The Creative Nonfiction Podcast with Brendan O'Meara
Arts
Brendan O'Meara
The Creative Nonfiction Podcast with Brendan O'Meara is a weekly podcast that showcases leaders in narrative journalism, essay, memoir, documentary film, radio and podcasts about the art and craft of telling true stories. Follow the show @creativenonfictionpodcast on Instagram and Threads and visit patreon.com/cnfpod to support!
Episode 436: Mira Ptacin and the Story of How One Town Drove Out a Nazi
Mira Ptacin (@miramptacin) 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
01:08:3601/11/2024
Episode 435: Seth Godin Travels at the Speed of Trust in 'This is Strategy'
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
45:0225/10/2024
Episode 434: Mirin Fader on Notebooks, Finding the Breakthrough, Biography, and "Dream"
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
45:2318/10/2024
Episode 433: The Perils of Playing it Safe with Chase Jarvis
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
01:00:1311/10/2024
Episode 432: Betsy Golden Kellem, Scholar of the Unusual, Closet Historian, Atavist Writer
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
57:0204/10/2024
Episode 431: Sean Enfield, Author of 'Holy American Burnout' Hates the Word Burnout
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
59:5427/09/2024
Episode 430: Louisa Thomas Knows How to End a Story
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
26:5320/09/2024
Episode 429: What Does It Mean to be a 'Hungry Author'?
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
52:3213/09/2024
Episode 428: Brin-Jonathan Butler Remembers Flacco the Owl
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
01:43:5406/09/2024
Episode 427: Kelsey Rexroat on Dealing with the Monstrosity
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
57:5630/08/2024
Episode 426: Asking for Blurbs, Unauthorized Biographies, and the Mystery of Aaron Rodgers with Ian O'Connor
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
01:11:4423/08/2024
Episode 425: The Most Brazen of Genres with Madeleine Blais
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/cnfpodIn the parting shot, I made an error in math referring to the number of hypothetical Mondays remaining in my life. The "correct" number is 1,872. The error has been scrubbed.
01:10:3916/08/2024
Episode 424: Tommy Tomlinson on Aiming for One-Word Summations, the Blurt, and 'Dogland'
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
01:06:1409/08/2024
Episode 423: Rhana Natour and Eman Mohammed Take You Up Close for The Atavist
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
01:15:2802/08/2024
Episode 422: Thirty Years of "The Last Shot," Lessons from Obstacles, and Old-School Note Taking with Darcy Frey
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
01:13:3826/07/2024
Episode 421: Cole Heilborn says, "We're Gonna Find What We Find"
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
01:12:5719/07/2024
Episode 420: Rebecca Renner Makes the Pig
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
01:14:1012/07/2024
Episode 419: Maggie Gigandet Red Paperclipped Her Way into Freelancing
Maggie Gigandet is a freelance writer whose piece "The Extra Mile" appears in the Atavist Magazine.In this episode we also hear from editor-in-chief Seyward Darby.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:08:5805/07/2024
Episode 418: Surrendering to the Subconscious with John Julius Reel
John Julius Reel (@johnjuliusreel) is a writer, memoirist, and language teacher who lives in Spain with his family. He's the author of My Half Orange: A Story of Love and Language in Seville (Tortoise Books).Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:23:1128/06/2024
Episode 417: 'Stories Can Save Us' and the Enduring Legacy of Matt Tullis
Justin Heckert (@justinheckert) is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in countless publications from Esquire to The Ringer, from Garden & Gun to the New York Times Magazine. Justin wrote the afterward to the late Matt Tullis's post-humous book Stories Can Save Us (Univ. of George Press).Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:24:0521/06/2024
Episode 416: A Lifelong Search for Voice with Acamea Deadwiler
Acamea Deadwiler is an essayist and memoirist and the author of Daddy's Little Stranger.This is a really rich conversation about how her book was once a collection of essays, but she had to rewrite it as a more cohesive memoir, finding voice, breaking down a piece of writing like game tape, and what playing basketball and getting cut taught her about a career in writing.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:06:4714/06/2024
Episode 415: Sam Jefferies, Hammering Out Screed
Sam Jefferies is the author of Legacy on Ice: Blake Geoffrion and the Fastest Game on Earth (Univ. of Wisconsin Press).Sam talks about how he built scenes, folded in the book writing and reporting around his family and day job, listening to tape on commutes to get the material into his bloodstream, and maintaining a sense of individual style without exhausting the reader.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:09:0407/06/2024
Episode 414: John Rosengren on Cuts, Note Taking, and Darkness for The Atavist
John Rosengren is a journalist based out of Minnesota whose "Anatomy of a Murder" marks Issue 151 for The Atavist Magazine.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
57:1131/05/2024
