The Sunday Long Read Podcast

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**The Sunday Long Read Podcast**

Pulitzer-winning reporter Don Van Natta Jr. and journalist Jacob Feldman chat with writers and editors from across the industry as an audio extension of The Sunday Long Read e-mail newsletter.

Latest Episodes:

Episode 38: Charles Duhigg Oct 27, 2019

Show notes

Charles Duhigg is a 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, the author of The Power of Habit, and a magazine writer who most recently published an in-depth look at Amazon's world-eating growth for The New Yorker.
“The first question I might ask is, ‘I’m really sorry, I don’t know enough to know what question to ask you. What do you think is the most interesting thing I could ask you about x?’ It catches them off guard ... and they always come up with some suggested question that never would have occurred to me — because they know their own brain better than I could ever know it by asking them questions to get at it.”
Jacob and Charles discuss how every corporate job at Amazon is really the same, how longform and books allow a conversation around a subject to linger, and reporting style and tips for podcasts, print and books — including using LinkedIn to find sources and stories.
Charles can be found on Twitter @cduhigg and emailed at charles@charlesduhigg.com (he promises to get back to anyone who reaches out).
[0:57] Is Amazon Unstoppable? (New Yorker, 10.10.19)
[1:09] Did Uber Steal Google’s Intellectual Property? (New Yorker, 10.15.18)
[9:52] The iEconomy (New York Times, 2012)
[10:41] Covering the Cops (New Yorker, 2.9.86)
[14:31] Amazon’s Next-Day Delivery Has Brought Chaos And Carnage To America’s Streets — But The World’s Biggest Retailer Has A System To Escape The Blame (BuzzFeed News, 8.31.19)
[14:32] His Mother Was Killed by a Van Making Amazon Deliveries. Here’s the Letter He Wrote to Jeff Bezos. (ProPublica, 9.5.19)
[14:40] Amazon Has Ceded Control of Its Site. The Result: Thousands of Banned, Unsafe or Mislabeled Products (Wall Street Journal, 8.23.19)
[14:50] Jeff Bezos’s Master Plan (The Atlantic, 10.10.19)
[16:39] “On the Clock: What Low-Wage Work Did to Me and How It Drives America Insane” (Little, Brown and Company, 2019)
[18:23] Emily Guendelsberger’s Twitter thread (10.18.19)
[23:01] “The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business” (Random House, 2012
[23:01] “Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business” (Random House, 2016)
[28:58] “How To!” Podcast (Slate, 2019)
[51:30] Zuckerberg: Standing For Voice and Free Expression (Washington Post, 10.17.19)

Episode 37: Rowan Jacobsen Sep 22, 2019

Show notes

"I kind of think of myself as a nature writer disguised as a food writer. Because food is a great way to write about plants and animals because everyone has a built-in interest, "
Rowan Jacobsen is an award-winning author who writes about food, sustainability, and the environment. Jacob and Rowan discuss how the latter delved into the world of food writing and some of his work including "Is Sunscreen The New Margarine" for Outside, which became the most popular article in their website's history.
[1:09] How does one become a food writer?
[4:41] Rowan on "Is Sunscreen The New Margarine"
[8:17] On Rowan equating lack of sun to smoking
[12:25] Rowan on "What Happens When the World’s Top Plastics Executives and Environmentalists Go Snorkeling Together in the Atlantic Garbage Patch?"
[21:40] Rowan on Alt Meat Is Turning Cattle into Stranded Assets
[28:38] On reading content that doesn’t take into account certain factors that endanger the environment
[32:09] On not reading any fiction

Episode 36: Jessica Pressler Sep 13, 2019

Show notes

"If you don’t want to tell me something it makes me very interested in what it is.” Jessica Pressler is a staff writer at New York magazine and joins Jacob this week to talk interesting stories, screen adaptations, and empathy. Her article "The Hustlers at Scores," is the basis for the new movie "Hustlers," and Jessica discusses the unique experiences of having a story adapted for the screen and being visited in your own home by a movie star assigned to portray you (Hello, Julia Stiles!).

Episode 35: Jessica Contrera Sep 05, 2019

Show notes

Jessica Contrera covers a wide range of topics as a narrative reporter for the Washington Post and in this week's podcast she chats with Don about her happiest (and saddest) stories, taking care of her mental health while covering traumatic events, and the positive influence a good editor has on a young reporter. Jessica has been featured several times in the Sunday Long Read newsletter and the stories of hers that we've highlighted include a deep dive about sexting teenagers, a piece about the ongoing recovery of mass shooting victims, and a delightful tale about one particularly controversial dog park.

