Podcast appearances and mentions of Lee Gutkind

Lee Gutkind is the founder of the literary magazine, Creative Nonfiction. He's edited or authored over 30 books during his time on the faculty of, first, the University of Pittsburgh and, more recently, Arizona State University. His latest book is The Fine Art of Literary Fist-Fighting: How a Bunch of Rabble-Rousers, Outsiders, and Ne'er-do-wells Concocted Creative Nonfiction (Yale UP, 2024). This episode encapsulates the journey that Lee Gutkind has made, as a self-confessed former hippie motorcyclist who not only “fought” his way into academia but helped revitalize the essay genre along the way. When Gutkind began his Creative Nonfiction magazine in 1994, maybe two dozen creative writing programs existed. Today, there are over 200 such programs around the world, and essays have become well-accepted. As Gutkind recounts, back in the day the non-beige nature of New Journalism was the driving force in style and get-out-into-the-world subject matter. Today, a previous all but all-male preserve is driven more by the talents of female nonfiction writers, often exploring more personal, heartful subject matter. True stories told with narrative drive remain central to Gutkind's literary passions. Should want an episode about the value of exploring the world, this is your ticket. Dan Hill, PhD, is the author of ten books and leads Sensory Logic, Inc. To check out his related “Dan Hill's EQ Spotlight” blog, visit this site. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/journalism

Lee Gutkind is the founder of the literary magazine, Creative Nonfiction. He's edited or authored over 30 books during his time on the faculty of, first, the University of Pittsburgh and, more recently, Arizona State University. His latest book is The Fine Art of Literary Fist-Fighting: How a Bunch of Rabble-Rousers, Outsiders, and Ne'er-do-wells Concocted Creative Nonfiction (Yale UP, 2024). This episode encapsulates the journey that Lee Gutkind has made, as a self-confessed former hippie motorcyclist who not only “fought” his way into academia but helped revitalize the essay genre along the way. When Gutkind began his Creative Nonfiction magazine in 1994, maybe two dozen creative writing programs existed. Today, there are over 200 such programs around the world, and essays have become well-accepted. As Gutkind recounts, back in the day the non-beige nature of New Journalism was the driving force in style and get-out-into-the-world subject matter. Today, a previous all but all-male preserve is driven more by the talents of female nonfiction writers, often exploring more personal, heartful subject matter. True stories told with narrative drive remain central to Gutkind's literary passions. Should want an episode about the value of exploring the world, this is your ticket. Dan Hill, PhD, is the author of ten books and leads Sensory Logic, Inc. To check out his related “Dan Hill's EQ Spotlight” blog, visit this site. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/communications

Lee Gutkind is the founder of the literary magazine, Creative Nonfiction. He's edited or authored over 30 books during his time on the faculty of, first, the University of Pittsburgh and, more recently, Arizona State University. His latest book is The Fine Art of Literary Fist-Fighting: How a Bunch of Rabble-Rousers, Outsiders, and Ne'er-do-wells Concocted Creative Nonfiction (Yale UP, 2024). This episode encapsulates the journey that Lee Gutkind has made, as a self-confessed former hippie motorcyclist who not only “fought” his way into academia but helped revitalize the essay genre along the way. When Gutkind began his Creative Nonfiction magazine in 1994, maybe two dozen creative writing programs existed. Today, there are over 200 such programs around the world, and essays have become well-accepted. As Gutkind recounts, back in the day the non-beige nature of New Journalism was the driving force in style and get-out-into-the-world subject matter. Today, a previous all but all-male preserve is driven more by the talents of female nonfiction writers, often exploring more personal, heartful subject matter. True stories told with narrative drive remain central to Gutkind's literary passions. Should want an episode about the value of exploring the world, this is your ticket. Dan Hill, PhD, is the author of ten books and leads Sensory Logic, Inc. To check out his related “Dan Hill's EQ Spotlight” blog, visit this site. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

Lee Gutkind is the founder of the literary magazine, Creative Nonfiction. He's edited or authored over 30 books during his time on the faculty of, first, the University of Pittsburgh and, more recently, Arizona State University. His latest book is The Fine Art of Literary Fist-Fighting: How a Bunch of Rabble-Rousers, Outsiders, and Ne'er-do-wells Concocted Creative Nonfiction (Yale UP, 2024). This episode encapsulates the journey that Lee Gutkind has made, as a self-confessed former hippie motorcyclist who not only “fought” his way into academia but helped revitalize the essay genre along the way. When Gutkind began his Creative Nonfiction magazine in 1994, maybe two dozen creative writing programs existed. Today, there are over 200 such programs around the world, and essays have become well-accepted. As Gutkind recounts, back in the day the non-beige nature of New Journalism was the driving force in style and get-out-into-the-world subject matter. Today, a previous all but all-male preserve is driven more by the talents of female nonfiction writers, often exploring more personal, heartful subject matter. True stories told with narrative drive remain central to Gutkind's literary passions. Should want an episode about the value of exploring the world, this is your ticket. Dan Hill, PhD, is the author of ten books and leads Sensory Logic, Inc. To check out his related “Dan Hill's EQ Spotlight” blog, visit this site. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Laurie Moser, Co-Chair of the Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books, joins Shelly Schmidt of WQED Education who directs the Writers Contest and Jim Cunningham. They'll be together May 14th in East Liberty for the event. It's a free featuring over thirty authors with a tie to Pittsburgh. There's a puppet play created for the occasion, events at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater including Deanna Witkowski, author of a book about Mary Lou Williams, plus Creative Non Fiction mainstay Lee Gutkind discusses his work and career summary book.  You'll find Pittsburgh history and fiction, events for kids, and investigate multiple venues Duolingo and the Maverick, Carnegie Library, East Liberty Presbyterian and Bakery Square among them. More about the Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books

Color coding a piece shows off its structural parts. Lee Gutkind's "yellow test" Kim H. Cross Social Media: @BrendanOMeara Up to 11 Newsletter: brendanomeara.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Nicole and Cooper welcome author Lee Gutkind, as he discusses his book 'My Last Eight Thousand Days' and how introspection and health care come together.

Author Lee Gutkind discusses his newest book, "My Last Eight Thousand Days, An American Male in His Seventies," a look inward at his own experience with aging. The post Author Lee Gutkind discusses his latest book, “My Last Eight Thousand Days” appeared first on Jewish Sacred Aging.

Author Lee Gutkind discusses his newest book, "My Last Eight Thousand Days, An American Male in His Seventies," a look inward at his own experience with aging. The post Author Lee Gutkind discusses his latest book, “My Last Eight Thousand Days” appeared first on Jewish Sacred Aging.

Lee Gutkind, author of several books and, most recently, the memoir My Last Eight Thousand Days: An American Male in His Seventies (University of Georgia Press), returns to the show to talk about voice, starting his day, the eternal "rope test," magical moments, and the optimistic days ahead. Promotional support is provided by The Writers' Co-op Podcast. Consider becoming a member over at patreon.com/cnfpod for exclusive access to the magazine, transcripts, and much, much more. Show notes to this and other shows at brendanomeara.com.

Lee Gutkind is the author of My Last Eight Thousand Days: An American Male in His Seventies It’s published by The University of Georgia Press. He is also the professor and writer-in-residence in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University.

