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Episode 313: ‘A Crime Beyond Belief” for The Atavist with Katia Savchuk

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Katia Savchuk speaks fluent Russian. She went to Harvard. She went to the Columbia School of Journalism. She’s written for The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Forbes and … The Atavist!

And that’s what brings Katia (@katiasav) to the podcast this week as we talk about her piece “A Crime Beyond Belief.” It’s an incredible feat of reporting, writing, structure, tension, all the things.

We talk about her Talk of the Town in a recent issue of The New Yorker, “Vlog of War.” We talk about how her viral tweet got her grandmother and father out of Kyiv.

My 94 yo grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, is trapped in her Kyiv apartment with my father. She can’t really walk, and he can’t drive due to a disability. If anyone knows of any resources that can help with evacuation, please let me know.
— Katia Savchuk (@katiasav) March 5, 2022

A rare instance of social media doing some good in this world.

Anyway …

We also talk about tape recorders, empathy, organization, it’s a great chat.

The show’s 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 rage-against-the-algorithm, Up-to-11 Newsletter. Here’s the latest. 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.

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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.

Episode 309: Kelly Loudenberg

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By Brendan O’Meara

The Atavist has dropped yet another blockbuster, “The Caregivers,” this by the filmmaker and journalist Kelly Loudenberg.

It’s a great piece that is tender and well-handled by Kelly.

We start this episode by speaking with Seyward Darby, editor-in-chief at the Atavist, about restraint and how writers have more in common with drummers than lead singers.

When Kelly takes the stage, we talk about how doc film influenced her journalism, how giving birth to a premature baby gave her an extra level of connection with the caretakers at the heart of this story, and how she goes about building scenes.

Consider subscribing to the Atavist so you get full access to the incredible work they’re doing month to month, year to year.

The show’s 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. Here’s the latest. 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.

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.

Episode 304: Bill Donahue

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By Brendan O’Meara

It’s that Atavistian time of the of month and I get to welcome the journalist Bill Donahue to the podcast to talk about his new piece “The Voyagers.”

Naturally, it’s an incredible piece that is a voyage across the Bering Strait, but, as Bill notes, a voyage across the Cold War.

I also speak with Jonah Ogles, the lead editor of this piece, about what makes for great profile writing and how an editor can help a writer get to “that good place.”

Lot’s of great rawhide to gnaw on in this podcast.

Episode 294: ‘We Wish to be Able to Sing’, Mike Damiano Talks About His Atavist Story

Sponsor love: West Virginia Wesleyan College’s MFA in Creative Writing

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By Brendan O’Meara

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.

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.

Episode 289: The Atavist’s ‘Feast for Lost Souls’ with Annelise Jolley and Zahara Gomez

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By Brendan O’Meara

Annelise Jolley and Zahara Gomez teamed up to create “A Feast for Lost Souls” for this month’s piece for The Atavist Magazine.

What an incredible story about a group of women who hunt for the bodies of their “disappeared” loved ones, but find ways to honor them through cooking. The Memory Recipe Book is what Zahara helped develop, along with the widows and mothers, to pay tribute to their lost sons and husbands.

Zahara also created a few mini-documentaries as part of this story to go along with Annelise’s incredible reporting and writing of the piece.

Episode 285: Tony Perrottet and ‘The Butcher of Havana’

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By Brendan O’Meara

Tony Perrottet is a journalist, historian, and author of six books.

His latest piece is “The Butcher of Havana,” this for The Atavist Magazine.

We talk about the central figure, Herman Marks, an American who became the chief executioner for the Cuban revolutionaries. It’s an incredibly gripping read.

Episode 280: Laura Todd Carns and ‘Searching for Mr. X,’ an Atavist Original

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By Brendan O’Meara

Laura Todd Carns is here to talk about her latest feature for The Atavist Magazine. It’s called “Searching for Mr. X: For eight years, a man without a memory lived among strangers at a hospital in Mississippi. But was recovering his identity the happy ending he was looking for?”

Laura is a novelist, essayist, and journalist whose work has appeared in many places. You can find out more at her website.

She’s @LauraToddCarns on Twitter.

In this episode we talk about approaching a story as fiction vs. nonfiction, the challenge of the structure of the piece, collaborating with an editor and how it’s like a record producer and a musician, and more.

First I talk to Seyward Darby, as she was the lead editor of the piece. Enjoy!

Episode 275: Nile Cappello and Her Atavist Story ‘The Girl in the Picture’

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By Brendan O’Meara

Nile Capello (@liketheriver) is here to talk about her Atavist Magazine piece “The Girl in the Picture.” It’s a riveting piece of true crime taken on by two amateur sleuths.

First I speak with editor-in-chief Seyward Darby and then let Nile take it from there.

With Nile, we talk about the writing lessons she’s gleaned from bouldering, how she got into true crime as a kind of self-preservation, and how she determines what stories are “worthy.” We also dig into how she got her foot in the door to full time freelancing.

Please enjoy, and consider supporting the show in myriad ways, be that subscribing, leaving a kind review on Apple Podcasts, or even plunking down a few bucks at patreon.com/cnfpod.

Episode 270: How did Daniel Kolitz Pull Off His Atavist Story?

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By Brendan O’Meara

Daniel Kolitz wrote about Enthusiastic Sobriety for The Atavist Magazine, so we talk about how he went about reporting and writing the piece.

I also speak with lead editor Jonah Ogles about what made this story so special.

Episode 265: ‘No Place Like Home’ with Ariel Ramchandani and Seyward Darby

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By Brendan O’Meara

Ariel Ramchandani and Seyward Darby, in association with Cadence 13 and The Atavist Magazine, are producing “No Place Like Home,” an eight-part narrative podcast telling the story of the stolen ruby slippers, the ones worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz.

So we get into what the production of the podcast has been like, given that Seyward and Ariel are primarily print people, the origins of the project, getting good tape, and how producing a narrative podcast is very much like being in the kitchen.

Enjoy, CNFers.

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

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

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

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

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

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