By Brendan O’Meara
Brin-Jonathan Butler is a frequent guest of the podcast, and he returned to talk about Flacco the Owl, among other things.
Brin is the kinda guy I can just listen to for ours. He’s operating on another level, certainly a level far above my Windows 95 operating system.
Brin is the author of a few books, namely The Grandmaster and The Domino Diaries.
Continue reading “Episode 428: Brin-Jonathan Butler Remembers Flacco the Owl”Brin-Jonathan Butler returns to talk about his new piece “Giving Up the Ghost.” It ran on Hazlitt.net.
It’s one of the greatest things I’ve ever read. It’s 23,000 words. I read it twice. I still can’t stop thinking about it.
Continue reading “Episode 271: Brin-Jonathan Butler, ‘The Passenger,’ and ‘Giving Up the Ghost’”
By Brendan O’Meara
Good ol’ Brin-Jonathan Butler returns to the show. In years’ past, he’s come on to talk about all kinds of stuff. Cuba. Access as a drug. Chess. And the blessing of struggle.
He’s a kindred spirit and person who best articulates what I’m thinking, only I’m incapable of articulating it the way he can.
Brin’s also my favorite writer going. He throws a “heavy ball,” as we say in baseball circles. The ball sounds differently coming off his bat.
He’s the author of The Grandmaster and The Domino Diaries and he’s the host of the new podcast Tourist Information.
Be sure to subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your pods and to subscribe to my monthly newsletter. Social media is @CNFPod, though, as many of you know, I’ve scaled back quite a bit on this.
As always, thanks for listening.
By Brendan O’Meara
Brin-Jonathan Butler has the world record for appearances on The Creative Nonfiction Podcast at four times. In honor of that, here’s a riff in 4/4 time.
You an check out his past few trips when he talked about what his ego is tied to, all things Cuba, and the blessings of struggle.
His new book The Grandmaster: Magnus Carlsen and the Match that Made Chess Great Again is a masterpiece.
Continue reading “Episode 125—Brin-Jonathan Butler Talks “The Grandmaster,” Obsession, Madness, and the Power of Being an Outsider”
Tweetables from Brin-Jonathan Butler (@brinicio):
“It was completely surreal, like being in the games room of the Titanic after it struck the iceberg. Nobody gave a shit.”
“Obsession has always fascinated me, whether it’s more a dance with your virtues or your demons.”
“Maybe you have to con your ways into finishing a lot of things in life.”
“My worst ideas happen when I’m sitting at the computer. I need to go for a walk, have a cigarette, or play with my cat.”
Hey, hey, it’s The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak with the world’s best artists—leaders in narrative journalism, essay, memoir, radio, and documentary film—and tease our their stories, tips, and tricks and how you can apply those tools to your own work. I’m your host @BrendanOMeara, Brendan O’Meara in real life. Continue reading “Episode 66—Brin-Jonathan Butler on the Risk of Chess, Obsession with Obsessives, and the Blessing of Struggle”
“You don’t know when you’ve kicked up the hornets’ nest until they’re all on you.” Brin-Jonathan Butler.
“The decision itself was the villain.” Brin-Jonathan Butler
Written by Brendan O’Meara
Brin-Jonathan Butler returns this time to talk about his wonderful memoir The Domino Diaries: My Decade Boxing with Olympic Champions and Chasing Hemingway’s Ghost in the Final Days of Castro’s Cuba.
In this latest episode, we really drill down on his book and his time in Cuba. It “closed a door on a decade,” as Brin says.
The experience was, in some ways, a gamble. But the reasoning was simple because it allows him to lead a life worth writing about, as he says.
So I hope you enjoy this episode. Also, be sure to listen to our Round 1.
I ask that you subscribe to the podcast (working on getting it in the Android store. For now it’s on iTunes), subscribe to my monthly newsletter, and to share the podcast with folks you think may enjoy it.
Written by Brendan O’Meara
“Surprise is one of the biggest weapons you have as a journalist to affect people emotionally.” — Brin-Jonathan Butler
“The juice for me with journalism is not money or recognition. My ego is tied into access.” — Brin-Jonathan Butler
Butler is one of the smartest people I’ve ever spoken with. There’s a level of thinking and depth you don’t often hear from someone who’s in their mid-30s. You expect it from, say, George Saunders, but listening to Butler speak was a treasure for me and I hope so for you.
Like Holland, Glenn Stout, and Charles Bethea, Butler never studied journalism, yet he’s one of the best at his craft. I sense a theme that some of the best at this craft aren’t journalists by trade, but people who have a keen sense for language, are widely read, and think long and hard about the work. They aim for impact, not a sound bite.
You should also listen to him on the Longform Podcast from back in 2014. Pairing that interview with mine will give you tremendous insight into Butler’s mind.
Here’s a bunch of links to Butler’s work:
Buffalo and Wide Right, Broken Hearts and No Illusions
Myths Made Flesh: Last Breaths in a Spanish Bullring
The Poison Oasis
The Kindle Singles Interview with Mike Tyson
Errol Morris: The Kindle Singles Interview
The Domino Diaries
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