The Creative Nonfiction Podcast with Brendan O'Meara

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Brendan O'Meara is an author and journalist. The Creative Nonfiction Podcast is a weekly podcast that showcases leaders in narrative journalism, essay, memoir, documentary film, and radio. Brendan teases out the origins, habits, routines, and tactics these masters—Pulitzer Prize winners, New York Times bestsellers—use so that listeners can apply those tools to their own work.

Brendan O'Meara


    • May 30, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • weekdays NEW EPISODES
    • 1h 1m AVG DURATION
    • 491 EPISODES

    4.9 from 138 ratings Listeners of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast with Brendan O'Meara that love the show mention: brendan asks, o'meara, thanks brendan, brendan and his guests, nonfiction, brendan's, memoir, writer's, writing process, essays, free flowing, non fiction, isolated, writers, bottom line, delightfully, processes, creatives, craft, asks great questions.


    Ivy Insights

    The Creative Nonfiction Podcast with Brendan O'Meara is an engaging and entertaining podcast that delves into the world of creative nonfiction writing. As a nonfiction writer myself, I find this podcast to be a valuable resource for discovering new essayists to read and gaining inspiration and insight for my own work. It can be a solitary pursuit at times, so listening to Brendan "talk shop" with writers who tell true stories and hearing about their particular writing processes helps get the juices flowing on my own projects.

    One of the best aspects of this podcast is the informative and interesting content it provides for those who write creative nonfiction. Each episode features in-depth interviews with a wide range of writers, from well-known authors like Mary Karr and Tim O'Brien to lesser-known names. Brendan asks great questions that delve deep into each guest's approach to writing, providing invaluable insight into the writing process. Whether it's discussing overcoming challenges, establishing a writing routine, or navigating the perils of social media as a writer, there's always something to take away from these conversations.

    While there aren't many downsides to this podcast, one potential drawback is that after listening to almost every episode, my to-read list has exploded. The guests discuss so many fascinating books and essays that I want to devour them all, leading to an ever-growing pile of reading material. However, this is more of a personal issue than a fault of the podcast itself.

    In conclusion, The Creative Nonfiction Podcast is a must-listen for anyone interested in creative nonfiction writing. Brendan O'Meara does an excellent job of creating an engaging and insightful atmosphere in each episode. His soothing voice adds to the overall experience, making it feel like a personal conversation between friends. Whether you're looking for advice on improving your writing or simply want some inspiration from successful writers in your genre, this podcast has something for everyone.



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    Latest episodes from The Creative Nonfiction Podcast with Brendan O'Meara

    Episode 470: Megan Baxter is Into Rewilding Her Writing

    Play Episode Listen Later May 30, 2025 63:47


    "I've also learned in this rewilding experiment that so much of our time as writers takes place off the page, as we're thinking about our concepts, as we're doing research, and when I actually do come to the page and have a chance to actually type out these ideas, I've done so much pre-writing over the course of the previous season that that draft comes really easily to me," says Megan Baxter, author of three books of nonfiction, including Farm Girl: A Memoir (Green Writers Press).Megan has got it figured out, man. She has won numerous national awards, including a Pushcart Prize. Her essay collection Twenty Square Feet of Skin was longlisted for the 2024 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. Megan got on my radar when I was doing Prefontaine research and I was thumbing through my stack of True Stories, that chapbook Creative Nonfiction used to put out. I saw this essay titled “On Running” and I was like well shoot, I need to study this. Then I reached out to her and she sent me her essay collections and her memoir Farm Girl, so we dig into that.Megan's work has appeared in The Threepenny Review, Hotel Amerika, River Teeth, and others. She lives in New Hampshire where she runs her own small farm and teaches creative writing through online courses and lessons. You can learn more about her at meganbaxterwriting.com and follow her on Instagram megan-baxter We talk about: Rewilding her writing Rabbit holes Actually living the ream Hyperattention The real housewives edit And how Pinterest helps with her writingOrder The Front RunnerNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.com

