For a couple weeks, visit combeyond.bu.edu, use the promo code NARRATIVE25 at checkout and get 25% your tuition for the two-day Power of Narrative Conference. And, no, I don’t get any dough.
Jessica Camille Aguirre (@jessicacaquirre) is a freelance journalist based out of Berlin, Germany, and she’s got a ripping piece for this month’s Atavist, “Watch It Burn.” Two scammers, a web of betrayal, and Europe’s fraud of the century.
It deals with carbon credits and the scammers were quick to pounce on this upstart industry.
For Episode 400, we wanted to go big, presidential-inaugural-poet big. Richard Blanco, @poetrichardblanco on IG, author of the collection Homeland of My Body (Beacon Press), graced out airwaves for a milestone episode.
Great talk about the messiness of writing a book, showing early drafts to students to let them see what a bloody mess the process is, and Richard reads two poems from HOMB.
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, 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. 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.
She’s an incredible writer and reporter. She’s a senior staff writer for The Ringer. On top of that, she’s generous and insightful, and she brought all of that and more to this episode of the podcast.
We talk about failure and persistence and writing and ledes. This is a dream conversation if you’re into the nuts and bolts of writing and reporting long features and books.
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, 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. 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.
William Ralston is a freelancer journalist and he comes on the show to talk about “Mayday,” his long feature about a harrowing rescue of four children after a deadly plane crash for The Atavist.
Right from the start, William grabs the reader and doesn’t let you go, man. Maybe you’ll consider subscribing to The Atavist Magazine. I don’t get any kickbacks, so I do it out of the goodness of Grinch-sized heart (before he serves up the roast beast).
William’s work has appeared all over the place. He’s a dogged reporter, so we get into that quite a bit.
This conversation gets into trust, as well as learning how to write before you’re ready. Jonah Ogles also stops by to give some of those valuable insights into the editor side of the table.
And you know I’d rather you sign up for my rage-against-the-algorithm. 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.
This originally aired on September 27, 2019 as Episode 170.
“Essays took on this energy for me in part because they’re unofficial and in part because they brought me in contact with the world that felt really generative.” — Leslie Jamison (@lsjamison on Twitter)
New “now in paperback,” this with Leslie Jamison. Turns out she has a new memoir out called Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story, and, yes, we’ll hustle to have her back on the show for it.
In this episode we riff on how she had to let language to the work for her and not let the language be this shiny veneer without substance, the bounded infinity of nonfiction, and much, much more.
I understand how tiresome it is when someone talks, talks, talks about social media use, the struggle of it, the do-we-really-need-it questions.
Over the years, you know my tendency is to rage against the algorithm. It’s my passion. I’ve deleted apps from my phone. Put them back on. Deleted certain accounts. You know the cycle; it’s the cycle of an addict.
A few weeks ago, I experienced a revelation regarding social media: It drains me. It makes me sluggish. I saps my motivation. It was a physical reaction.
Emily Sohn (@tidepoolsink) is a freelance journalist based out of Minnesota. For Long Lead, she wrote “The Catch,” an in-depth feature about Virginia Kraft, a trailblazing and complicated woman who was one of the first female writers at Sports Illustrated.
It’s a gripping piece that delves into the ruthlessly ambitious life of Kraft, while weaving in present-day introspection from Emily.
We talk about how she arrived at the story, how she got her head around the research, and the dark night of the soul that always accompanies long work.
Emily’s work has appeared in Long Lead, National Geographic, the Washington Post, Outside, and the New York Times, among others.
What a great interview to re-up. Tremendous insights into the craft of biography and the perfect way to lobby subjects about what it’s important for a credible journalist to tell their stories: Everybody gets forgotten. They might not thinks so, but it’s true. And Howard made that case to Rickey Henderson for Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original.
Leah Sottile is back, and this time she’s got a new paperback edition of When the Moon Turns to Blood to riff about. She even added a bonus chapter, which finally puts the bed the saga of Lori Vallow, the Doomsday Queen.
Leah also is the voice behind Bundyville and Burn Wild. Dude knows how to write an ending, that’s all I’ll say.
And ok but sure she also has a great newsletter, but you should subscribe to it and don’t unsubscribe. I know the pain of the unsubscribe all too well.
And you know I’d rather you sign up for my rage-against-the-algorithm. 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.
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