Lee Gutkind has spent much of his life denying his age. The Pittsburgh-based writer and teacher, renowned for his skills as an immersion journalist, has long been fascinated by the aging process and the insecurities that come with growing old. Now, aged seventy-seven, he has overcome his anxieties and age-related tensions. It followed a dark period of time, marked by the loss of loved ones and loneliness, when Lee decided to use his journalistic skills to perform a deep dive on himself. The result is a candid memoir, My Last Eight Thousand Days: An American Male in His Seventies, which documents the realities of aging and the transformation in fortunes that Lee enjoys today. In this episode, he explains how, despite a hugely successful career and a naturally outgoing personality, he reached a low point in his life; how he developed a new appreciation of casual friendships and the joy of connecting with other people. Described by Vanity Fair as the Godfather behind creative nonfiction, Lee also reflects on the frustrations that come with being pigeonholed as an old, soon-to-be-retired, man. Published: November 12, 2020 | Recorded: November 10, 2020Visit the LLAMA podcast website for complete show notes, including a transcript of the conversation.This episode is brought to you by AgeUp, a new product that helps fill in the financial gaps that are often created once you’ve mastered aging and achieved an exceptionally long life. Small monthly payments to AgeUp stack over time to create a secure income stream for your 90s and beyond. Contributions to AgeUp are shielded from market swings, and once payouts begin at age 91 or above, they’re guaranteed to last for life. AgeUp is backed by MassMutual and sold by Haven Life Insurance Agency. You can find out more at Age-Up.comIn this interview we cover:The life and times of an immersion journalist, who immerses himself into his own storyDispelling the popular image of an older personDefending the vitality of people still working in their seventies The “demeaning” assumption that retirement beckons at 65Lee’s denial of his age and mid-life loneliness Turning the journalistic microscope inward with positive resultsThe realization that casual friends can be a lifelineThe power of human interaction after a lifetime of self-enforced solitude, as a writerThe impact of Covid on friendshipsThe physical prowess of a lifelong athlete in his 70sThe excitement of hot yoga at 70 Moving forward while remaining younger in mind and body

I interview Lee Gutkind, author of My Last Eight Thousand Days. This is his 17th book, and I couldn't put it down."This revealing, candid, and vivid portrait of one man’s view of aging written by the man who played a crucial role in establishing literary, narrative nonfiction in the marketplace and in the academy, examines male aging in a way we’ve not seen before."In My Last Eight Thousand Days, Gutkind turns his notepad and tape recorder inward, taking his skills as an immersion journalist to perform a deep dive on himself. Here, he offers a memoir of his life as a journalist, editor, husband, father, and Pittsburgh native, recounting not only his many triumphs, but also exposing his missteps and challenges. You can purchase his book by going to his website, https://leegutkind.com/books/my-last-eight-thousand-days/Find out more on my blog at https://aginginfullbloomwithlisa.blogspot.comEmail me, Lisa Stockdale, anytime at aginginfullbloom@gmail.comAging In Full Bloom is sponsored by Capital Health Care Network, an Ohio based, family owned and operated company, providing solutions that help seniors age on their own terms. Those solutions include home care, senior living, nursing home and rehab care, and hospice. Learn more at http://www.CapitalHealthCareNetwork.com. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast player. Android user? http://www.subscribeonandroid.comHELP US SPREAD THE WORD!We'd love it if you could please share this podcast with your social media friends! If you liked this episode, please leave us a rating and a review in your podcast player.

Lee Gutkind is the founder and editor of Creative Nonfiction, and teaches in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University. His memoir, My Last Eight Thousand Days: An American Man in His Seventies, was published by Georgia University Press.

I speak with author Lee Gutkind, and talk about his new book (his 17th!), My Last Eight Thousand Days.Here is preview of what's coming up...Find out more on my blog at https://aginginfullbloomwithlisa.blogspot.comEmail me, Lisa Stockdale, anytime at aginginfullbloom@gmail.comAging In Full Bloom is sponsored by Capital Health Care Network, an Ohio based, family owned and operated company, providing solutions that help seniors age on their own terms. Those solutions include home care, senior living, nursing home and rehab care, and hospice. Learn more at http://www.CapitalHealthCareNetwork.com. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast player. Android user? http://www.subscribeonandroid.comHELP US SPREAD THE WORD!We'd love it if you could please share this podcast with your social media friends! If you liked this episode, please leave us a rating and a review in your podcast player.

Lee Gutkind is The Godfather behind creative nonfiction according to Vanity Fair and they’re right. His latest book is the intimate memoir entitled My Last Eight Thousand Days. He has […]

We have no way of knowing how many days of grand living we’ll be gifted. We’ve certainly become inured to the reality that life discloses our experiences moment by moment in real-time and it is up to us to determine how we choose to finesse all the “whatisness” life brings our way. In this authentically captivating episode of Aging GreatFULLy, we welcome the founding editor of Creative Nonfiction magazine, and architect of the genre, Lee Gutkind, author and editor of more than thirty books. He’s appeared on many national radio and television shows, including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Good Morning America, and National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. Even before Lee Gutkind was spotlighted in Vanity Fair Magazine in 1997 as “the Godfather behind creative nonfiction” he was its most active advocate and practitioner. In 1991, he founded Creative Nonfiction, the first and the largest literary journal to publish narrative/creative nonfiction exclusively. All the while, Gutkind continued to practice what he preached, immersing himself in diverse worlds for months and years and producing dramatic and intimate creative nonfiction books about subjects as rich and varied as the motorcycle subculture, child and adolescent mental illness, baseball umpires, veterinary medicine and organ transplantation. However, his latest writing endeavor wasn’t looking outward into the lives of others, but instead inward, towards his very own. Undertaking perhaps his most difficult and challenging work to date, Gutkind took to the task of writing his own memoir, My Last Eight Thousand Days: An American Male in His Seventies. In his revealing, candid and vivid portrait of aging, Gutkind examines aging like we’ve never seen before. And while the words on the pages are his experiences, thoughts and stories, having read them, I feel they may relate in some way to to every listener, as Gutkind has managed to unearth the truth on aging like only he can. A must-listen, wisdom-infused episode that is full of fun, because isn’t that what life is about? But we also shift our attention to some topics that are important and serious that need our attention too. And Gutkind shares candidly the challenges he faced in growing older, including making connections, making meaning of it all, and what he did to find his way to the many better todays and wonderful tomorrows to come. This is definitely a power-hour of enlightYOUment that delivers on so many levels you won’t want to miss! Gutkind’s memoir is a fantastic read for everyone that I highly recommend—to get your copy of My Last Eight Thousand Days: An American Male in His Seventies, or to learn more about or connect with Lee Gutkind visit www.LeeGutkind.com. Thank you, amazing listeners, for making the Aging GreatFULLy show your show! We appreciate the downloads, shares and thoughtful reviews and greatfull for our global family of listeners that have allowed this show to be awarded a top show on aging to listen and subscribe to! To connect with our show, visit our official host page at www.CTRNetwork.com/holleykelley Remember, You rock, you role model and you are the best listeners!

Memoir of An American Male in his Seventies.

An interview with Lee Gutkind, writer and founder of the literary journal Creative Nonfiction. The interview was conducted live at the University of Pittsburgh on July 20, 2018. It was part of the concluding event for Pitt's 2018 Summer Science Writing Workshop, organized by Lillian Chong. The event began with students from the workshop reading some of the science writing they had developed over the summer. You can read those works here: medium.com/lab-musings-summer-2018.