    Episode 469: John O'Connor on the Meaning of Bigfoot

    Play Episode Listen Later May 23, 2025 66:12


    "I don't feel envy. I don't think. Maybe in some deeper and maybe even more troubling psychological level. I do feel competition with with people, competition over resources, trying to claim certain ideas, stake a claim to certain ideas before other people can, especially when you're working with the subject that's in the public sphere. You don't have any personal, any real wider claim to something than somebody else. It can be nerve wracking," says John O'Connor, author of The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster (Source Books).John returns to talk about his first book, tackling the mythology of Bigfoot and the psyche of those who believe. He talks about writing with humor, making himself the butt of most jokes, and trafficking in a subculture that many — including John — are skeptical of.Find more about him at johnmoconnor.com and follow him on Instagram @centerforhighenergymetaphysics.Order The Front RunnerNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.com

    Episode 468: Local Journalism and the Folly of Fame with Maggie Messitt

    Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2025 80:28


    "I genuinely feel that those of us writing books need to remember that we are writing them simply because we feel the desperate need to write that particular thing. And unless I feel that way, I shouldn't be writing it because it's not for the financial benefit. It is not because it gives me more time to do things with other people. It doesn't matter how many books or lengthy features you write, it's all kind of a painful process. So you have to do it because you're really invested in the things that you are focused on," says Maggie Messitt, author of Newspaper and The Rainy Season.Maggie is a professor and a journalist and an author. She's was the founding national director for Report for America and currently is the Norman Eberly professor of practice in journalism. Find more about her at maggiemessitt.com and follow her on Instagram @maggiemessitt.Pre-order The Front RunnerNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.com

    Episode 467: How to Bounce Back from 'Viscerally Negative' Feedback with Will Bardenwerper

    Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2025 82:38


    Will Bardenwerper grew up playing baseball and even was a member of his college team at Princeton. As a result, he has a great perspective to write about baseball as he does in Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America (Doubleday).That soul, in this book, is partially under attack from private equity firms gobbling up and eradicating minor league baseball teams. It's just one of the many threads of Will's wonderful book.Podcast Specific Substack at creativenonfictionpodcast.substrack.com.Pre-order The Front RunnerNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.com

    Episode 466: Katie Goh on Issues of Identity and the Trappings of Mythology

    Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2025 73:24


    "Mythology can be really a dangerous thing, because mythology feels like it can't be changed, or it's always been something," says Katie Goh, author of Foreign Fruit: A Personal History of the Orange (Tin House Books).Katie Goh is a writer and editor based out of Edinburgh, Scotland. She's also the author of the slim book “The End: Surviving the World through Imagined Disasters” about disaster movies. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, Extra Teeth, and VICE. You can learn more about her at katiegoh.co.uk or follow her on IG @katie_goh. In this conversation we tackle: The love of being edited Having to selfish to be a writer Finding obsessions Issues of identity Style and voice And the trappings of mythologyPodcast Specific Substack at creativenonfictionpodcast.substrack.com.Pre-order The Front RunnerNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.com

    Episode 465: Miranda Green Searches for the Harm

    Play Episode Listen Later May 2, 2025 80:06


    "You want to be able to nab the details, but then you also want to be able to tell the story of why this matters and who's harmed by this, and finding the harm is oftentimes the hardest part of investigative reporting," Miranda Green, an investigative reporter.Her latest piece is for The Atavist Magazine titled "All That Glitters" about the seedy underbelly of diamond sales, crypto, and sports ticketing and the man at the center of it all.In this conversation, we talk about: How she earns trust How she navigates background The structure of the piece Finding the harm in an investigative story And her routine (or lack of one)Podcast Specific Substack at creativenonfictionpodcast.substrack.com.Pre-order The Front RunnerNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.com

    Episode 464: John Glionna is a Clown Who Makes Balloons That Kids Don't Like

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 25, 2025 58:09


    "We're sadistic motherf*ckers," says John Glionna, @johnglionna on the Instagrams.John is a longtime journalist and author of No Friday Night Lights (Bison Books). He made a name for himself at the Los Angeles Times pursuing what would be called "Glionna stories," stories about invisible people who have rich lives all their own. In this episode we talk about The Glionna Story How John didn't punch down in his writing Working with Glenn Stout on this book What he loves most about this kind of work And solving that thorny question of whether a story needs better writing or better reportingPodcast Specific Substack at creativenonfictionpodcast.substrack.com.Pre-order The Front RunnerNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.com

