July 2022 – Home of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast

Episode 326: Jana Meisenholder

By Brendan O’Meara

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.

Jana’s work has appeared in Rolling Stone, the Wall Street Journal, and, now The Atavist.

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.

Episode 325: Kerri Sullivan

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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.

Episode 324: Chris Solomon

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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.

Episode 323: Leigh Baldwin and Sean Williams

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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.