Episode 413: Young Woman and the Sea, from Book to Movie
Glenn Stout is the author of Young Woman and the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World. It's now out in movie theaters and re-issued as a movie tie-in paperback by Mariner Books.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
56:4424/05/2024
Episode 412: Leaving the Emotional Moments Unsaid with Lilly Dancyger
Lilly Dancyger (@lillydancyger) is a writer and editor whose latest book is First Love: Essays on Friendship (Dial Press).In this episode Lilly talks about her trepidation around writing a true-crime memoir, braided essays, book marketing, and when to let the emotion of the moment do the talking.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
57:4617/05/2024
Episode 411: The Heart Part and Big Dreams with Isa Adney
Isa Adney (@isaadney) is a writer and documentary producer and the author of The Little Book of Big Dreams: True Stories About People Who Followed a Spark (She Writes Press).Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:15:2710/05/2024
Episode 410: Brian Fairbanks and "The Last Shall be First"
Brian Fairbanks is an author and journalist whose piece for the 150th issue of the Atavist Magazine, The Last Shall be First, chronicles the actions of a corrupt New Orleans cop and his trail of victims still crying for justice.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:19:2203/05/2024
Episode 409: Chain Smoking Book Projects with Earl Swift
Earl Swift is the best-selling author of Hell Put to Shame: The 1921 Murder Farm Massacre and the Horror of America's Second Slavery (Mariner Books).In this episode we talk about how Earl strings together book projects and what this story from more than 100 years ago still says about today.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:02:3926/04/2024
Episode 408: North to Trees, South to Gold with Ruby McConnell
Ruby McConnell (@rubygonewild) is one of our great environmental writers and her latest book is Wilderness and the American Spirit. It's published by Overcup Press.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:02:5019/04/2024
Episode 407: Alex Squadron Respects the Grind
Alex Squadron is a sports writer for Slam Magazine and the author of Life in the G: Minor League Basketball and the Relentless Pursuit of the NBA.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:04:5912/04/2024
Episode 406: When to Share a WIP with Darrell Hartman
Darrell Hartman (@dwhartman) is the author of The Battle of Ink and Ice: A Sensational Story of News Barons, North Pole Explorers, and the Making of Modern Media. It is published by Viking.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
58:2005/04/2024
Episode 405: Hallie Lieberman and the Drawer of Dead Pitches
Hallie Lieberman (@hallielieberman) is a journalist, writer, and historian. She's the author of Buzz: A Stimulating History of the Sex Toy. Her latest piece for The Atavist is "The Handcuff Man." Visit magazine.atavist.com to read it.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:17:5529/03/2024
Episode 404: Hanif Abdurraqib's Nod to Witnessing in 'There's Always This Year'
Hanif Abdurraqib is poet, critic, and author of several books, including There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension (Random House).In this episode we talk about his nod to witnessing, specificity, intentionality, making it, and LeBron James.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:02:5122/03/2024
Episode 403: Elizabeth Rush Moves Toward Exactitude
Elizabeth Rush is the author of The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth (Milkweed).Liz talks about writing toward exactitude, lyricing her way through sticking points, being a character in her own work, and voice.For a couple weeks, visit combeyond.bu.edu, use the promo code NARRATIVE25 at checkout and get 25% your tuition for the two-day Power of Narrative Conference. And, no, I don’t get any dough.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:07:4315/03/2024
Episode 402: The Stentorian-Voiced Dudely Bro-ness of Rob Harvilla
Rob Harvilla (@harvilla on X) is a staff writer for The Ringer and the host and creator of the long-running 60 Songs that Explain the 90s. His first book is 60 Songs that Explain the 90s.We talk about the end of the podcast, the evolution of voice, and the maze he purposefully escapes each episode.For a couple weeks, visit combeyond.bu.edu, use the promo code NARRATIVE25 at checkout and get 25% your tuition for the two-day Power of Narrative Conference. And, no, I don’t get any dough.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:09:1108/03/2024
Episode 401: Jessica Camille Aguirre on Racking Up Rejections, Online Nothing Burgers, and The Atavist's "Watch It Burn"
Jessica Camille Aguirre (@jessicacaguirre) is a freelance journalist and wrote "Watch it Burn" for The Atavist Magazine.In this episode we talk about racking up rejections, voice, and what makes climate stories drag.For a couple weeks, visit combeyond.bu.edu, use the promo code NARRATIVE25 at checkout and get 25% your tuition for the two-day Power of Narrative Conference. And, no, I don’t get any dough.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:15:4101/03/2024
Episode 400: Richard Blanco on Fever Writing and Finding the Poem within the Poem
Richard Blanco was the Presidential Inaugural poet at Pres. Obama's second inauguration, a winner of the National Humanities Award medal, and the author of Homeland of My Body (Beacon Press).Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:15:4923/02/2024