"I could leave my father as a mystery, because he was the mystery I was trying to solve," says Jean Guerrero. Today I'm joined by a special guest. You may have heard of her, maybe not, but nevertheless her name is Jean Guerrero. She is a television reporter for KPBS in San Diego covering immigration. Too bad that's not a topical subject. She is the winner of the PEN/FUSION Emerging Writers Prize and has worked for the Wall Street Journal and has won several reporting awards. Most recently she is the author of Crux: A Cross-Border Memoir, a story about discovering her father by crossing borders both physical and spiritual. This is the show where I speak to the world's best artists about telling true stories, how those stories are told, and why it matters to them. I'm your host Brendan O'Meara and this is The Creative Nonfiction Podcast! Hey, did you enjoy the show? Be sure to tweet us some love, I'm @BrendanOMeara and @CNFPod and Jean is @jeanguerre. If you have a moment and you made it this far, please consider leaving an honest review on Apple Podcasts and if you want more goodies, head over to brendanomeara.com to sign up for my monthly reading list newsletter. Once a month. No Spam. Can't beat it. The Creative Nonfiction Podcast is sponsored by Hippocamp 2018. Now in its fourth year, Hippocamp is a three-day Pennsylvania writing conference that features 50+ speakers, engaging sessions in four tracks, interactive all-conference panels, author and attendee readings, social activities, networking opps, and optional, intimate pre-conference workshops. The conference takes place in lovely Lancaster, from Aug. 24 through the 26th. Past keynotes have been Lee Gutkind, Mary Karr, Dinty W. Moore, and Jane Friedman (all have been past guests on the podcast. Whaaaat?) This year Abigail Thomas will be the featured speaker. Visit hippocampusmagazine.com and click the “Conference” tab in the toolbar and if you enter the keyword CNFPOD at checkout you will receive a $50 discount. This offer is only good until Aug. 10 or until all those tickets are sold. There are a limited number so act now! Like RIGHT NOW. Hippocamp 2018: Create. Share. Live.

  Today our podcast connects with Lee Gutkind, founder and editor of Creative Nonfiction, founder of the ThinkWritePublish program and Professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University, and the author and editor of more than 30 books, including titles such as You Can't Make This Stuff Up: The Complete Guide to Writing Creative Nonfiction (Da Capo Lifelong Books) and Almost Human: Making Robots Think (W.W. Norton). Producer: Jon-Barrett Ingels and Kevin Staniec Manager: Sarah Becker Host: Jon-Barrett Ingels Guest: Lee Gutkind

Hattie Fletcher says, "[True Story] is a snack in between the main meal." The main meal being the quarterly magazine "Creative Nonfiction." You could say we have something in common. It's the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak with the world's best artists about creating works of nonfiction, leaders in the world of narrative journalism, documentary film, essay, memoir and radio and try to deconstruct how these masters go about the work so that you can improve your own. This week I welcome back Hattie Fletcher, who is the managing editor for Creative Nonfiction magazine. What prompted a second trip? Hattie, along with Lee Gutkind and the team over at Creative Nonfiction, started a $27,000 Kickstarter campaign to support the second year of True Story, their monthly offshoot to the quarterly magazine. True Story is a 5-10,000-word stand-alone piece in chapbook or digital form. It's pretty rad. In this episode we talk about what makes the green-lit pieces pop and what the rejected pieces have in common, and also some of the goodies you can expect with a pledge. I hope after listening to this you'll head over to the Kickstarter campaign and pledge some hard-earned dough so they can keep doing the work they're doing on True Story. Full disclosure, I don't get any kickbacks of any kind. What a guy. Though, it would be nice if you shared the episode and even left a nice review over on iTunes to help validate the podcast so I can keep doing this thing. I'd hate for the business office to come down and slam the door shut on this enterprise. Keep the reviews coming so I can keep the doors open at CNFHQ. Links and show notes are available at brendanomeara.com.

"In many ways the biggest challenge to figure out if you're gonna be a writer of nonfiction is to figure out what stories you can tell that no one else has told before," says Lee Gutkind. Hey, hey, it's The Creative Nonfiction Podcast! This is the show where I interview the world's best artists about creating works of nonfiction: documentary film, personal essay, memoir, narrative journalism, killer profiles, and reportage and dive into the origin story, what makes them great, and how you can apply their strategies of mastery to your own work. Today's guest for Episode 60 (!) of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast is none other than the Godfather, Lee Gutkind. His tagline on his website is Writer. Speaker. Innovator. He's written or edited 49 books like Almost Human, The Best Seat in the House But You Have to Stand: The Game as Umpires See It, Truckin' With Sam. He also founded the lit journal/now magazine Creative Nonfiction, which is an incredible well of great writing.  What are you gonna learn from this episode? Lee tells you that you need to figure out what stories and YOU can tell that no one else has done before. How to find the people who want their stories told, and how to perservere in the face of untold failure. That's a some good, good stuff. Before we dive into the interview, I ask that you leave a review on iTunes or even just a rating. Reviews are icing on the cake, but the more ratings, the more cred, the more people we can reach. Also, I have an email newsletter that I send out once a month. It' gives my reading list for the month and what you may have missed from the podcast. Share this with a friend because I know you're gonna dig it!

