Jared Sullivan got his start primarily editing and admired the kinds of writers and reporters who do both well, like a David Remnick. Valley So Low is Jared's new book, and it is along the lines of Jonathan Harr’s A Civil Action and illustrates the toll that greed and negligence exert on the people exposed to toxins and the cost cases of this nature take on the legal team, both financial and physical.

Jared’s work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Garden & Gun, Men’s Journal, and Field & Stream.

Pre-order The Front Runner [https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-front-runner-brendan-omeara?variant=43044900962338]

Sponsor: The Power of Narrative Conference [https://combeyond.bu.edu/offering/the-power-of-narrative-conference/]. Use CNF15 at checkout for a 15% discount.

Newsletter: Rage Against the Algorithm [https://rageagainstthealgorithm.beehiiv.com/]

Show notes: brendanomeara.com [http://brendanomeara.com/]

Support: Patreon.com/cnfpod [http://patreon.com/cnfpod]

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

Steven Hyden (@steven_hydenwriter) is a music critic for Uproxx, producer of Break Stuff, the podcast about Woodstock 99, story producer for the the documentary Yacht Rock, and the author of Twilight of the Gods, This Isn’t Happening, Hard to Handle, and Long Road. His latest is There Was Nothing You Could Do: Bruce Springtseen’s ‘Born in the USA’ and the End of the Heartland (Hachette Books). For Steven, he keeps his critic brain and his fan brain fully intact. One needs the other.

Gosh, we recorded this back in June, and I’m just about caught up with the really old recordings. In this episode we talk about connections and culture, how a critic has the power to ruin a band or album for you, and losing control of a generational narrative. Really great chat about Pearl Jam, Bruce, and writing a book that provides context to the current time and the era it was forged.

Sponsor: The Power of Narrative Conference [https://combeyond.bu.edu/offering/the-power-of-narrative-conference/]. Use CNF15 at checkout for a 15% discount.

Newsletter: Rage Against the Algorithm [https://rageagainstthealgorithm.beehiiv.com/]

Show notes: brendanomeara.com [http://brendanomeara.com/]

Support: Patreon.com/cnfpod [http://patreon.com/cnfpod]



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

Seth Wickersham (@seth.wickersham on IG) didn't always want to be a sports writer, but he found his way to it by being a high school quarterback,  covering the University of Missouri Tigers, and "crashing the party" at the Super Bowl with fellow writers Wright Thompson and Justin Heckert. 

This episode was a chance to revisit his amazing story on its ten-year anniversary, "Awakening the Giant [https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/11214487/hall-fame-quarterback-ya-tittle-takes-final-trip-home-espn-magazine]," about Y.A. Tittle.  Seth also is the author of It's Better to be Feared about the New England Patriots dynasty, a book twenty years in the making. He's a senior writer for ESPN.com and often collaborates with the Pulitzer Prize-winning Don Van Natta Jr. on deeply reported pieces on the NFL.

Newsletter: Rage Against the Algorithm [https://rageagainstthealgorithm.beehiiv.com/]

Show notes: brendanomeara.com [http://brendanomeara.com/]

Support: Patreon.com/cnfpod [http://patreon.com/cnfpod]

Episode 441: Seth Wickersham Gets Them Out of the Building

Kate McQueen is the editorial director for the Pollen Initiative and a literary journalist whose work is featured this month for The Atavist Magazine.

The story chronicles the story of Carl von Ossietzky, a German journalist imprisoned for his dissent at the start of Hitler's rise to power. A cohort of fellow journalists sought a means to break him out. How did they do it?

Newsletter: Rage Against the Algorithm [https://rageagainstthealgorithm.beehiiv.com/]

Show notes: brendanomeara.com [http://brendanomeara.com/]

Support: Patreon.com/cnfpod [http://patreon.com/cnfpod]

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

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Paul Peart-Smith talk about how and why graphic interpretations are such a powerful vector for storytelling. Roxanne's An Indigenous People's History of the United States is a must-read and Paul's rendering is the perfect gateway in.

Newsletter: Rage Against the Algorithm [https://rageagainstthealgorithm.beehiiv.com/]

Show notes: brendanomeara.com [http://brendanomeara.com/]

Support: Patreon.com/cnfpod [http://patreon.com/cnfpod]

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

Taiyon J. Coleman a professor and the author of Traveling without Moving: Essays from a Black Woman Trying to Survive in America (Univ. of Minnesota Press).

Newsletter: Rage Against the Algorithm [https://rageagainstthealgorithm.beehiiv.com/]

Show notes: brendanomeara.com [http://brendanomeara.com/]

Support: Patreon.com/cnfpod [http://patreon.com/cnfpod] 

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

Wudan Yan (@wudanyan) is a freelancer writer and founder of Factual [https://factual.squarespace.com/], a one-of-a-kind agency committed to fact-checking.

Newsletter: Rage Against the Algorithm [https://rageagainstthealgorithm.beehiiv.com/]

Show notes: brendanomeara.com [http://brendanomeara.com/]

Support: Patreon.com/cnfpod [http://patreon.com/cnfpod]

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

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 Algorithm [https://rageagainstthealgorithm.beehiiv.com/]

Show notes: brendanomeara.com [http://brendanomeara.com/]

Support: Patreon.com/cnfpod [http://patreon.com/cnfpod]

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

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 Algorithm [https://rageagainstthealgorithm.beehiiv.com/]

Show notes: brendanomeara.com [http://brendanomeara.com/]

Support: Patreon.com/cnfpod [http://patreon.com/cnfpod]

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

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 Algorithm [https://rageagainstthealgorithm.beehiiv.com/]

Show notes: brendanomeara.com [http://brendanomeara.com/]

Support: Patreon.com/cnfpod [http://patreon.com/cnfpod]

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

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!

Brendan O'Meara

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