Now in Paperback: 'Simple is the Way to Go' with Mirin Fader
This originally aired on December 10, 2021 as Episode 291.Mirin Fader is the author of Giannis: The Improbably Rise of an MVP and a staff writer writing features for The Ringer. She is @mirinfader on social media.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:09:2716/02/2024
Now in Paperback: Leslie Jamison — Make It Scream, Make It Burn, and the Bounded Infinity of Nonfiction
This originally aired on September 27, 2019 as Episode 170.Leslie Jamison is the best selling author of several books including Make it Scream, Make it Burn. She has a new book out (not talked about in this paperback edition) called Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
50:4809/02/2024
Episode 399: William Ralston Recounts a Harrowing Rescue for The Atavist
William Ralston is a freelance journalist based out of the UK. In this episode, we talk about his Atavist piece "Mayday."Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
46:1902/02/2024
Episode 398: Emily Sohn Explores the Complicated Legacy of Virginia Kraft
Emily Sohn is a freelance journalist and wrote "The Catch," a gripping profile of pioneering sports writer Virginia Kraft for Long Lead.Emily talks about how she arrived at the story, writing through the research, and the dark night of the soul of a piece of writing.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:00:1426/01/2024
Now in Paperback: Howard Bryant says, 'Everybody Gets Forgotten'
This originally aired on June 10, 2022 as Episode 320.Howard Bryant is the bestselling author of several books, including Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original (Mariner Books).Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:12:3819/01/2024
Now in Paperback: Matt Bell Refuses to be Done, Dammit
This episode originally aired on March 4, 2022 as Episode 305Matt Bell is the author of the craft book Refuse to be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts. It's published by Soho.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:05:0312/01/2024
Episode 397: Leah Sottile Riffs on Kurt Vonnegut's Rules on Writing
Leah Sottile is the author of When the Moon Turns to Blood, which is now out in paperback. She added a new chapter that concludes the Lori Vallow saga.Leah also talks about: Kurt Vonnegut's rules on writing Writing about overlooked people And putting a bow on her first bookNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
52:5705/01/2024
Episode 396: Rae Nudson on Earning Trust, The Atavist, and the Pint-of-Ice-Cream Moment
Rae Nudson is a journalist and author and she's on the show to talk about her piece for The Atavist Magazine.We also hear from Atavist editor-in-chief Seyward Darby as we close out 2023.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:30:5629/12/2023
Now in Paperback: Jackie MacMullan on the Fear of Failure, Writing that Teaches You, and the Final Chapter of 'Best American Sports Writing'
This originally aired as Episode 244 on February 26, 2021.Jackie MacMullan is a long time sports writer for The Boston Globe, ESPN.com, and author of several best-selling books covering the NBA. She was the final guest editor of The Best American Sports Writing series.Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
53:3122/12/2023
Episode 395: "The Six," Mini-Deadlines and the Twang with Loren Grush
Loren Grush is a space journalist for Bloomberg and the author of The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women Astronauts. In this episode, Loren talks about: Centering women in space Mini-deadlines And what is the "twang"?Newsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:03:1615/12/2023
Episode 394: Athena Dixon is OK with the Plateau
Athena Dixon is the author of The Loneliness Files (Tin House) and The Incredible Shrinking Woman. Her work has appeared in Hippocampus Magazine, Lit Hub, and The Rumpus.In this episode, Athena talks about: Writing quietly Being OK with the plateau Throat clearing And how to find a damn residencyNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
50:1308/12/2023
Episode 393: Katya Cengel and Finding Enough 'There' There for The Atavist
Katya Cengel (@kcengel) is a journalist and author who wrote "The Truth is Out There" for The Atavist Magazine. In this episode we also here from editor Jonah Ogles on: What sets pitches over the top Pitching multiple timesAnd trustKatya takes over and talks about: Untidy endings Earning trust with sources And finding enough 'there' thereNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.comSocial: @creativenonfiction podcast on IG and ThreadsSupport: Patreon.com/cnfpod
01:08:3001/12/2023
Now in Paperback: Susan Orlean on Writing for an Audience and the Entrepreneurial Nature of a Writing Career
This episode originally aired as Episode 61 on August 11, 2017.Susan Orlean is the best selling author of The Library Book, The Orchid Thief, and Rin Tin Tin. She's a longtime staff writer for The New Yorker and you can find her on Threads @susanorlean.In this episode, Susan talks about: always having an audience in mind having supreme focus and needing to see yourself as a business person if you plan on doing this type of work Subscribe to the podcast wherever and check out the show notes and the Rage Against the Algorithm newsletter at brendanomeara.com.
01:04:0524/11/2023