I was struck by one theme that kept appearing in the past 100 Business of Story episodes – How stories transport us. A true story well told connects emotionally and inspires. It moves people. Aligns teams. Connects with customers. Grows revenue. And will amplify your impact. [caption id="attachment_23298" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Image from a favorite Photoshop artists, James Popsys, who explored visual storytelling on the Business of Story podcast.[/caption] Thank you for listening to the Business of Story. I've enjoyed all of your wonderful notes about the impact the show and our guests have had on you. And how you have grown as storytellers to literally nudge the world in any direction you choose. You rock! Now, I want to up the ante, to go all in by refining, clarifying and focusing my own Business of Story story. To help you do the same in your business.  From episodes 102 and beyond, nothing in the Business of Story will make sense except in the light of connection: helping purpose-driven leaders like you clarify your story to grow revenue and amplify your impact in the world by connecting you with your audiences, and moving them to action, through the power of true business stories well told. This is my singular focus for the Business of Story, and it has taken me 100 episodes to finally arrive at this focus. Plus, a great deal of help from my good friend, Greg Head. More on that, and him, in a bit. What you’ll get out of this show: How to find and articulate the unique purpose that drives you and your organization. How to clarify that story with lots of examples and resources for you. How to use the impact you’ll make as the launching point for the epic growth of your organization. You see, after 100 amazing guests – story artists from around the world who have been on our show helping you craft and tell compelling stories that sell – this theme of igniting the growth of purpose-driven leaders through the power of story has expressed itself. I realized that some of my favorite episodes were with people whose personal stories were much larger than their brand story, and in fact, influenced the direction of their organizations. Like Vincent Stanley, for instance. He’s the Director of Philosophy for the outdoor retailer, Patagonia. He was one of my first guests back in July of 2015. And he talked about how Patagonia essentially invented story marketing in their first product catalogs when they opened in 1973. Their mission is to turn customers into activists to help protect our wilderness. A pretty important purpose, especially for an outdoor company. Another episode I refer to often is the one I did with Hollywood story consultant, Jen Grisanti. She wrote an amazing book called Change Your Story, Change Your Life. Jen not only teaches and coaches movie and TV screenwriters how to perfect their craft but also how to live into a bigger story. This episode explores the important question: “What is your personal dilemma connected to your professional pursuit?” What’s the conflict in your story and how does your brand help your customers overcome that conflict to get what they want? No conflict no story. How about the conflict around the stuff cramming your home? Michele and I are in the process of a move, and mucking out 30 years of stuff is a major pain in the ass. Brian Scudamore, the founder of 1-800-GOT-JUNK, joined to talk about how he grew the brand to become worth in the neighborhood of a quarter-billion dollars all on the premise that he is not in the junk business, but the leadership business that happens to haul junk. Now that’s a focused, purpose-driven business. I’ve learned that if you truly want to live into a bigger story for your personal and professional brand, then you must find a purpose greater than yourself to serve. The purpose of the Business of Story has always been to help people live into and prosper from their most powerful story. But that line is too vague for some people.  It ultimately comes down to helping leaders of purpose-driven organizations clarify their story of growing their revenue and amplifying their impact. I know I’m repeating myself from the top of the show, but I want to be crystal clear with you what this is all about. And, I want to underscore that it is critically important for you, too, to be “crystal clear” with your personal or professional brand story. Because if you’re not, you will drown in the sea of sameness that we all compete in. And I’ve found that when you get your brand story straight, everything else comes into alignment.  Everything else gets easier. You say “no” to more things and “yes” to the fewer, but the most important, things. My Origin Story Two years ago I was a total story geek. Ok, I still am. My goal for the first 100 episodes was to help you understand and appreciate the power of storytelling in your business and in your life so that you would become more intentional about it; connect with people at a deeper level; and advance your visions and mission further faster. I had the help of my friend Jay Baer at Convince & Convert who helped me produce and distribute my first year-and-a-half worth of shows with great people like Jess Ostroff of Don’t Panic Management. The past 20 or so shows have been produced by Brian Adoff of Riveting FM out of Philadelphia. He has brought a musician’s ear to the quality of the production and some terrific marketing insight as well. Thanks for that, Brian. Lisa Loeffler of Genuine Media has assisted me in the distribution and advertising for the show, as well as my speaking engagements: an invaluable part of my team. I can’t recommend these two enough if you need to build a virtual team. My focus has been on sharing how stories work, the architecture of epic stories, and how to use them in your business. If you’re an avid listener, then you probably know my story by now. So here’re the cliff notes… I’ve been in advertising for more than 30 years, ran my own agency for 20 years, and for the past 15 years, I have been steeped in business storytelling. My deep dive into brand storytelling began around 2004 when I noticed that our traditional advertising work wasn’t nearly as effective as it used to be. As I often say in my speaking engagements and workshops; “Brands used to own the influence of mass media, but now the masses are the media, and they are your brand storytellers. You and your brand must become the story maker.” One of my favorite examples of a brand doing this very thing is AirBnB. They do a heroic job of placing their customers – both their homeowners and guests – at the center of their brand story. Then they make it easy for them to share their stories. I love their tagline, Belong Anywhere. AirBnB is selling inclusion and freedom: two pretty dynamic concepts, and an especially powerful purpose, given this moment – and let’s hope it’s just a moment – in Trump time. By the way, have you seen Sweden’s latest story marketing campaign? The country just listed itself on AirBnB and its purpose is plain to see: "Explore the Freedom to Roam.”  Sure, they’re ultimately going after tourists, but they do it with such a beautiful purpose that plays to the sensibilities of reasonable and fun loving people. Take a listen, and then go to our show notes to see the video. Ok, so I digressed a bit. I get so excited when I come across smart story marketing. I was telling you my story about how I realized the impact you can have when you become an intentional storyteller: Telling stories on purpose. I learned that storytelling held the key to reconnecting with audiences, so I started studying everything I could find on the subject. It really started in 2006. Our middle son Parker went to film school at Chapman University in Orange, CA. I asked him to send me his textbooks when he was finished with them – after all, we were paying for them – so I could learn what Hollywood knew about captivating audiences through story. Plus, I suppose I wanted to vet this college education to see how Chapman prepared eager filmmakers to be competitive in the most competitive storytelling market in the world: Hollywood. I realize now that this was my creative right brain diving into storytelling. At the same time, our youngest son Caed had to undergo brain surgery to reduce swelling in his ventricles. During the run up to survey, Caed went through a battery of tests, and Michele and I read everything we could absorb about the brain and how it functions under the significant stress of encephalitis. One of the books I found, which has become my favorite on storytelling, is The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make us Human, by Jonathan Gottschall. In it, he explores the intersection of story structure with brain structure and how our minds yield helplessly to the suction of story. Jonathan became a long-distance friend of mine, has been kind enough to lecture twice to my students at Arizona State University, and he was also one of my first guests on the Business of Story podcast. In hindsight, I realized that I, too, was living at the intersection of right brain Hollywood storytelling and left brain story mechanics as I was learning from the journeys both of our sons were on. This is when I was introduced to Joseph Campbell and his universal story structure of The Hero’s Journey, and why it connects so powerfully with the deep reaches of our mind: the subconscious where our intuitive decisions are made that shape our beliefs and behaviors. Note: The creator of What makes a her0?, Matthew Winkler, joined us on the Business of Story podcast. Hear how he created one of the most watched videos in the TEDEd library. During this time between 2006 and 2010, I found myself at the crossroads of the neuroscience of storytelling – how we’re pre-wired from birth to make meaning through stories – with the architecture of stories – how to use them to connect with people on a very primal level and move them to action. Since then, our two boys are doing great. Caed is a healthy 23-year-old composer and producer of EDM, or Electronic Dance Music, and a DJ, and Parker is pursuing his dream of becoming a filmmaker in downtown Hollywood. He pays the bills as a sought after motion designer, and you can see his work in the new CBS game show, Candy Crush. Now that I was armed with the why and how of business storytelling, I created the Story Cycle system that is inspired by Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. Instead of his 17 steps, I’ve mapped it to 10 steps that any business can use for high-level brand story strategy development right down to tactical creative elements including TV spots, web user experience design, blog posts, print ads, sales presentations… you name it. [caption id="attachment_23305" align="alignright" width="300"] Download your DIY Brand Story workbook.[/caption] I was so excited to share with the world what I had learned, and the success we were having with our clients, that I began pursuing all of the brightest minds in storytelling to share their brilliance with you. To be totally honest, I was being self-serving, too, Because I get to learn right along with you with every episode. That alone makes all of the cost and effort of a podcast worth it. One of my early successes was having legendary screenwriting coach, Robert McKee, on the show. We had such a wonderful conversation, he returned for an encore performance. By the way, you will find links to each of the episodes I mention in our show notes. I first met McKee when I attended his four-day Story Seminar in the LAX Sheraton in 2010. Parker joined me. He was there to advance his filmmaking screenwriting chops, along with about 200 of his competitors, and I was there to learn what a marketer like me could learn about Hollywood storytelling to make our creative more impactful.   After the seminar, McKee invited me to his Connecticut home to interview him for my podcast. Now, this was not for the Business of Story, but for my very first flailing attempt at podcasting. I had never done one before and I showed up in his living room with my little Zoom recorder and my wits. I placed the recorder between me and him on the sofa, and away we went. For three friggin’ hours. He was so kind and generous with his knowledge on screenwriting and how we can use it in our businesses, and I was making it up and learning as I went. This remarkable experience underscores a fundamental premise that Joseph Campbell talks about when you follow your bliss, and by bliss, he means the authentic story you have the courage to live into. “When you follow your bliss, doors will open where there were only walls before.” – Joseph Campbell Robert McKee and his lovely wife Mia, open their home and their world to me. And for that, I will be forever grateful. You can still listen to that session, edited into ten 10-minutes segments on Soundcloud. If you don’t know the man and his work, all you have to do is watch this scene in the Spike Jonze’ movie, Adaptation, starring Nicholas Cage as struggling screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman. Actor Brian Cox portrays McKee as he responds to Kaufman’s question during, presumably, his famous Story seminar. Any questions? Ok, take a deep breath. Another one of my favorites was a guy who epitomizes the intersection of science and story, and that is Dr. Randy Olson. He is a Harvard Ph.D. Biologist who also graduated from the USC film school. Randy has produced three documentaries on the environment and climate change and has written three books to help scientist become better communicators through the power of storytelling. His latest book, Houston, We Have a Narrative: Why Science Needs Story, is my favorite scientific look at storytelling.  The book focuses on the And, But and Therefore construct to creating stories. It’s so simple and yet so powerful. I call it the DNA of story. I’m honored to say that Randy has become a good friend, and he’s been on my show twice. The first time talking about the ABT. And his most recent appearance was the day after the election. He dissected Trump’s narrative intuition and why he won the election because he out-storied the Democrats. “America used to be great. America is no longer great. I’ll make America great again.” Three acts. Set up, problem, resolution. One that may become the most successful use of the ABT of all time. Olson’s Trump episode is one of my most listened to from around the world. I even had some friends reach out to me in disgust suggesting that I was capitalizing on Trump’s victory for my own Business of Story gain by highlighting his narrative intuition. My response to them, and you if you feel the same way, is that you must understand the magic to combat the spell. Listen to all of Trump’s ramblings through the lens of the basal ABT structure, and you’ll get a whole new appreciation for how he hoodwinks his base, goes against reason and demolishes the Democrats. The Dems simply don’t know how to connect with America through a story. Olson’s purpose is to advance science by helping big thinkers connect with the rest of us. His vehicle happens to be the ABT, the DNA of story. Another of my favorite authors is Lisa Cron, who wrote Wired for Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence. Lisa came on the show to explore the art and science of storytelling to help you with your brand narratives. While Lisa’s book is about guiding fiction writers in writing the next epic novel, Lee Gutkind, the founder of Creative Nonfiction and author of several books including, You Can’t Make This Stuff Up: The Complete Guide to Writing Creative Nonfiction from Memoir to Literary Journalism, is the foremost authority on the art of sharing true stories well-told. These two approaches are important to brand storytelling because you want to tell true stories about how your product or service have empowered and leveled up your customers while using brain science to understand and appreciate how to craft and tell your stories.    