    Episode 463: Leah Sottile on Building Scenes, Sagging Middles, and the Fever Dream of the American New Age

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 18, 2025 63:19


    "It's kind of a mix of reporting to the very last minute to put off writing, and then when I have to write, having a panic attack, and then, like, booking a hotel room for a week and not leaving that room. This is the thing I have done until I figure it out," says Leah Sottile, in a live event at Gratitude Brewing.She is the author of Blazing Eye Sees All: Love Has Won, False Prophets, and the Fever Dream of the American New Age (Grand Central). She's also the author of When the Moon Turns to Blood, an Oregon Book Award Finalist.Leah is a freelance journalism whose work has appeared in The Atavist Magazine, the Washing Post, High Country News, and Outisde. She's the creator of the podcasts Hush, Burn Wild, and Bundyville. In this podcast we talk about: The work of John Vaillant (See Ep. 376( How writing this book made Leah crazy How New Ageism and Far Right Extremism overlap Sagging Middles And not re-victimizing sources And much more…Learn more about Leah at leahsottile.com and follower her on Instagram @leah.sottile.Podcast Specific Substack at creativenonfictionpodcast.substrack.com.Pre-order The Front RunnerNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.com

    Episode 462: On Podcasting and Gardens with Debbie Millman

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 11, 2025 57:27


    "I'm much more interested in how a person achieves something than in what they specifically achieved," says Debbie Millman, the "Pod Mother" and OG podcaster, twenty years in for Design Matters. She's also the author of the new book Love Letter to a Garden (Timber Press).In this episode, we talk about: The 20 year arc of Design Matters What people she's most drawn to How she views the narrative arc of an interview The research As well as the evergreen themes of her new book on her quest for a gardenYou can find Debbie at debbiemillman.com and on Instagram @debbiemillman.Podcast Specific Substack at creativenonfictionpodcast.substrack.com.Pre-order The Front RunnerNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.com

    Episode 461: For Nick Davidson, Stories Hunt the Storyteller

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 4, 2025 79:38


    Nick Davidson, @nickgdavidson on IG, says, "We usually think of hunting stories and looking for ideas, but I feel like it's the other way around: stories hunt the storyteller, and I'm just prey."Nick's latest piece is for The Atavist Magazine titled "The Balloon That Fell From the Sky." His work has appeared in Outside, VICE Sports, Garden & Gun, and a million other places of note. Podcast Specific Substack at creativenonfictionpodcast.substrack.com.Pre-order The Front RunnerNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.com

    Episode 460:Pulitzer Prize-Winning Biographer Megan Marshall Takes on Personal Essays in 'After Lives'

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 28, 2025 63:47


    Megan Marshall is the author of After Lives: On Biography and the Mysteries of the Human Heart (Mariner Books), a new collection of essays. Megan won the Pulitzer Prize in 2014 for Margaret Fuller: A New American Life.Podcast Specific Substack at creativenonfictionpodcast.substrack.com.Pre-order The Front RunnerPromotional Sponsor: The Power of Narrative Conference. Use CNF15 at checkout for a 15% discount.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.com

    Episode 459: Cassidy Randall Talks Forgotten Histories, Sticky Notes, and the Power of Listening

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 21, 2025 51:31


    “I could suddenly see — and this is how I know when I'm supposed to start writing — is that words start putting themselves together in my head, and I just have to get them out, right? Which doesn't happen all the time, but it did for this," says Cassidy Randall, author of Thirty Below: The Harrowing and Heroic Story of the First All Women's Ascent of Denali (Abrams Books).Cassidy's work has appeared in National Geographic, the New York Times, Outside Magazine, The Atavist, and many, many others.In this episode we talk about: The beginning and ending Sticky notes The post-book funk Interviewing And so much morePodcast Specific SubstackPre-order The Front RunnerPromotional Sponsor: The Power of Narrative Conference. Use CNF15 at checkout for a 15% discount.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 458: Jaydra Johnson Had to Get Weird