Episode Links:

Dog Park: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/no-excessive-barking-a-chevy-chase-dog-park-divides-the-rich-and-powerful/2019/08/27/0b9fd242-c4e5-11e9-9986-1fb3e4397be4_story.html

Sexting: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/style/2016/09/06/the-sext-was-meant-to-impress-him-instead-it-nearly-destroyed-her/?utm_term=.375aacad9435

Parkland students: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/i-would-rather-not-be-alone-behind-their-anger-florida-students-are-still-teens-struggling-with-trauma/2018/02/20/5e21bb40-1661-11e8-8b08-027a6ccb38eb_story.html

Zach Cruz: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2019/01/25/feature/his-brother-confessed-to-gunning-down-17-people-in-parkland-but-hes-the-only-family-zach-cruz-has-left/

Trauma Stewardship: https://www.amazon.com/Trauma-Stewardship-Everyday-Caring-Others/dp/157675944X

Jessica's biography: https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/jessica-contrera/

The Waffle House: https://www.jessicacontrera.com/the-waffle-house.html

Episode 34: Jeanne Marie Laskas May 26, 2019

Show notes

The best-selling author, GQ correspondent, and National Magazine Award Finalist is the latest guest on The Sunday Long Read Podcast. Laskas discusses her books and articles including To Obama: With Love, Joy, Anger, and Hope, her New York Times Magazine article "The Mailroom", and her GQ article "Game Brain" which inspired the movie "Concussion."
[0:49] Jeanne Marie on her book tour for “To Obama: With Love, Joy, Anger, and Hope”
[1:54] How she came up with the idea for the book, based off “Ten Letters A Day: To Obama With Love, and Hate, and Desperation” for New York Times Magazine
[8:07] Jeanne Marie on Joe Biden: The Most Misunderstood Man in Washington for GQ
[18:32] Writing Bennet Omalu, Concussions, and the NFL: How One Doctor Changed Football Forever
[26:50] Jeanne Marie on her writing craft, characters, and narrative arc/Inside the Federal Bureau of Way Too Many Guns
[38:43] Jeanne Marie on advising students

Episode 33: Will Leitch Apr 28, 2019

Show notes

Will Leitch founded Deadspin nearly 14 years ago. Since 2008, Leitch has written and worked outside of the site, most recently as a contributing editor at New York Magazine, a national correspondent for MLB, and the host of “The Will Leitch Show” on Sports Illustrated TV.

“…During the years I actively ran [Deadspin] — now more than a decade in the past — I was ostensibly in charge of figuring out what was coming next on the sports internet; I was the supposed leader of the blog-barbarians at the gate, all those bulls (and we were all bulls) running roughshod over the Traditional Sports Media…”

Don and Will discuss how Blacktable.com led to Deadspin.com, the Deadspin of today, Will's writing of today, and revisit the infamous and “rather festive” 2008 Costas NOW (HBO) discussion where Buzz Bissinger, the author of “Friday Night Lights,” berated Will as being “…sort of like Jimmy Olsen on Percocet," and the sports blogosphere of the early aughts being “dedicated to cruelty … journalistic dishonesty, and … speed.” They’ve both come around since then.

Will lives in Athens, GA, has written four books (with a fifth on the way), and can be found on Twitter @williamfleitch.

[0:28] Will Leitch newsletter
[5:28] How to Raise a Boy: I’m not sure what to think about what my dad tried to teach me. So what should I teach my sons? (New York Magazine, 2018)
[10:30] Sports on Earth: A Closing Tribute (Sports on Earth, 2018)
[18:15] Blacktable.com
[26:37] Laura Wagner
[28:44] Megan Greenwell
[29:17] Who Is We? (Deadspin, 2019)
[29:26] What Fresh Hell Is Barstool Sports? (New York Magazine, 2018)
[30:56] Licensing Company Authentic Brands in Talks to Buy Sports Illustrated for About $110 Million (WSJ, 2019)
[30:56] New York Magazine Owner Explores Sale (WSJ, 2018)
[31:42] Grierson & Leitch (Apple Podcasts)
[46:46] The Secret Life of Pitchers (The Atlantic, 2017)
[47:10] A Mound Of Troubles (New York Times Magazine, 2001)
[48:59] "Internet Media” segment, “Costas NOW” (HBO, April 29, 2008)
[48:59] Our Conversation With Buzz Bissinger (Deadspin, 2008)
[48:59] Buzz, Bob, Projectile Spittle and Me (New York Magazine, 2009)
[49:50] Buzz Bissinger (New York Magazine)
[53:28] Play Magazine (New York Times)
[54:30] "God Save the Fan" (HarperCollins)
[59:13] Twitter Is Driving Everybody Insane (Especially Darren Rovell) (Deadspin, 2011)
[1:00:40] David Wallace-Wells' “The Uninhabitable Earth” (Tim Duggan Books)
[1:01:55] Vicki Michaelis
[1:02:05] Historic Kentucky barns are being stripped by thieves to fuel farmhouse-chic trend (Louisville Courier Journal)