Clarify your story, amplify your impact and simplify your life We’ve used the 10-step Story Cycle system to help Clinica Adelante reframe its brand story from a 30-year-old community health center to a national leader in sustainable healthcare, and they have grown by 300 percent in the past five years. Goodwill of Central Arizona has used or Story Cycle system to grow from 17 stories doing $24 million in annual sales in 2003 to nearly 100 stores doing north of $140 million in sales today, with the proceeds going to workforce development programs that help put a record number of Arizonans back to work. Their purpose? Good stuff, good work, Goodwill. Coca-Cola used our storytelling to launch an eco-driving program with its 60,000 fleet drivers and their staff in 2010. They double their expected gains in fuel efficiency in the first three months of the initiative. What do these three clients have in common? They all pursued a purpose greater than just selling products and services and making money. And they used intentional storytelling – telling stories on purpose – to achieve epic growth. That is the power of a purpose-driven organization over its traditional, status-quo competitor who focuses on the bottom line, short-term gains and investor returns over empowering the people and the communities it serves. Tell your stories on purpose That’s why now, as we move into our third year of producing the Business of Story podcast, our sole focus is to help leaders of purpose-driven organizations like yours clarify your story to grow revenue and amplify your impact. What we make is the proven Story Cycle system with tools and techniques to help you become an intentional storyteller. But what we make happen is helping you become a more powerful communicator, connect with audiences like you never have before, motivate and inspire people to action, and advance your mission, initiative or cause further, faster than you ever imagined. What we make happen is what drives our purpose: to help people live into and prosper from their most powerful stories. Learning moment: Are you telling brand stories about what you make, or what you make happen? Stories about the human impact you are having; how you are leveling them up. Stories about how you deliver on your ultimate brand purpose. You see, when you tell stories about what you make, your are immediately commoditizing yourself and your offering. You start to drown in the sea of sameness. But when you tell stories about what you make happen, then you will rise above the noise and be heard. Red Bull doesn’t sell you a highly addictive concoction of caffeine, taurine, and sugar. Their story Gives You Wings. Actually, the higher brand purpose was defined by its founder, Dietrich Mateschitz, when he started his company: “Red Bull gives wings to people and ideas.” Now isn’t that a bit more compelling than selling just an energy drink? It must be because Red Bull not only invented the category. They still own nearly half of the worldwide market for energy drinks. Let’s face it, without a good story that connects on a primal, visceral level with your audiences – making them truly feel something – then you’re just more noise in the cacophony of communication we all swim  – and drown – in. Without a focused story that clarifies the uniqueness, relevance, and urgency of your brand offering you will be marooned in the sea of sameness that we all encounter in this age of abundance. Your customers – just like my customers – simply have too many choices to choose from. What’s going to make you rise to the top of your food chain? Without a defined point to your story – a supreme focus on what you do better than anyone else buttressed by a compelling purpose – you will languish in the land of commoditization. In fact, declaring your number one position in the marketplace, what you do better than anyone else in terms of features and benefits, is your first step out of the primordial muck of commoditization. And your defined purpose is your lifeline. So I’m taking my own advice. As I mentioned, my friend Greg Head, who was the head of marketing for Infusionsoft and helped them become a $100 million dollar company in 10 years because of their extreme focus on sales and marketing software for small business, helped me define my brand focus of working with purpose-driven leaders. It’s important, too, because I am competing in an increasingly crowded industry of business storytelling.    Some of my competitors I admire most – some friends, some acquaintances, and some strangers – include Donald Miller and his StoryBrand process. I’ve done his program myself for my Business of Story brand. StoryBrand’s focus is to help small business grow their sales by clarifying their story on their websites. My interesting connection to Don, even though I’ve never met him, is that his best-selling book. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, and it’s overall theme of “What makes a great story also makes a great life,” had a profound impact on me as I was creating the Story Cycle system. In fact, I went to Don’s very first seminar in Portland in 2010, long before he created his StoryBrand process, to guide my thinking on how to help people live into their most powerful stories. In fact, I went to Don’s very first seminar in Portland in 2010, long before he created his StoryBrand process, to guide my thinking on how to help people live into their most powerful stories. Another terrific professional in the storytelling game, and a guy I count as a friend is Michael Margolis of GetStoried. When I think of Michael and the international work he does, I think of storytelling around innovation. He works with large, global brands, including the likes of Google, Deloitte, and NASA, to help them further innovation within their organizations. Michael is definitely the innovation story guy in my book. If you’re looking for business storytelling in the tech world with a twist, then I’d definitely send you to Kathy Klotz-Guest. If you’ve ever seen HBO’s Silicon Valley, Mike Judge’s hysterical TV series about, well, Silicon Valley, then you’ll get a sense of Kathy. She is a technology veteran, stand up comic and marketer extraordinaire who uses storytelling to help her clients curb what she calls, “jargon-monoxide,” you know, that curse-of-the-expert malady that puts audiences to sleep, or worse, with their inane use of jargon. She coined one of my favorite terms in Business Storytelling, Jargon-monoxide. These are just three of many fellow storytellers, each with a focused brand position: Don Miller’s StoryBrand for small businesses. Michael Margolis’ Get Storied for large organization innovation, and Kathy Klotz-Guest for the tech world.   By the way, you can hear both Michael and Kathy on my Business of Story show – again, see the show notes for links. And Don, consider this an open invitation to come on my show. Like Michael and Kathy, I admire your work and what you stand for. Hey, I even invested in your Blue Like Jazz movie. That was a brilliant crowd-sourced move, by the way, to raise your final quarter million to get the movie finished. Michele and I loved the movie, and it was great fun seeing our names among the thousands of executive producers. I help leaders tell their brand stories on purpose And me? My purpose is to help leaders of purpose-driven organizations like you clarify your story to drive revenue and amplify your success. And I deliver on my purpose in three different ways… I help you clarify your brand story through our proven Story Cycle system. In fact, if you tuned into my show two weeks ago, you heard me take Jonathan Barney through the Story Cycle system to clarify his brand story around his restaurant service training platform and focus his purpose of helping people live a tastier life. In addition to clarifying your brand story, I also offer the Storytelling for Leaders and Storytelling for Sales 6-month deliberate practice training programs. Once your brand story is crystal clear, these programs help you find and tell the stories that shape the behaviors that create the culture that drives epic performance. Around your purpose. Essentially, we help you find the true stories within your brand and show you how to tell them well in your advertising, marketing and sales to connect with your audiences. True stories well told. The Storytelling for Leaders and Storytelling for Sales deliberate practice programs come from another amazing story outfit, this time in Melbourne, Australia. Shawn Callahan and Mark Schenk created these programs 13 years ago and have worked with brands around the world to build storytelling cultures. This offering is the ideal extension to the Business of Story, and I have become a certified partner delivering these proven programs. Why do purpose-driven organizations need to practice business storytelling now, more than ever, to amplify your impact? Because business is more complex than ever.  How do you describe your place in the world to your staff, employees, customers, shareholders and other stakeholders when so much external chaos impacts you?   Chaos like growing competition in this time of abundance A widening economic divide between the haves and have-nots The significant environmental and social impacts of climate change Social injustice and unrest A White House and its cronies that appear hell bent on alienating America from the rest of the world In fact, I spent 12 days in The Netherlands a couple of weeks ago working with our ASU students. Guess what the prevailing sentiment is towards our president? I heard this from business leaders, bureaucrats, and bartenders. They ask all in their own way: “How did you Americans let this happen and what are you going to do about it?” You don’t think this president is going to impact your business, think again. And what stories are you telling your employees to keep them all focused on your purpose to grow your sales and amplify your impact: the three things you actually have control over? I’m afraid power points, infographics, snapchats and tweets aren’t going to do it for you anymore. By the way, I reminded our students in Amsterdam that power points don’t kill audiences. Presenters using bullets in power points do. Don’t believe me? Just listen to Janine Kurnoff of the Presentation Company on Business of Story to learn how to bring storytelling to all of your communications so you can cut through the clutter and connect.   Or tune into Nick Gray of Museum Hack on how to bring adventure to your brand through storytelling. And on that note, take in my conversation with the ultimate conspirator to business success, Robert Rose on why you must turn your adjectives and adverbs into adventures in your story marketing. Stories connect in our disconnected world Another reason why story is more important now than ever is that our uberly connected world has created a massive malady. Attention Deficit Disorder is now a communicable disease, and we’re all the viruses. Our connected world has ironically made us all less connected in human terms. I had a fascinating guest on about a month ago. His name is Jordan Bower, a Transformational Storytelling Consultant, and Corporate Intimacy Expert. Ahhh, see his unique positioning… his fine point… his focused purpose: Transformational Storytelling Consultant and Corporate Intimacy Expert? On my show, Jordan told me about his girlfriend breaking up with him in the summer of 2010. Devastated, he did what we would ALL do in this circumstance: he walked from Seattle to Mexico along the Pacific Ocean.  Right? During his four-month odyssey to find himself, Jordan came across thousands of people. He shared coffee, meals, campfires, and beers with folks from all walks of life: from hobos and hillbillies to surfer dudes, to housewives, tech titans and I’m sure there was a social media guru or two in there as well. I asked him what the common theme was among these disparate people. What do you think he said? I asked him what the common theme was among these disparate people. What do you think he said? Jordan told me that to a person, the common sentiment was alienation and loneliness. He learned on his trek that these dopamine pumps we call iPhones and Androids, that promise to connect us with the world, actually create greater isolation. One intense symptom is FOMO, or the fear of missing out. What we’re missing in our over-communicated world is authentic, person-to-person interaction. If Gottschall said, “Our minds yield helplessly to the suction of story,” then I believe our hearts crave bonding with real people. Jordan’s point of people feeling alienated and lonely is not the first time I’ve heard this theme. But it struck me hard on this show. I even created a manifesto of sorts just to help me get my head around this phenomenon. I call it: The Virtual Connection Myth. "Our digital dopamine pumps artificially reward us for superficial online interactions masking an epidemic of alienation and loneliness people suffer as their storytelling skills atrophy in the absence of authentic human connection in the real world." OMG, am I suffering from jargon-monoxide? My point is this: The most powerful story will ever tell is in-person. If you can’t be in front of the water cooler with your audience, then the second most powerful story you can tell is first person, online. Tell me a story with a time stamp, when did it happen, a location stamp, where did it happen, real people as the characters. Give me action and adventure, surprise me, and then deliver your business point! And believe it or not, you can do this in 60 seconds or less.   On Thursday, June 26, I was giving a storytelling workshop for a bunch of  Dutch professionals who specialize in sustainability and the circular economy in Haarlemmermeer, Holland.  A young man named Max is an intern for one of the organizations and is about to graduate with his business degree in sustainability. I asked the gathering who their toughest audience was so we could work on stories to connect with them on their terms. Max told me it was his granddad. You see, his grandpa didn’t understand sustainability, didn’t believe in man-made global warming and told Max he was wasting his time with his foolish degree. I could tell he was crestfallen by not having his grandfather’s approval. So I instructed Max to use the Story Cycle to craft a story from his grandpa’s point-of-view and then challenged him to share his story over the weekend. I ran into Max four days later when our ASU cohort returned to Haarlemmermeer for another session. He had the widest smile on his face. I asked him “What’s up, dude?” He told me about having the conversation with his grandpa about climate change and how he used a hockey stick to demonstrate to the old man how carbon in our atmosphere has remained relatively balanced for millennia and then pointed to the curve end of the stick to demonstrate the man-made carbon we have pumped into the system over a short amount of time. “This was the first time my granddad ever understood what I was talking about,” Max proclaimed through his smile. “And I told him that fixing this problem is important to me and that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing.” I asked Max if his granddad likes hockey. “Loves it,” he said, with his smiling growing even wider. Smart young man, that Max. Understanding his audience and having such empathy for their point-of-view that he found a way to use a story to connect, change his beliefs, and earn his approval. By the way, I learned this basic structure to story with time and location stamps, characters, action, a surprise and point from my friends at Anecdote. And we cover it in great detail in our 6-month deliberate practice programs. The most invaluable FREE advice you'll ever get Now I’d like to help you clarify your brand story strategy, focus your purpose of growing your revenue and amplifying your impact. When I told my producer, Brian, who you met earlier in the show, about what I’m about to do, he actually said it might not work because it sounds too good to be true. Well, maybe. You’ll have to be the judge of that. What I am offering to you, with no strings attached, is a complimentary 30-minute phone call to demonstrate how quickly you can get your brand story straight. I promise it will be the most invaluable free advice for you, your business and organization that you have ever received. Register for your FREE Impact Call. I’ll help you clarify your story in 30 minutes or less. You have nothing to lose. What’s in it for me? I get to connect with real people, in real time and learn about your real needs. Our conversation, while helping you clarify your story to grow revenue and amplify your impact, will also help me better understand exactly what the market needs. What’s in it for me? I get to connect with real people, in real time and learn about your real needs. Our conversation, while helping you clarify your story to grow revenue and amplify your impact, will also help me better understand exactly what the market needs. This is a total win/win consulting call. You will be doing me a huge favor by helping me dial in my purpose: To help you live into and prosper from your most powerful story. This is a limited time offer, and I can tell you that not everyone is going to get the free impact call. If you’re in business just to make money, then I’d recommend you reach out to some of the other storytelling consultants. But if you’re into to truly amplifying your impact and empowering the people around you to live into and prosper from your story, then I’m your guy. Register now at our new and improved website, businessofstory.com. And if you want to get the most of the call, download your DIY Brand Story Workbook first. Outline yourstory. Then let's chat. And thank you for listening to this special, one hundred first episode of the Business of Story podcast. Gag, you’re probably hoping that I don’t return solo for another hundred shows. And one last request. We have 74 reviews on iTunes, and I’d love to push that over the 100 mark in celebration of our one hundred and first episode. Would you do me a huge and be one of those listeners that pushes us over the top of the century mark in reviews. It only takes minutes and would mean the world to me. I appreciate it. Finally, I want to remind you that regardless of what you do with your business, leadership and sales storytelling, that... "The most potent story you will ever tell is the story you tell yourself. So make it a good one." Thanks for listening, and until next Sunday, have a wonderful life.

