The Creative Nonfiction Podcast with Brendan O'Meara

Episode 538: The Enduring Mystery of Amelia Earhart with Rachel Hartigan

"My career is not a straight path; it's a lot of happenstance where I just sort of somehow get a job and then figure out how to do it once I'm there," says Rachel Hartigan, author of Lost: Amelia Earhart's Three Mysterious Deaths and One Extraordinary Life.Today we have Rachel Hartigan, who, yes, is dignified and reputable. She’s the author of Lost: Amelia Earhart’s Three Mysterious Deaths and One Extraordinary Life. It’s published by Nat Geo.We share an agent, so that was how her book got on my radar. If you’re a relative newb to the Amelia Earhart story, Rachel’s book is a riveting take on the three main theories of Earhart’s tragic death either by castaway, captive, or having sunk at sea in her beautiful Lockheed Electra. Rachel weaves together all these theories with a lean, propulsive biography of a woman far ahead of her time.She’s written about everything from the genetics of persimmon trees to the long road to women’s suffrage for National Geographic. She is the former editor of the Washington Post's Book World and she has also covered education and culture for U.S News & World Report. You can learn more about her at rachelhartiganauthor.com. Had a lot of fun with this as we talk about: Happenstance Hard-earned experience Breaking down David Grann’s The Lost City of Z Modeling a text Focusing on clarity Being in partnership with the reader Being a minimalist interviewer Saying yes to things Finding something new to say about Earhart Why Earhart is still appealing to this day Cave Day And learning how to sell your story as if you’re telling it at a cocktail party (this echoes Alex Ronan’s quip)Pair this episode with David Grann's two appearances, Nick Davidson's appearances, as well Cassidy Randall's appearances.

Episode 537: Pamela Colloff's Now-or-Never Moment with 'Catch the Devil'

"I feel like before I have the confidence to write in the way that I want to write, where I really own the material, I have to spend so much time with people. I will say at the outset, once I walk someone through what it's going to involve after they say yes to talking to me, I'll say I'm going to be around a lot and you're going to get sick of me," says Pamela Colloff, author of Catch the Devil.Today’s guest, I mean, wow, from the bottom of the diaphragm up, wow. It’s Pamela Colloff. You know her from her National Magazine Award winning work for Texas Monthly and ProPublica/The New York Times Magazine. She’s THE premier investigative reporter in the country and she’s now the author of Catch the Devil: A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast. It’s published by Knopf.This book upends what you think a true crime story is about where the true villain isn’t a person at all. It chronicles, among others, Paul Skalnik, a jailhouse snitch, whose non-credible testimony places numerous men on death row, Jim Dailey, in particular, and Pamela takes us through this riveting narrative and punishing commentary on capital punishment and why Florida seems hellbent on being No. 1 in executions.Here’s just a slice of what Pam is about: She is a two-time National Magazine Award winner, once for reporting and once for feature writing. Her work has been adapted for narrative and documentary films including Tower, which was short-listed in 2016 for an Oscar. Her work has been anthologized in Best American Magazine Writing, Best American Crime Reporting, and Next Wave: America’s New Generation of Great Literary Journalists. She joined ProPublica/The New York Times Magazine in 2017 after many years at Texas Monthly. Listen, I could go on. You get the gist.In this episode, we talk about: What drew her to Tom Wolfe and Hunter S. Thompson Speaking with Tom Junod The Boys Club of longform writing Her start at Texas Monthly Being a journalism dork The elation and despair How every story is a Rubix cube The Skip Hollandsworth Method Owning the material Knowing when to quote and when not to Idea generation Writing is hard How magazine writing and book writing are different animals Why Catch the Devil is her now-or-never moment Beginnings are the worst Being more disciplined with a book vs. magazine writing Writing in this attention economyPair this episode with Ep. 255 with Maddy Crowell and Ep. 414 with John Rosengren, and many other Atavist true crimey pods, too many to mention here. I’d also chuck in Ep. 224 with Patrick Radden Keefe. He’ll be back on the show for the paperback run of London Calling.

Episode 536: The Blood, Flesh, and Messiness of Human Existence with Matthew Wolfe

