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Episode 436: Mira Ptacin and the Story of How One Town Drove Out a Nazi

By Brendan O’Meara

It’s that Atavistian time of the month and Mira Ptacin (@miramptacin) is here! She is a writer, journalist, teacher, and did you see that sweater in her pic? Her story for The Atavist Magazine, “The Crash of the Hammer,” details how one town in rural Maine ran a new-Nazi (Christopher Polhaus, aka Hammer) out of town.

The crux of the piece is this notion of the paradox of tolerance. When you become tolerant of intolerant people (because tolerance) you invite the conditions for greater intolerance. Tolerating intolerance ultimately squashes out tolerance. Hence the paradox.

Episode 393: Katya Cengel and Finding Enough ‘There’ There for The Atavist

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By Brendan O’Meara

Katya Cengel (@kcengel) is a journalist and author, and she’s the journalist behind “The Truth is Out There” for The Atavist Magazine. A father’s disappearance, dark family secrets, and the hunt for Bigfoot.

It’s a touching story on “searching for elusive truths,” that weaves together cryptozoology and a family in search of their father.

So in this episode we unpack who Katya dug up this story, earning trust, and getting comfortable with untidy endings.

We also speak with editor Jonah Ogles about getting pitches over the hump and the value in pitching again and again.

Lots of great stuff for you to chew on.

Episode 284: Kim H. Cross on Scenes, Structure, and The Stahl House

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By Brendan O’Meara

Kim H. Cross is a freelance journalist, author, teacher, and mountain bike coach. Her latest book is The Stahl House: Case Study House #22: The Making of a Modernist Icon (Chronicle Chroma).

It’s the biography of a house and, in Kim’s words, the story of a blue-collar couple with white-collar dreams.

Kim also is the author of the best-selling What Stands in a Storm, and her work has appeared in The Year’s Best Sports Writing 2021, and myriad other places. Her piece for Bicycle Magazine about Leon + Noel (notice the palindrome, that’s significant. For analysis by Eva Holland of go here and for analysis of her 900-story for the New York Times by Chip Scanlan (a dream come true), go here.)

[SIDEBAR: In the introduction to the podcast I said that Chip analyzed her Bicycle Magazine piece. My bad.]

Episode 157: Eric Ducker—’I Want This Weirder’

Want the transcript of Eric’s episode? PayPal $5 to brendan at brendanomeara dot com and I’ll send you the pdf!

“I want to hear more of you in this. I want this weirder. Let loose.” —Eric Ducker (@ericducker)

By Brendan O’Meara

Hey, CNFers! So Eric Ducker is here. He’s a freelance editor and writer. When he wrote this great piece on Jenny Odell, I reached out to him.

We talk about how important music is to him and the shape of his weeks when he’s pitching vs. when he’s writing. Be sure to check out his work at his Contently site.

Subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts. Consider leaving a kind review on Apple Podcasts. If you do, I’ll coach up a piece of your writing up to 2,000 words. Leave a review, wait for it to publish, take a screenshot, send it to me, then I’ll reach back out!

Keep the conversation going on Twitter @CNFPod and Instagram @cnfpod. Facebook is @CNFPodcast. What fun!

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