In this episode, I speak with Lee Gutkind, the editor of What I Didn’t Know: True Stories of Becoming a Teacher (In Fact Books, 2016). His book shares more than twenty firsthand accounts of teachers working in different contexts. We discuss how personal narratives can contribute to our understanding a profession, the writing process, and the similarities and difference between these stories and those featured in his other work. He recommends the following books for listeners interested in his work and our conversation: I Wasn’t Strong Like This When I Started Out: True Stories of Becoming a Nurse by Lee Gutkind Frank Sinatra Has a Cold and Other Essays by Gay Talese You Can’t Make This Stuff Up: The Complete Guide to Writing Creative Nonfiction–from Memoir to Literary Journalism and Everything in Between by Lee Gutkind Gutkind joins New Books in Education for the interview. To share your thoughts on the podcast, you can connect with him on Twitter at @LeeGutkind. Trevor Mattea is an educational consultant and speaker. His areas of expertise include deeper learning, parent involvement, project-based learning, and technology integration. He can be reached by email at info@trevormattea.com or on Twitter at @tsmattea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, I speak with Lee Gutkind, the editor of What I Didn’t Know: True Stories of Becoming a Teacher (In Fact Books, 2016). His book shares more than twenty firsthand accounts of teachers working in different contexts. We discuss how personal narratives can contribute to our understanding a profession, the writing process, and the similarities and difference between these stories and those featured in his other work. He recommends the following books for listeners interested in his work and our conversation: I Wasn’t Strong Like This When I Started Out: True Stories of Becoming a Nurse by Lee Gutkind Frank Sinatra Has a Cold and Other Essays by Gay Talese You Can’t Make This Stuff Up: The Complete Guide to Writing Creative Nonfiction–from Memoir to Literary Journalism and Everything in Between by Lee Gutkind Gutkind joins New Books in Education for the interview. To share your thoughts on the podcast, you can connect with him on Twitter at @LeeGutkind. Trevor Mattea is an educational consultant and speaker. His areas of expertise include deeper learning, parent involvement, project-based learning, and technology integration. He can be reached by email at info@trevormattea.com or on Twitter at @tsmattea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ask an Editor Panel moderated by In Fact Books Associate Publisher, Ellen Ayoob. The panel features Hattie Fletcher, Creative Nonfiction’s own managing editor, and editors Jessica Bylander and Geeta Kothari. Get an insider’s view—our panel of editors answers your questions about the revision and editing process. Learn how pieces change in revision with an editor's help, and how you can apply these guidelines to your own work.  Hattie Fletcher has been the managing editor of Creative Nonfiction since 2004 and is the co-editor, with Lee Gutkind, of True Stories, Well Told: from the First 20 Years of Creative Nonfiction Magazine. Geeta Kothari is the nonfiction editor of the Kenyon Review. She is a two-time recipient of the fellowship in literature from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the editor of ‘Did My Mama Like to Dance?’ and Other Stories about Mothers and Daughters. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in various journals and anthologies, including The Kenyon Review, Massachusetts Review, Fourth Genre, and Best American Essays. In 2004, she received the David and Tina Bellet Award for Teaching Excellence. In addition to teaching in the undergraduate program, Geeta also directs the Writing Center at the University of Pittsburgh. Jessica Bylander is a senior editor at Health Affairs and editor of the journal’s "Narrative Matters" section of health policy narratives. She also contributes reported pieces to the journal. Prior to joining Health Affairs, she was a reporter covering the medical technology industry for “The Gray Sheet.” Previously, she worked at Dickinson College. She is a playwright and writes frequently for the Washington Post Express. She studied writing and journalism at Johns Hopkins University and Northwestern University.