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 14, 2025 58:09


    "And then this person said, 'Hey, you know, this needs to be, like, more weird or less weird, but it's in this kind of odd place that isn't working.' And I was like, she's so, right," says Jaydra Johnson, @jaydranicole, and author of Low: Notes on Art & Trash (Fonograf).Lots of good stuff in this episode. We talk about: Luck Growing up poor Dialing up the weirdness And binge-buying books on eBayPodcast Specific SubstackPre-order The Front RunnerPromotional Sponsor: The Power of Narrative Conference. Use CNF15 at checkout for a 15% discount.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 457: Poynter's Neil Brown Says Editing Isn't Discussed Enough

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 14, 2025 60:53


    "What I was fortunate enough to get exposed to very early in my career, and I really believe is now the way to go, which is the nature of editing as thinking," says Poynter Institute president Neil Brown.Neil has spent more than forty years as a reporter and editor, and he just wrapped up his tenure on the Pulitzer Prize Board. He's one of the more nimble minds in journalism and a champion of the editor/writer dynamic.In this conversation, Neil riffs on Editing as thinking The late writing coach Don Murray How the front end is everything Respecting reader detection And Interviewing as a skill, among lots more great stuff.Podcast Specific SubstackPre-order The Front RunnerPromotional Sponsor: The Power of Narrative Conference. Use CNF15 at checkout for a 15% discount.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 456: Neko Case Wrote her Memoir in Bed

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 7, 2025 41:56


    Neko Case is best known for her career as a musical performing artist and as a founding member of The New Pornographers, but her debut memoir The Harder I Fight the More I Love You (Grand Central) is all the evidence we need to see that she's got the chops for narrative.Podcast Specific SubstackPre-order The Front RunnerPromotional Sponsor: The Power of Narrative Conference. Use CNF15 at checkout for a 15% discount.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 455: Will McGrath's Season on the Sidelines for The Believer

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 7, 2025 57:32


    Will McGrath often thinks he's a phony, a fake writer, a fake journalist. But he isn't. He's very much real, and his piece for The Believer, "American Boys," chronicles the season and the lives of a group of young basketball players. It harkens back to Darcy Frey's brilliant book The Last Shot.Podcast Specific Substack: https://substack.com/@creativenonfictionpodcastPre-order The Front RunnerPromotional Sponsor: The Power of Narrative Conference. Use CNF15 at checkout for a 15% discount.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 454: Allegra Rosenberg's Tale of Love on Ice for The Atavist

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 28, 2025 58:39


    Allegra Rosenberg became obsessed with polar exploration narratives during the pandemic. She soon came across the journals of Harry Pennell and learned of his love for Edward Atkinson. Set amongst the backdrop of the South Pole and the looming possibility of WWI, Allegra weaves a brilliant and tragic story.Pre-order The Front RunnerPromotional Sponsor: The Power of Narrative Conference. Use CNF15 at checkout for a 15% discount.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

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    Episode 453: Chandlor Henderson, Live at Gratitude Brewing, Says 'Focus on the Skill'

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 28, 2025 45:23


    Chandlor Henderson is the very definition of a multi-hypenate: a writer, editor, comic book writer, filmmaker, and podcaster.This conversation was recorded live at Gratitude Brewing as part of a quarterly series between the Oregon Writers Colony and The Creative Nonfiction Podcast. In this conversation we talk about his journey to Oregon from the East Coast, to focus on skills, and how graphic novels are a great vector for storytelling.Pre-order The Front RunnerPromotional Sponsor: The Power of Narrative Conference. Use CNF15 at checkout for a 15% discount.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 452: lamb of god's Randy Blythe's Search for Perspective in 'Just Beyond the Light'

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2025 57:35


    If Randy Blythe's first book, Dark Days, was about accountability, his second book, Just Beyond the Light, is about perspective.In essays ranging from the premature death of a young fan to surfing waves to revering his beloved grandmother, Randy talks about art and music and the messiness of being a creative person. Visit randyblythe.com to learn more and to see dates for his spoken-word tour in support of his latest book.Pre-order The Front RunnerSponsor: The Power of Narrative Conference. Use CNF15 at checkout for a 15% discount.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 451: When Beach Read Meets a System with Lindsay Jill Roth

