Episode 239: Alexandra DiPalma Leads the Podcast Workshop

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By Brendan O’Meara

So excited to have the one and only Alexandra DiPalma back on the show to talk all things podcasting.

She leads the Podcast Workshop, a part of Akimbo Workshops, and in it you’ll learn what it means to find your voice and develop skills that will translate to other areas of your life and career.

If you follow this link ===> THIS ONE <=== you’ll get pretty slick discount. I’m not sure when it expires, but check it out.

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Episode 238: Ashkan Soltani Stone and Natale Zappia Rock Out with ‘Rez Metal’

Ashkan Soltani Stone
Natale Zappia
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By Brendan O’Meara

Ashkan Soltani Stone and Natale Zappia (@natzappia) wrote a killer little book based on a killer documentary called Rez Metal: Inside the Navajo Nation Heavy Metal Scene (University of Nebraska Press).

I mean, you know I was into this, right, CNFers?

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Episode 237: A Fiction/Non/Fiction Festival with V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell

V.V. Ganeshananthan
Whitney Terrell
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By Brendan O’Meara (@CNFPod)

V.V. Ganeshananthan is the author of Love Marriage, an essayist, and a journalist. She also teaches at the MFA program at the University of Minnesota. She’s on Instagram and Twitter.

Whitney Terrell is the author of The Good Lieutenant. He also is a journalist who covered the Iraq War. He teaches at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He’s on Instagram and Twitter.

They co-host the Fiction/Non/Fiction Podcast as part of the Lithub network of podcasts. It’s on Instagram and Twitter.

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Episode 236: Michael Leviton on Quantity Over Quality, Play, and His New Book ‘To Be Honest’

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By Brendan O’Meara

“Writing a book could be very tedious, but I’m writing to make myself laugh or cry. If I’m not crying or laughing, I’m so bored. When I’m telling a story, I’m laughing or crying. Most of the time, that’s what I’m doing it for. If I’m not thrilled by something, I can’t do it. It becomes tedious and I quit,” says Michael Leviton, author of the memoir To Be Honest (Abrams Press).

He is @michaelleviton on Instagram. A great follow.

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Call for submissions! SUMMER: CLOSED!

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Dear CNFers,

Issue 2 of the CNF Pod audio magazine is coming down the pipe. The theme is summer.

I want your best essays about summer. Summer jobs. Summer flings. Summer breeze. Summer, summer, summer time!

We come of age in summer and I want your best essays of what those precious summer months mean to you.

Word limit: Up to 2,000 words. This is about a 15-minute read. Only submit written pieces.

Deadline: March 21, 2021.

Submit to creativenonfictionpodcast at gmail dot com with SUMMER in the subject line.

Issue 2 will be exclusive to Patreon members, so for as little as $4 a month you’ll get access to the the magazine, as well as some other goodies.

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Episode 235: Athletic Brewing’s Mason Gravely says ‘Make It Easy to Say Yes’

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By Brendan O’Meara

During my conversation with Mason Gravely (@alive_adventures on IG), I asked him what a good interviewer is like. I admire him as an interview so much, I had to know.

He said, “You know, it’s someone who listens. Someone who really is present. You can really tell when an interviewer is distracted, or they’re just kind of going off. They’re calling it in.”

Mason does incredible work for Athletic Brewing, the nations best and only (?) brewery only brewing non-alcoholic beer. Amazing stuff.

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Episode 234: Lamorna Ash Goes Out to Sea in ‘Dark, Salt, Clear’

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By Brendan O’Meara

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.

Brendan’s Monthly Newsletter: First of the month! No spam! Can’t beat it!

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Episode 233: Lee Gutkind on Magical Moments, the Rope Test, and ‘My Last Eight Thousand Days’

Lee Gutkind, Brendan O'Meara
Lee Gutkind
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By Brendan O’Meara

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:

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Episode 232: Change is the Only Constant with Glenn Stout

Glenn Stout is the author of several books and the series editor for Best American Sports Writing.
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By Brendan O’Meara

For the 30th and final edition of what we have come to know as The Best American Sports Writing series (Best American Paper, or Houghton Mifflin. Harcourt, (Amazon says Best American Paper, HMH’s website says it’s theirs. I don’t know anymore.), 2020), CNFPod bestie Glenn Stout returns to the show to talk about BASW and the evolution of journalism, or the evolution of the medium.

He also has a new book coming out in March: Tiger Girl and the Candy Kid: America’s Original Gangster Couple. It is available for pre-order.

If you want your fix of Stout, he’s been on the show here, here, and here. All worth listening to. There’s nobody better at distilling what this mess is all about.

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Episode 231: Pete Croatto on Listening, Showing His Work, ‘From Hang Time to Prime Time,’ and Adding that Ding

Pete Croatto reading the paper.
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By Brendan O’Meara

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Pete Croatto (@petecroatto on Twitter) is here to talk about freelancing, writing, and his new book From Hang Time to Prime Time: Business, Entertainment, and the Birth of the Modern-Day NBA (Atria Books, 2020).

Where’s the juice? Where’s the juice in the enterprise?

The juice is in coming up with an idea and convincing an editor that the idea is worth pursuing, convincing a person, selling a person on that idea. When I get an idea for a story, it’s almost a giddy feeling. It’s a feeling that that you have a secret that no one else knows about, so you want to just tell as many people as you can about that. It’s like gossip, it’s a big piece of juicy gossip, and you want to share it and get it in the right hand.

Pete Croatto from Episode 231 of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast
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