Last year Creative Nonfiction Magazine and Behind the Prose teamed up to bring you special excerpts from the amazing 2016 Creative Nonfiction Writers’ Conference (CNFWC).  (Remember Lee Gutkind’s feature panel on how Law and Order teaches story structure to creative nonfiction writers?) This year, if you couldn't join us in Pittsburgh, PA from May 27 – 29, we hooked you up with the chance to listen live via a special Behind the Prose episode. Here is an excerpt from the master class Structure for Longform Nonfiction presented by Lee Gutkind. Whether you’re writing a memoir, a journalistic book, or a longform essay or article, this class will explore options for structure in longer works.   ABOUT LEE GUTKIND Lee Gutkind is the founder and editor of Creative Nonfiction and a professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University. Even before he was spotlighted in Vanity Fair in 1997 as “the Godfather behind creative nonfiction,” he was the genre's most active advocate and practitioner. He has written and edited nonfiction books about subjects as varied as motorcycle subculture, child and adolescent mental illness, baseball umpires, veterinary medicine, and organ transplantation. His most recent book is You Can’t Make This Stuff Up: The Complete Guide to Writing Creative Nonfiction—from Memoir to Literary Journalism and Everything in Between.  

Lee Gutkind, “the godfather behind creative nonfiction” joins The Business of Story to share his expert advice on turning your business’s nonfiction into a dynamic and engaging epic. For more information on Lee and his journal, Creative Nonfiction, visit his website. The Business of Story is sponsored by ACT! and Zignal Labs ACT! helps individuals, small businesses, and sales teams organize prospect and customer details in just one place, ultimately driving sales. Visit http://actstory.com and enter to win a pair of BOSE noice-cancelling headphones.  Zignal Labs is a real-time cross-media story tracking platform to make your life easier to see relevant data and reach your customers where they are. Stay ahead of what the world thinks with a free trial at http://zignallabs.com/story. In This Episode Actionable tips to reveal your business’s universal truth and craft it into a fascinating story. How to think and organize your business’s story into story scenes to engage your audience. Methods to make your listener an actual participant in your story. The absolutely essential elements of a fantastic story. The important difference between public and personal stories. Resources LeeGutkind@gmail.com www.LeeGutkind.com Many Sleepless Nights by Lee Gutkind Almost Human, Making Robots Think by Lee Gutkind You Can't Make This Stuff Up by Lee Gutkind The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot www.Businessofstory.com   For more insights from your favorite storyellers, visit http://bit.ly/BizofStory .