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 14, 2025 59:08


    Lindsay Jill Roth was told by a tutor at a young age that she'd become a writer one day. At the time she laughed, but it came to be. Lindsay is the author of the novel What Pretty Girls Are Made Of and her latest is Romances & Practicalities: A Love Story (Maybe Yours) in 250 Questions.Lindsay talks about the writing of the book, structuring it, and how working in television and radio informed the storytelling mechanics of the book.Pre-order The Front RunnerSponsor: The Power of Narrative Conference. Use CNF15 at checkout for a 15% discount.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 450: Ahead of Super Bowl LIX, John Eisenberg Chronicles the Long Journey of the Black Quarterback

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 7, 2025 66:26


    John Eisenberg grew up surrounded by books. It was no surprise then that he wanted to write them one day. He has written eleven, his latest being Rocket Men: The Black Quarterbacks Who Revolutionized Pro Football.Pre-order The Front RunnerSponsor: The Power of Narrative Conference. Use CNF15 at checkout for a 15% discount.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 449: Drew Philp Wants to Make Spanakopita Out of Spinach News

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2025 74:12


    Drew Philp went to Ethiopia to report on the front lines of what was likely a genocide that largely went ignored. His story, "There Will Be No Mercy," is for The Atavist Magazine.Pre-order The Front RunnerSponsor: The Power of Narrative Conference. Use CNF15 at checkout for a 15% discount.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 448: Evan Ratliff Returns … Or Did He?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 24, 2025 63:24


    Evan Ratliff's work often overlaps with the tech industry whether he's disappearing himself as he did for Wired Magazine, or exploring the murky world of AI voice agents as he did with his blockbuster, smashing, DIY podcast Shell Game. Pre-order The Front RunnerSponsor: The Power of Narrative Conference. Use CNF15 at checkout for a 15% discount.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 447: Brooke Champagne Sits Back from the Suckitude

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 17, 2025 70:52


    Brooke Champagne (@champagne_brooke) is a writer in the thick of it: the grind of it, the messiness of it, the working-out-of-it. One minute with Brooke and you know you're in for rollicking fun conversation about the essay, about writing, and about Nola Face: A Latina's Life in the Big Easy (University of Georgia Press).Pre-order The Front RunnerSponsor: The Power of Narrative Conference. Use CNF15 at checkout for a 15% discount.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 446: Harrison Scott Key and the Plight of Memoir

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 10, 2025 70:52


    Harrison Scott Key knows how to write a funny book, and he did it again, this time with How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told (Avid Reader Press). Only this time, he found a way to find the funny as his marriage was under duress.Pre-order The Front RunnerSponsor: The Power of Narrative Conference. Use CNF15 at checkout for a 15% discount.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 445: For Andrew Dubbins, It's About the Love of the Story

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 3, 2025 57:18


    For Andrew Dubbins, stories of this nature are resource intensive, so he's always seeking the story engine, what drives the narrative forward. In this case, it's a cops-and-robbers story with sibling discord at the center.It's that Atavisitan time of the month and we have Andrew Dubbins, a journalist based out of L.A. who tells the tale about the After Dark Bandit: The Police couldn't' figure out how the perpetrator ripped off two banks at the same time. Until they discovered there wasn't just one robber but a pair of them: identical twin brothers.Pre-order The Front RunnerSponsor: The Power of Narrative Conference. Use CNF15 at checkout for a 15% discount.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    freelance journalism
    Episode 444: Stephanie Gorton Embraces the Messiness

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 27, 2024 63:17


    Stephanie Gorton once fretted over her not-neat process of writing books and soon came to embrace her messiness as a feature, not a bug, while she wrote The Icon & the Idealist: Margaret Sanger, Mary Ware Dennett, and the Rivalry That Brought Birth Control to America (Ecco). (Photo credit Sasha Israel)Pre-order The Front RunnerSponsor: The Power of Narrative Conference. Use CNF15 at checkout for a 15% discount.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 443: Jared Sullivan and the Subtle Art of the Cold Call

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2024 67:18


    Jared Sullivan got his start primarily editing and admired the kinds of writers and reporters who do both well, like a David Remnick. Valley So Low is Jared's new book, and it is along the lines of Jonathan Harr's A Civil Action and illustrates the toll that greed and negligence exert on the people exposed to toxins and the cost cases of this nature take on the legal team, both financial and physical.Jared's work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Garden & Gun, Men's Journal, and Field & Stream.Pre-order The Front RunnerSponsor: The Power of Narrative Conference. Use CNF15 at checkout for a 15% discount.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 442: Steven Hyden Revisits Springsteen's 'Born in the USA'

