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Episode 499: Yudhijit Bhattacharjee

Longform

University Science Writer - Is That Really What You're Doing?

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i was using a lot of my creative time a outside of this job to write freelance pieces. The idea was to try and get enough clips and get enough of a reputation that i could actually be a good candidate for a science writing position at a place like the journal or the new york times. So, so, yes, that's what i was doing. And how hard was it for you to kind of scrape together a living in that time, just mostly free lancing? Well, I mean, these are, these are fabulous jobs, actually, because you get to write about research.

Yudhijit Bhattacharjee is a contributing writer for National Geographic and the New York Times Magazine. His new podcast is Chameleon: Scam Likely.

“I want a crumpled piece of paper where there are enough ridges and valleys and lines for me to be able to navigate, and they have to be authentic. And then of course the best stories among them will have surprise and intrigue, and things that are completely unexpected happen somewhere along the way. But it's hard to anticipate all of that. You still have to have a little bit of faith.”

Show notes:

@Yudhijit
yudhijit.com
Bhattacharjee on Longform
Bhattacharjee’s National Geographic archive
Bhattacharjee’s New York Times archive
03:00 "Who’s Making All Those Scam Calls?" (New York Times Magazine • Jan 2021)
06:00 "The Downfall of India’s Kidney Kingpin" (Discover Magazine • Aug 2010)
09:00 Natalie Angier’s New York Times archive
09:00 George Johnson’s New York Times archive
09:00 Gina Kolata’s New York Times archive
18:00 Bhattacharjee’s Science archive
26:00 "The Man Who Captures Criminals for the D.E.A. by Playing Them" (New Yorker • July 2018)
29:00 "My Father and Me: A Spy Story" (GQ • June 2012)
29:00 The Spy Who Couldn’t Spell (Penguin Random House • 2016)

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