"I love talking with people. I also like that process of trying to shape messy reality into some kind of story, or that moment when you're alone with your notes, and you're trying to figure out how to organize it, and how to bend it into something that works as a story that will carry readers. That's the probably that's the kind of calmest moment for me," says Matthew Wolfe, author of Fires in the Night: The Earth Liberation Front, the FBI, and Secret History of Eco-Sabotage.Hey, CNFers, another LIVE podcast recording, this at Hodgepodge Books & Taps in Eugene, where I spoke to author and journalist Matthew Wolfe and about the art and craft of telling true stories. Pretty great. I love bringing my rig to places and gigging the podcast. This was a standing-room only event and they sold out of books, and two kegs were kicked. Is it the CNF Pod effect? You tell me.Matthew was on the show last year when he had an Atavist story so I HAD to talk to him, haha, but he reached out to me several weeks ago wondering if I’d be willing to interview him as part of a book event and I was like, I know a venue and we’ll make it a podcast. HIs book is Fires in the Night: The Earth Liberation Front, the FBI, and a Secret History of Eco-Sabotage. It’s published by Viking.I cut out the Q&A portion of this because you couldn’t hear the question and I wasn’t assertive enough to repeat the question into the mic. I’ll be better about that in the future, but also, that’s the ephemeral part of the live experience: part of why we attend live events is because it’s here and then it isn’t.So in this live podcast, Matt and I talk about: The ledger of invisible debts Asking questions in a stakeless way How Matt interviews Shaping messy realities How research is like cooking Broad stroke outlining Writing through quotes Why he’s still drawn to this kind of work Competing with the phone And the blood, flesh, and messiness of human existenceDo enjoy.

Episode 535: Alex Ronan's Masterclass in the Depth of Reporting

"One of the things that Patrick Radden Keefe told me was, when I'm doing interviews, I'm always thinking about the anecdote that I will tell someone later at a bar, this is the thing I talk about. That's helpful because there's so much to work with even in one interview or one scene, and the those little gems that you pull out instinctively when you're talking to other people have value, and so I'm often thinking about that in terms of writing," says Alex Ronan, who wrote "The Extremist in the Family" for the Atavist Magazine.Today we welcome Alex Ronan who wrote The Extremist in the Family: The Kerrs were devoted to one another and to their faith. But when one of their own rejected modern medicine in the name of God, they faced a dire question: What if her children ever needed a doctor to save their lives?There’s a note as well: This story contains descriptions of child abuse and death. It draws from testimony given by many of the named subjects and extensive court records.That sets the table, no? It reminded me of the Metallica song “The God That Failed.” You should check it out. It’s what happens when people who believe in divine healing reject medical treatment on religious grounds and die. This story has newborn deaths in it, wholly preventable with a little vaccine that addresses Rh incompatibility. Essentially, when an Rh negative mother conceives a child with an Rh positive father, and the fetus is Rh positive, the mother creates antibodies that attack the fetus’s blood cells, which will lead to a potentially fatal case of jaundice, if untreated within a day or so after birth. Abigail, the baby, was Rh positive. Prayers did not, nor could they ever, have saved her. She wasn’t the only one.Alex Ronan is a journalist whose work has appeared in Elle, New York, The New York Times, n + 1, The Nation, and Vogue. She was a 2023 recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship. She has had work optioned for film/television by Amazon Studios and Hulu, which is kinda cray. You can find her on Instagram at alexronan and on Substack at reallyalexronan.This was a really rich conversation, and she really came to play ball, which I always appreciate. We talk about:Using short fiction as a model for nonfiction writing How she builds character in nonfiction Active listening Divine healing The family, the story, and the stakes Putting the reader in different people’s shoes Walking before writing Seeking the anecdote (a tip she learned from Patrick Radden Keefe) The power of practice And what she struggles withParting shot will be right after this part of the podcast. Let’s wait no more. Here’s Alex Ronan.

Episode 534: Shoeleather Reporting and Exploring the Riddles of America with Wil Haygood

"The mission of a nonfiction writer is to get the damn thing done," says Wil Haygood, author of several books, including his latest The War Within A War: The Black Struggle in Vietnam and at Home.I’m so thrilled to welcome back Wil Haygood to the show to talk about and celebrate his latest book The War Within a War: The Black Struggle in Vietnam and at Home. It’s published by Knopf.Wil is one of the most accomplished journalists and authors working in American letters and just a good-ass dude. He’s the author of several books including The Butler (which was made into a movie), Showdown, The Harlem Renaissance, In Black and White, Sweet Thunder, and Colorization.He and I both have ties to the Goucher College MFA in Creative Nonfiction Program and he was generous enough to blurb my first book, Six Weeks in Saratoga, and it’s those little things like that that can make an insecure, low-on-confidence person like myself feel like a king for a day.Had a great time catching up with Wil. He was on the podcast back on Ep. 295 when I interviewed him as part of Goucher’s winter residency, so that’s a fun one to check out. When we spoke, the U.S. had just started bombing Iran in a senseless barrage of violence that appears to have been a monumental loss for the U.S., so that is some of the context of this conversation as we talk about Vietnam and how this country still wrestles with the legacy of it. Wil is one of the good ones and so happy you get to hear him chat about: How he needs the research to be finished before he writes Exploring the riddles of America His encounters with the late great David Halberstam How luck and fortune come into play Shoeleather reporting Tape recorders and notebooks The stirring cover of this book Why this country still grapples with the Vietnam War Highlighting untold stories of women who served during Vietnam And what kept him going through the doubtStick around for a parting shot Chuckanut conference prep and an update on the forthcoming audio magazine.