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 13, 2024 64:39


    Steven Hyden (@steven_hydenwriter) is a music critic for Uproxx, producer of Break Stuff, the podcast about Woodstock 99, story producer for the the documentary Yacht Rock, and the author of Twilight of the Gods, This Isn't Happening, Hard to Handle, and Long Road. His latest is There Was Nothing You Could Do: Bruce Springtseen's ‘Born in the USA' and the End of the Heartland (Hachette Books). For Steven, he keeps his critic brain and his fan brain fully intact. One needs the other.Gosh, we recorded this back in June, and I'm just about caught up with the really old recordings. In this episode we talk about connections and culture, how a critic has the power to ruin a band or album for you, and losing control of a generational narrative. Really great chat about Pearl Jam, Bruce, and writing a book that provides context to the current time and the era it was forged.Sponsor: The Power of Narrative Conference. Use CNF15 at checkout for a 15% discount.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 441: Seth Wickersham Gets Them Out of the Building

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2024 74:00


    Seth Wickersham (@seth.wickersham on IG) didn't always want to be a sports writer, but he found his way to it by being a high school quarterback, covering the University of Missouri Tigers, and "crashing the party" at the Super Bowl with fellow writers Wright Thompson and Justin Heckert. This episode was a chance to revisit his amazing story on its ten-year anniversary, "Awakening the Giant," about Y.A. Tittle. Seth also is the author of It's Better to be Feared about the New England Patriots dynasty, a book twenty years in the making. He's a senior writer for ESPN.com and often collaborates with the Pulitzer Prize-winning Don Van Natta Jr. on deeply reported pieces on the NFL.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 440: How to be a Truffle Pig with Kate McQueen

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2024 66:31


    Kate McQueen is the editorial director for the Pollen Initiative and a literary journalist whose work is featured this month for The Atavist Magazine.The story chronicles the story of Carl von Ossietzky, a German journalist imprisoned for his dissent at the start of Hitler's rise to power. A cohort of fellow journalists sought a means to break him out. How did they do it?Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 439: Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Paul Peart-Smith Bring a Graphic Interpretation of "An Indigenous People's History of the United States" to Life

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 22, 2024 60:18


    Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Paul Peart-Smith talk about how and why graphic interpretations are such a powerful vector for storytelling. Roxanne's An Indigenous People's History of the United States is a must-read and Paul's rendering is the perfect gateway in.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 438: How It's All Connected with Taiyon J. Coleman

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 15, 2024 67:15


    Taiyon J. Coleman a professor and the author of Traveling without Moving: Essays from a Black Woman Trying to Survive in America (Univ. of Minnesota Press).Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 437: Much Ado About Fact-Checking with Wudan Yan

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 8, 2024 40:08


    Wudan Yan (@wudanyan) is a freelancer writer and founder of Factual, a one-of-a-kind agency committed to fact-checking.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

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

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 1, 2024 68:36


    Mira Ptacin (@miraptacin) is a writer and journalist who story, The Crash of the Hammer, ran in The Atavist Magazine. She's also the author of Poor Your Soul and The In-Betweens. Visit magazine.atavist.com to read her story about how a small town in Maine drove out a Neo-Nazi.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 435: Seth Godin Travels at the Speed of Trust in 'This is Strategy'

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 25, 2024 45:02


    Seth Godin is the best-selling author of more than twenty books and his latest is This is Strategy: Make Better Plans.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 434: Mirin Fader on Notebooks, Finding the Breakthrough, Biography, and "Dream"

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2024 45:23


    Mirin Fader is a staff writer for The Ringer and the author of Dream: The Life and Legacy of Hakeem Olajuwon.The book chronicles the personal and professional transformation of a transformational figure in wonderful, lucid detail.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 433: The Perils of Playing it Safe with Chase Jarvis

