"We're sadistic motherf*ckers," says John Glionna, @johnglionna on the Instagrams.

John is a longtime journalist and author of No Friday Night Lights (Bison Books). He made a name for himself at the Los Angeles Times pursuing what would be called "Glionna stories," stories about invisible people who have rich lives all their own.

In this episode we talk about

• The Glionna Story
• How John didn’t punch down in his writing
• Working with Glenn Stout on this book
• What he loves most about this kind of work
• And solving that thorny question of whether a story needs better writing or better reporting

Podcast Specific Substack at creativenonfictionpodcast.substrack.com.

Pre-order The Front Runner

Newsletter: Rage Against the Algorithm

Show notes: brendanomeara.com

"It's kind of a mix of reporting to the very last minute to put off writing, and then when I have to write, having a panic attack, and then, like, booking a hotel room for a week and not leaving that room. This is the thing I have done until I figure it out," says Leah Sottile, in a live event at Gratitude Brewing.

She is the author of Blazing Eye Sees All: Love Has Won, False Prophets, and the Fever Dream of the American New Age (Grand Central). She's also the author of When the Moon Turns to Blood, an Oregon Book Award Finalist.

Leah is a freelance journalism whose work has appeared in The Atavist Magazine, the Washing Post, High Country News, and Outisde. She's the creator of the podcasts Hush, Burn Wild, and Bundyville.

In this podcast we talk about:

• The work of John Vaillant (See Ep. 376(
• How writing this book made Leah crazy
• How New Ageism and Far Right Extremism overlap
• Sagging Middles
• And not re-victimizing sources
• And much more…

Learn more about Leah at leahsottile.com and follower her on Instagram @leah.sottile.

Podcast Specific Substack at creativenonfictionpodcast.substrack.com.

Pre-order The Front Runner

Newsletter: Rage Against the Algorithm

Show notes: brendanomeara.com

"I'm much more interested in how a person achieves something than in what they specifically achieved," says Debbie Millman, the "Pod Mother" and OG podcaster, twenty years in for Design Matters.

She's also the author of the new book Love Letter to a Garden (Timber Press).

In this episode, we talk about:

• The 20 year arc of Design Matters
• What people she’s most drawn to
• How she views the narrative arc of an interview
• The research
• As well as the evergreen themes of her new book on her quest for a garden

You can find Debbie at debbiemillman.com and on Instagram @debbiemillman.

Podcast Specific Substack at creativenonfictionpodcast.substrack.com.

Pre-order The Front Runner

Newsletter: Rage Against the Algorithm

Show notes: brendanomeara.com