Episode 32: Anne Helen Petersen Mar 24, 2019

Show notes

Anne Helen Petersen, although she's a superb culture writer for BuzzFeed News, still gets a little nauseous at the prospect of talking to people for her stories. She talks about that and more with Jacob on this week's episode, where they touch on reporting attire, Beto O'Rourke, and Anne's viral story on burnout. Anne was an academic before becoming a reporter on the fly and has adjusted to sharing her work in different ways, including in her newsletter, "the collected ahp." [7:30]: What to wear while reporting (Part 1 and Part 2) [18:15]: Anne's newsletter [22:30]: Anne's viral burnout story: How Millennials Became The Burnout Generation and a follow-up: Here's What "Millennial Burnout" Is Like For 16 Different People [32:30]: Anne's feature on student loans [39:30]: Anne's 2015 profile of Brie Larson [41:40]: Anne's August profile of Beto O'Rourke and some of her follow-up coverage

Episode 31: Gideon Lewis-Kraus Jan 27, 2019

Show notes

Gideon Lewis-Kraus is a writer at large for the New York Times Magazine, a contributing writer at WIRED, and a contributing editor at Harper’s. He’s the author of a travel memoir called A Sense of Direction, and he teaches nonfiction in the Graduate Writing Program at Columbia. Here, he talks with Jacob about ideal story length (100 pages, anyone?), why it took months to work out the structure of his latest NYT Magazine piece, how he uses detail, and more.

Stories mentioned in the conversation:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/magazine/selling-airborne-opulence-to-the-upper-upper-upper-class.html

https://www.wired.com/story/tezos-blockchain-love-story-horror-story/

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/magazine/ancient-dna-paleogenomics.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/14/magazine/the-great-ai-awakening.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/magazine/how-the-resistance-helped-democrats-dominate-virginia.html

Episode 30: Tommy Tomlinson Jan 13, 2019

Show notes

"The clock doesn't run out until the very end," says Tommy Tomlinson, author of the new book "The Elephant in the Room: One fat man's quest to Get Smaller in a Growing America." Tommy talks about his book, his weight, and more with Don on this week's episode, which ranges from questions about emotional intelligence to the speed of Herschel Walker. Tommy, a 23-year veteran of the Charlotte Observer, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and the host of his own podcast, has plenty of stories to tell and brings his trademark thoughtfulness to this week's episode. 18:00: Tommy's Jared Lorenzen story: http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/11382220/ex-nfl-qb-jared-lorenzen-lifelong-battle-weight 37:00: "Live Oak" by Jason Isbell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvZoQhHi65Q 48:00: "The Night of the Gun" by David Carr: https://www.amazon.com/Night-Gun-reporter-investigates-darkest/dp/1416541535 Links: Read an excerpt from Tommy's book: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/01/weight-loss-essay-tomlinson/579832/ Buy "The Elephant in the Room: One fat man's quest to Get Smaller in a Growing America": https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Elephant-in-the-Room/Tommy-Tomlinson/9781501111617 Read a Charlotte Observer Q&A with Tommy: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/arts-culture/article223587620.html

Episode 29: Rachel Sklar Oct 21, 2018

Show notes

If you worked in media in New York in the mid 2000s, you read the Fishbowl on MediaBistro. Our podcast guest today is the writer of that indispensable, gossipy blog, Rachel Sklar. We’ll track her unconventional path from Mediabistro to Mediaite and Huffington Post, and on to co-found The Li.st, a network and visibility platform for professional women. Now she’s at work on a newsletter called The Luckiest.

http://theli.st/

http://gawker.com/

Theluckiest.com

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