The Sunday Long Read Podcast

Latest Episodes:

SLR Podcast Classics : Wright Thompson & Seth Wickersham Dec 29, 2024

Show notes

This holiday season, we are rereleasing some of our favorite Sunday Long Read Podcast episodes of all time. A few years ago, SLR cofounder Don Van Natta Jr. spoke to his friends and colleagues, Wright Thompson and Seth Wickersham about their careers, finding your voice in writing and share some fun stories :

This episode of The Sunday Long Read Podcast was produced by Matthew Whitehurst. The Sunday Long Read Podcast is executive produced by Étienne Lajoie.

SLR Podcast Classics : Jeanne Marie Laskas Dec 22, 2024

Show notes

This holiday season, we are rereleasing some of our favorite Sunday Long Read Podcast episodes of all time. Around five years ago, SLR cofounder Jacob Feldman spoke to journalist Jeanne Marie Laskas about her GQ profile of then Presidential candidate Joe Biden, political writing and story ideas. Show notes :

This episode of The Sunday Long Read Podcast was produced by Matthew Whitehurst. The Sunday Long Read Podcast is executive produced by Étienne Lajoie.

Behind The Story : Lizzie Presser Dec 11, 2024

Show notes

In one of her latest longform articles for ProPublica, reporter Lizzie Presser tells the story of teenagers caught on opposite sides of the drug trade: those who are selling opioids and those who are using them. In an interview with SLR Contributor Amanda Ulrich, Presser talks about her writing and research process and shares her personal reflections on the drug trade. Read Lizzie Presser's piece : ‘Teens and fentanyl’: ProPublica’s Lizzie Presser weaves an emotional story about the impacts of the drug trade This episode of The Sunday Long Read Podcast was produced by Amanda Ulrich and Matthew Whitehurst. The Sunday Long Read Podcast is executive produced by Étienne Lajoie.

Behind The Story: ‘What’s the Deal with Republicans and Steakhouses?’ Nov 02, 2024

Show notes

Why do steakhouses have such a stranglehold on Republicans in Washington D.C.? Washingtonian's Jessica Sidman joined one of the party members to find out and ended up having “the most Washington night of my entire life in Washington.” Ahead of Election Day, SLR Contributor Amanda Ulrich spoke to Sidman about her reporting, getting to the bottom of the fascinating connections between parties, food preferences, messaging, and identity on the Hill. They also discuss why President Biden and his wife Jill turned heads for their order during a recent visit to an Italian restaurant. Read Jessica's piece : What’s the Deal With Republicans and Steakhouses?
This episode of The Sunday Long Read Podcast was produced by Amanda Ulrich and Matthew Whitehurst. The Sunday Long Read Podcast is executive produced by Étienne Lajoie.

What’s Truly a “True Story” in Hollywood (with Naomi Despres & John Gatins) Jul 26, 2024

Show notes

In March, after years of work, producer Naomi Despres and screenwriter John Gatins released “Little Wing,” the story of a young pigeon racer, first told by Susan Orlean, in The New Yorker. In this episode of The Sunday Long Read Podcast, Despres and Gatins explain the trials and tribulations of getting an adaptation like this one out into the world and how much loyalty is owed to the authors of the original tale.

Naomi Despres is the producer of the movies “Little Wing,” starring Brooklynn Prince and Brian Cox, “Kill the Messenger,” and others. John Gatins wrote “Little Wing,” as well as “Flight,” featuring Denzel Washington, and “Coach Carter.”

Show notes :

Little Wing (Trailer)

Little Wing (The New Yorker, 2006)

Adaptation (Trailer)

Kill the Messenger (Trailer)

Kill the Messenger: How the CIA's Crack-Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb

Peter Landesman’s New York Times archives

The Girls Next Door (The New York Times Magazine, 2004)

Sex Slaves, Revisited (Slate, 2005)

Coach Carter (Trailer)

Team Is Benched Because of Grades (The Associated Press, 1999)

Ken Carter interview with Katie Couric (1999)

The Year of Living Dangerously (Trailer)

Texas Monthly's adaptation boom (with Megan Creydt) Jul 12, 2024

Show notes

Over the last few years, Texas Monthly has had a booming success on the big and small screen, turning impeccable stories into films and TV series. In an interview with The Sunday Long Read’s Jacob Feldman, Texas Monthly’s Executive Producer for TV, films and podcasts, Megan Creydt, explains how it all happened.

Show notes :

Lawrence Wright’s Texas Monthly archives

Bill Broyles’s Texas Monthly archives

Katy Vine’s Texas Monthly archives

Love and Death in Silicon Prairie, Part I: Candy Montgomery’s Affair (Texas Monthly, 1984)

Hit Man (Texas Monthly, 2001)

Speaking To The Nerds (with Marc Bernardin) Jun 28, 2024

Show notes

A self-described “Star War Kid” and “nerd,” Marc Bernardin left journalism a few years ago to follow his dream: becoming a television writer. Bernardin explains to host Jacob Feldman why nerd culture took over entertainment, and what it was like making the jump from magazine newsroom to Hollywood writers’ room.

Marc Bernardin is a writer, director, and producer on shows such as Picard, Carnival Row and The Continental. He has also won a Writers Guild Award for his work on the show Castle Rock. Bernardin has also written multiple comic books and is the co-host, with Kevin Smith, of the podcast Fat Man Beyond.

Show notes :

Starlog Magazine

Marc Bernardin’s Entertainment Weekly archive

Marc Bernardin’s Hollywood Reporter archive

Elon Musk: Good Samaritan or Great Supervillain? (The Hollywood Reporter, 2013)

The Art of Big Audience Storytelling (with Jessica Pressler) Jun 13, 2024

Show notes

In a span of only three years, two of Jessica Pressler’s New York Magazine stories ended up on screen, a journey that involved a playdate with Julia Stiles in Queens. In an interview with Don Van Natta Jr., Pressler recounts her experience writing the original stories and the oddness of seeing herself played in a film twice.

Jessica Pressler is a contributor to New York Magazine. Her 2015 piece “The Hustlers at Scores,” which became the movie “Hustlers,” starring Jennifer Lopez, was nominated for a National Magazine Award. Pressler is a native of Marblehead, Massachusetts.
Show notes :

The Hustlers at Scores (New York Magazine, 2015)

How Anna Delvey Tricked New York's Party People (New York Magazine, 2018)

Leo, Prince of the City (New York Magazine, 1998)
Jessica Pressler’s Philadelphia Magazine archives

The Boston Phoenix

Jessica Pressler’s Gossip Girl recaps (Vulture, 2012)

Take a Joke, Episode 4: Edith Zimmerman Nov 09, 2023

Show notes

Edith Zimmerman rocketed to media stardom early in her career. Her editing of the influential and hilarious website The Hairpin got her a place on Forbes’ 30 under 30—at only twenty-eight, she was a “much sought after writer,” noted the magazine.
Zimmerman hasn’t lost an ounce of her humor in the years since, but she has slowly rediscovered herself. In the last episode of Take a Joke, Zimmerman and host Don Van Natta Jr. share their respective experiences stopping drinking, reminisce about the glory days of Internet writing and chat about Zimmerman’s cartooning.
➢ Forbes 30 Under 30: Media : Edith Zimmerman (2011)
➢ Letters to the Editors of Women’s Magazines (2010)
➢ Chris Evans: American Marvel (2011)