Heavy one, CNFers, heavy one, this for the Atavist. Rhana Natour and Eman Mohammed profile Layan Albaz, a Palestinian teenager who lost her legs in an Israeli airstrike. This is the journey of a young girl who came to the U.S. to be fitted for prosthetics, but as Rhana writes, it’s like learning two musical instruments at the same time.
Not only that, Layan’s story is one of THOUSANDS of children who have lost limbs during these horrific bombings. Rhana and Eman speak about this far better than I can describe, so let’s give you some info on them.
After a horrific accident, doctors told Todd Barcelona that he’d likely never run again. So he and his wife decided to run farther than they ever had before.
Maggie used to be a trial attorney, and she made the pivot to freelance writing during the height of the pandemic, so we dig into how she made that change and what skills transferred over.
In this episode we dig into how she reported this piece and how her central figures sought retribution for the damages inflicted upon them, often without their consent.
We also hear from Seyward Darby, editor-in-chief for The Atavist, about her goals for the upcoming year for herself and the magazine, as well as what she’s looking for in pitches.
And you know I’d rather you sign up for my Up-to-11 Newsletter. Signup form is below you and to your right. Book recs, book raffles, cool stuff curated by me for you, CNFin’ happy hour or writing group, writing prompts, fun and entertaining. First of the month. No spam. Can’t beat it.
Consider supporting the show via Patreon patreon.com/cnfpod. Shop around if you want to support the community. You make that possible. The show is free but it ain’t cheap.
Free ways to support the show?
Subscribe and download and share across your socials. And don’t forget to consider leaving a kind review on Apple Podcasts. Those go a LONG way.
Anna Altman (@bananaaltman) is a freelance journalist and a social worker in training, and she just wrote and reported her second feature for The Atavist Magazine called “The Quality of Mercy.” It deals with compassionate release for the terminally ill and the one man at the center of it advocating for his fellow inmates.
In this episode we dig into how she arrived at this story and the unique challenges of reporting this piece in the ten-minute chunks Anna had with her central figure, Gary Settle, as they spoke through the prison phone system.
This is one’s a gut punch. And, as Seyward Darby, editor-in-chief of The Atavist, says in this interview, she pushes against the gimmicky. This piece delivers a brutal punch, takes us on a journey around an abusive marriage, conspiracy theories, anti-vaxxers, Tony Robbins-esque self-help, and more.
How Eric kept it all together is a testament to his skill as a reporter and a writer.
It’s that Atavistian time of the month! This time we speak with Madeline Bodin, a freelance journalist based out of Vermont.
Her piece “The Curious Case of Nebraska Man” is the story of a fossilized tooth that spurs the debate over evolution and creationism and, as often happens in this country, pins science into a corner where it must be defended again, again, and again.
In this pod, I also speak with editor-in-chief Seyward Darby. Sidebar: She has a new piece in The Guardian about abused beagles. Is there nothing she can’t do? Maybe play drums …
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.
Jana Meisenholder is a freelance journalist based out of Los Angeles and she’s got a new piece out for The Atavist Magazine. It’s an incredible tale of drive and obsession.
This episode was my COVID episode (still sparring with it, though I think the worst is behind me). Sometimes when I do these interviews you see threads dangling in the conversation and you have to make a choice which thread to pull. If I wasn’t so sick, I would’ve pulled on a couple, but I couldn’t. I simply … could … not. THAT SAID, this episode still came out great.
Jana’s piece follows Andres Beckett, a Mexican-American man hellbent on finding mentorship to lead him over the edge of the Suicide Race. It’s a trip, man.
We start off by talking to editor-in-chief Seyward Darby before we get into the skeleton, the meat, and the bones with Jana.
It blends memoir and journalism into a gripping tale of grifters and when secrets become an inheritance.
We talk about about her story, her love being edited, and being a “sentence thief.”
We also hear from lead editor and editor-in-chief Seyward Darby about the experience of editing this piece, as well as other themes that cropped regarding Christine’s piece.
Mike Damiano brings 2021 to a close with his piece for the Atavist Magazine about an unlikely revolutionary who helped the people of Easter Island earn rights they deserved from an oppressive Chilean naval regime. It’s the story of Alfonso Rapu a school teacher turned revolutionary via nonviolence. It’s called “We Wish to Be Able to Sing.”
Mike is a staff writer for Boston Magazine, but like many people writing stories for the Atavist, he’d been working on this Easter Island story for years. Atavist becomes like this benevolent foster home for stories that are too long for traditional magazines and too short to be books. And Seyward and Jonah say, come here little story, we’re gonna make you a STAR!
The show has a new Instagram handle, @creativenonfictionpodcast, and you can always keep the conversation going on Twitter @CNFPod.
And you know I’d rather you sign up for my Up-to-11 Newsletter. Signup form is below you and to your right. Book recs, book raffles, cool stuff curated by me for you, CNFin’ happy hour or writing group, writing prompts, fun and entertaining. First of the month. No spam. Can’t beat it.
Consider supporting the show via Patreon patreon.com/cnfpod. Shop around if you want to support the community. I just paid out the writers from the last audio magazine. You make that possible. The show is free but it ain’t cheap.
Free ways to support the show?
Subscribe and download and share across your socials. And don’t forget to consider leaving a kind review on Apple Podcasts. Those go a LONG way.