In May, nearly 200 folks descended on the historic city of Pittsburgh to rub writing elbows with authors, essayists, journalists, and editors at the 2015 Creative Nonfiction Writers’ Conference. Maybe you were there. Maybe you weren’t. If you find yourself in the latter, shame on you. Your penance is to listen to this great episode of Behind the Prose featuring an amazing structure analogy by the “Godfather of Creative Nonfiction” Lee Gutkind. If you’ve ever struggled with how to pull together the narrative in a nonfiction piece, this excerpt of his opening presentation has got your name all over it. Plus, some folks in Michigan are giving away houses to writers. The innovative and perhaps pioneering initiative by Write A House takes the concept of a writers’ residency quite literally. And of course, I’ve got the check in for you and my web find of the week. Listen below or subscribe on iTunes.

Yes, you read it right. The legendary Lee Gutkind graces the Behind the Prose virtual studio for a chat with yours truly.  In this interview, we discuss everything from what time he goes to bed to how he crafted an overall narrative in a collection of stand-alone essays in his book Forever Fat: Essays by the Godfather. Plus, you get the scoop on what he's working on now and hear the answer to a question that he's never been asked before! Here's a preview of some of the great lessons he gives in this show: "The overall story determines the _______ and the __________ that you____________."  "Good advice to writers is to start with ________ __________."   If you can't fill in those blanks now, you will be able to after you listen to the show. After you've done all your good listening, head over to the Creative Nonfiction website and buy your passes to the 2015 Creative Nonfiction Writers' Conference featuring tons of amazing writers ready to share their wisdom with you. I will be there too. Come say hello!  

Award-winning journalists investigate the attempted assassination of Gabrielle Giffords and the unsolved lynching of Claude Neal; an identity thief finds herself confronted by one of her victims; a triple homicide rattles a high school swim team; a young adventurer supports her travels by smuggling Peruvian pre-Columbian artifacts; a woman struggles to live free of the ex-boyfriend who kidnapped and tortured her; and more. In this collection of 13 diverse and compelling narratives, writers--among them criminals, law enforcement officers, and victims--elevate their personal stories of crime into high-powered literature. The book also includes an interview with Erik Larson, author of The Devil in the White City. TRUE CRIME: Real Stories of Abduction, Addiction, Obsessiom, Murder, Graverobbing and More-Lee Gutkind  

Lee Gutkind and Dr. Dan Sarewitz engage in a friendly back and forth about how too much substance and not enough style or too much style and not enough substance can leave the reader unfulfilled. Free Royalty Free Music by DanoSongs.com

Lee Gutkind describes the importance of keeping the reader engaged with scene and story while at the same time giving them the information you want them to have. Free Royalty Free Music by DanoSongs.com

Lee Gutkind provides an in-depth overview of creative nonfiction and discusses the importance of using the narrative to communicate your point and engage the audience. Free Royalty Free Music by DanoSongs.com

Lee Gutkind provides a brief overview of the purpose of creative nonfiction and how creative nonfiction written by academics can provide much needed information to the general public. Free Royalty Free Music by DanoSongs.com

Colin Marshall talks to Lee Gutkind, founder and editor of Creative Nonfiction, the premiere journal of the eponymous genre of writing that combines the literary techniques of fiction with the reality of life itself. With its spring 2010 issue, it’s undergone a radical revision in look, feel and sensibility, shifting from academic journal to wider-interest magazine. He’s also the author of many books that fall under the creative nonfiction heading, exploring subjects like baseball, transplant surgeries and robotics. His latest, the father-son memoir Truckin’ with Sam: A Father and Son, The Mick and The Dyl, Rockin’ and Rollin’, On the Road, comes out this summer.

For this PodLit program, Lee Gutkind interviews Jeffrey Lependorf, the Executive Director of CLMP,  (Council of Literary Magazines andPresses), in Austin, Texas at the Association of Writers andWriting Programs conference.  In the interview, Jeffrey discussesthe difference between mission driven and bottom-line drivenpublishers, as well as the vital role mission driven publishersplay by discovering new writers.  For more information about Creative Nonfiction, the journal and the genre, visit www.creativenonfiction.org or e-mail us at information@creativenonfiction.org.

PodLit 6 features Lee Gutkind's interview with Mary Gannon, Editor of Poets & Writers Magazine. Poets & Writers Inc., the nation's largest non-profit literary organization, supports writers of all genres, but, until recently, did not include creative nonfiction writers in their Poets & Writers online directory of writers. Mary discusses the recent decision to add creative nonfiction writers to the directory, and Creative Nonfiction's role in the exciting change. Mary also offers advice to writers who are looking to publish in Poets & Writers, a primarily freelance-written magazine.To read more about our Poets & Writers issue (Creative Nonfiction Issue 26), which includes Lee Gutkind's editorial that started the campaign for Poets & Writers to include creative nonfiction writers in their directory, click here.  For more information about Creative Nonfiction, the journal and the genre, visit www.creativenonfiction.org or e-mail us at information@creativenonfiction.org.

In Issue 27 of Creative Nonfiction, we published Writing It Short: The Best of Brevity - creative nonfiction pieces of 750 words or less. For PodLit #5, Lee Gutkind talks with Dinty W. Moore, founder and editor of Brevity, the online journal of extremely brief nonfiction.  Lee interviewed Dinty at this year's Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference in Austin, Texas, where they discussed the challenge of writing brief nonfiction, the history and growing popularity of flash essays, and the writing process behind Dinty's new book, The Truth of the Matter: Art and Craft in Creative Nonfiction.To purchase Issue 27, click here. For more information about the genre and its signature journal, Creative Nonfiction, visit www.creativenonfiction.org or e-mail information@creativenonfiction.org.To learn more about this year's Mid-Atlantic Creative Nonfiction Writers' Conference, where Dinty W. Moore will be teaching, visit www.goucher.edu/x9141.xml.

This PodLit episode features Natalie Goldberg, a guest at last year's 412 Creative Nonfiction Literary Festival. Natalie is the author of 10 books of poetry, fiction and nonfiction, including Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, which has sold over one million copies. This program takes place at the Santa Fe Writers Conference, where Natalie reads from her latest book, The Great Failure: A Bartender, A Monk, and My Unlikely Path to Truth. After her reading, Natalie engages in a candid interview with Lee Gutkind, editor and founder of Creative Nonfiction, about the powerful reactions--positive and negative--her book evoked. For more information about the genre and its signature journal, Creative Nonfiction, visit www.creativenonfiction.org or e-mail information@creativenonfiction.org.

For PodLit's first podcast, Lee Gutkind, the godfather of creative nonfiction, refutes recent claims by publications such as the New York Times that the literary world is experiencing a creative nonfiction moment. By discussing the history and pioneers of the genre, as well as current nonfiction books, magazines and films, Lee reveals that creative nonfiction is a movement, not a moment. For more information about the genre and its signature journal, Creative Nonfiction, visit www.creativenonfiction.org or e-mail information@creativenonfiction.org. Please note: this is a large file and may take a few minutes to load.