the Atavist Magazine** so you get access to stories past and present.
Continue reading “Episode 331: Seyward Darby”Become a Patron!View on Zencastr
By Brendan O’Meara
Ever have one of those friends who bails you out of jail? Me neither, but Kim H. Cross came pretty damn close because at the last minute she was willing to fire up the mics and head on down to CNF Pod’s digital HQ for her second time back to the show.
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Kim is the author of What Stands in a Storm and The Stahl House. Her work has been anthologized by Best American Sports Writing (RIP) and Year’s Best Sports Writer (the phoenix!). Something about Kim: few people are more passionate about telling true stories than she is.
In this episode we talk about:
Continue reading “Episode 330: Kim H. Cross”
By Brendan O’Meara
What a treat! Alexandra Lytton Regalado (@alexlregalado) stopped by CNF Pod HQ to talk about her award-winning poetry collection (forthcoming, pre-order now!) Relinquenda (Beacon Press). It was a National Poetry Series winner and with good reason.
Alexandra pushes the form and almost no two poems are alike as she delves into her relationships with father, husband, and men. If her first collection, Matria, dealt with women, this collection deals with men.
Her work has appeared in many places, like our good pals Creative Nonfiction.
It’s a wonderful read, and in this podcast we talk about death and dying, finding flow, style and voice, how to translate, and a whole lot more.
Continue reading “Episode 329: Alexandra Lytton Regalado”
By Brendan O’Meara
This year has been a tough year to book guests. Thankfully some, like Ruby McConnell and Donna Talarico swoop in at the last moment and bail me out.
Sometimes, as was the case earlier this month when I was dealing a family emergency, I couldn’t face the mic and we missed our first week in YEARS.
I’m not a fan of “reruns,” especially when all the episodes are in the feed, but the feed is long and overwhelming. This week, to celebrate HippoCamp22, I figured why not re-surface my HippoCamp21 talk (which garnered such feedback as, “would not see him speak again.” Can’t win ’em all.).
Continue reading “Episode 328 [RERUN]: My #HippoCamp21 Talk — In Their Words: Lessons Learned from the Best of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast”
By Brendan O’Meara
Are you a New Jersey hater? We’ve heard all the jokes, but if you want to know what Jersey is REALLY about, you need to check out Kerri Sullivan‘s (@ksulphoto) New Jersey Fan Club: Artists and Writers Celebrate the Garden State (Rutgers University Press).
It features essays by Jen A. Miller, Scott Neumyer, and Chris Gethard. There are comics, photos, interviews, it’s pretty damn great.
Continue reading “Episode 325: Kerri Sullivan”
By Brendan O’Meara
Chris Solomon is here!
He is a contributing editor to Outside Magazine, and his latest piece “I’ll take the high road” is what prompted me to reach out to him. We also talk about his GQ essay about his mother and father.
He’s @chrisasolomon on Twitter and you can find more about him and his work at chrissolomon.net.
Had a nice time around the CNFin’ campfire talking shop, freelancing, reporting on personal stories, and finding ways to make the “I” implicit vs. IN YOUR FACE.
Continue reading “Episode 324: Chris Solomon”By Brendan O’Meara
Leigh Baldwin and Sean Williams are here to talk about “Follow the Leader,” their latest piece for The Atavist.
Here’s the teaser for it:
“In the waning days of the Iron Curtain, Rainier Sonntag helped fuel the neo-Nazi movement that still plagues Germany today. He was also a Communist spy—and he was working for Vladimir Putin.”
Go ahead, TRY and not read it.
Continue reading “Episode 323: Leigh Baldwin and Sean Williams”