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2024 60:13


    Chase Jarvis is the author of Never Play it Safe: A Practical Guide to Freedom, Creativity, and a Life You Love (Harper Business).Chase was writing a completely different book, was almost done with it, then scrapped it altogether to write what became Never Play it Safe in, oh, about two months. We talk about intuition, why volume/quantity matters, how success leaves clues, and the secret hero of the book.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 432: Betsy Golden Kellem, Scholar of the Unusual, Closet Historian, Atavist Writer

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2024 57:02


    Betsy Golden Kellem (@bgkellem on IG) is a lawyer and historian whose "City on Fire" appears in The Atavist Magazine and chronicles a conspiracy in 1864 by northern Confederate sympathizers to burn Manhattan to the ground.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 431: Sean Enfield, Author of 'Holy American Burnout' Hates the World Burnout

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2024 59:54


    Sean Enfield (@seanseanclan on IG) is an essayist, education, gardener, bassist, and author of the collection Holy American Burnout (Split/Lip Press).Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 430: Louisa Thomas Knows How to End a Story

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 20, 2024 26:53


    Louisa Thomas is a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author Louisa: The Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams and Mind and Matter.We talk about a profile she wrote on Nikola Jokic as well as her incredible knack for a great kicker.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 429: What Does It Mean to be a 'Hungry Author'?

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2024 52:32


    Liz Morrow (@liz_morrow) and Ariel Curry (@arielkcurry) are the co-authors of Hungry Authors (@hungryauthors): The Indispensable Guide to Planning, Writing, and Publishing a Nonfiction Book (Rowman & Littlefield).They are a special team and — with their powers combined — created a wonderful guide that is tactical, practical, and informative about how to navigate the business to get your book published.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 428: Brin-Jonathan Butler Remembers Flacco the Owl

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2024 103:54


    Brin-Jonathan Butler is a journalist and author of The Grandmaster and The Domino Diaries.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 427: Kelsey Rexroat on Dealing with the Monstrosity

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 30, 2024 57:56


    Kelsey Rexroat is a freelance journalist and copy editor who recently reported and wrote a brilliant love story for The Atavist Magazine. Visit magazine.atavist.com to read it.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 426: Asking for Blurbs, Unauthorized Biographies, and the Mystery of Aaron Rodgers with Ian O'Connor

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2024 71:44


    Ian O'Connor (@Ian_OConnor) is the author of several best-selling books. His latest is Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers (Mariner Books).Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 425: The Most Brazen of Genres with Madeleine Blais

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 16, 2024 70:42


    Madeleine Blais is the author of several books, her latest being Queen of the Court: The Many Lives of Tennis Legend Alice Marble (Grove Press), now out in paperback.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 424: Tommy Tomlinson on Aiming for One-Word Summations, the Blurt, and 'Dogland'

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 9, 2024 66:14


    Tommy Tomlinson is a journalist and author of Dogland: Passion, Glory, and Lots of Slobber at the Westminster Dog Show (Avid Reader Press).Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 423: Rhana Natour and Eman Mohammed Take You Up Close for The Atavist

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2024 75:28


    Rhana Natour (@rnatourious) and Eman Mohammed (@emanit) collaborated for their Atavist story "Coming to America" about a teenage girl from Gaza who lost her legs in an Israeli airstrike and the journey she's on to walk again.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 422: Thirty Years of "The Last Shot," Lessons from Obstacles, and Old-School Note Taking with Darcy Frey

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 26, 2024 73:38


    Darcy Frey is the author of The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dreams, a masterpiece of a book celebrating its 30th anniversary. It's out with a new audio version performed and read by J.D. Jackson.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 421: Cole Heilborn says, "We're Gonna Find What We Find"

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 19, 2024 72:57


    Cole Heilborn (@portsideproductions) is a filmmaker and found of Port Side Productions, a film company focusing on outdoor storytelling. His film, Inches to Miles, made in partnership with Athletic Brewing, follows three remarkable people as they train up to and compete in the Lake Placid Ironman.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

    Episode 420: Rebecca Renner Makes the Pig

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 12, 2024 74:10


    Rebecca Renner (@rebeccarennerfl) is freelance journalist and the author of Gator Country: Deception, Danger, And Alligators in the Everglades (Flatiron Books)."The reader is the one who creates the scenes. I just give them the ingredients."Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod

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