Donovan X. Ramsey is a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times. His work has appeared in GQ, WSJ Magazine, The Atlantic, and many other publications.“I actually got into writing about criminal justice ... because I was curious about Black life. But that meant the only way I was able to do that was I had to kind of do this really often depressing slice of Black life. And there’s so much more. And there’s so much beauty in the lived experiences of Black people. … There are so many stories that just never get told about Black life. One, I have a connection to being a Black person, but then being a Black person who has the benefit of a really good education, and I’ve been given some shots here and there… it feels like a duty. If I’m not going to tell these stories, then who?” Thanks to Mailchimp for sponsoring this week's episode. Show notes: @donovanxramsey donovanxramsey.com 02:00 Exit Scam (Aaron Lammer and Lane Brown • Treats Media • 2021) 02:00 "Gossip Girls, Money Men, and 2 More Podcasts Worth Trying" (Nicholas Quah • Vulture • May 2021) 02:00 Nicholas Quah on Longform Podcast 03:00 70 Over 70 (Max Linsky • Pineapple Street Studios • 2021) 25:00 Ramsey's Atlantic archive 26:00 Ramsey's Ebony archive 26:00 "Motorcycle Club Honors, Assists Soldiers Offering Their Lives Overseas" (Black Enterprise • Nov 2012) 26:00 "Janelle Monáe: The ‘Q.U.E.E.N.’ Speaks [INTERVIEW]" (Ebony • Jul 2013) 29:00 She’s Every Woman: The Power of Black Women in Pop Music (Danyel Smith • Dey Street Books • 2017) 31:00 "Police Reform Is Impossible in America" (Gawker • Feb 2015) 32:00 Ramsey's Demos archive 35:00 Jason Parham on Longform Podcast 40:00 Ramsey's The Marshall Project archive 40:00 Ramsey's Complex archive 45:00 "A Triple Murder, a Broken Family, and the Long Tail of the Crack Era" (Vice • Aug 2016) 47:00 Black Futures (Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham • One World • 2020) 48:00 "Measuring Crack Cocaine and Its Impact" (Roland G. Fryer • Apr 2006) 56:00 "Bryon Stevenson’s Moral Clarity" (WSJ Magazine • Nov 2019) 56:00 "The Political Education of Killer Mike" (GQ • Jul 2020) 62:00 "NASCAR’s Unlikely Activist" (GQ • Aug 2020) 63:00 Ramsey's Los Angeles Times archive Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Adam McKay is a film director, writer, and host of the podcast Death at the Wing.“Sometimes you do a project and then you look back and you’re like, Ah, shit. I let some of myself get in the way of that. It sucks, but it’s also a part of it. And there are so many times where you’re excited that the story did take off, the wind did catch the sail and it went off on its own. And that just feels so good that it far outweighs the times when you make a mistake, or let something go wrong, or too long, or hit the wrong tone. Which is going to happen. There’s no way around it. But those times when it all just catches perfectly—it’s just so exciting that you keep doing it.” Thanks to Mailchimp for sponsoring this week's episode. Show notes: @GhostPanther 00:00 Anchorman (Dreamworks • 2004) 00:00 Stepbrothers (Columbia Pictures • 2008) 00:00 The Big Short (Paramount Pictures, New Regency Productions • 2015) 00:00 Vice (Annapurna Pictures • 2018) 00:00 Succession (Gary Sanchez Productions • 2018) 00:00 Death at the Wing (Hyperobject Industries and Three Uncanny Four • 2021) 12:00 The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America (George Packer • Farrar, Straus and Giroux • 2014) 14:00 Don’t Look Up (Hyperobject Industries • 2021) 29:00 David Grann on Longform Podcast 31:00 Anchorman 2 (Paramount Pictures • 2013) 36:00 The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine (Michael Lewis • W. W. Norton & Company • 2015) 39:00 Hustlers (Lorene Scafaria • Annapurna Pictures • 2019) 40:00 "The Hustlers at Scores" (Jessica Pressler • The Cut • Dec 2015) 41:00 "Breslin: Digging JFK grave was his honor" (Jimmy Breslin • New York Herald Tribune • Nov 1963) 43:00 Bad Blood (Excellent Cadaver) 43:00 Bad Blood (John Carreyrou • Vintage • 2020) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anna Sale is the host of Death, Sex & Money. Her new book is Let’s Talk About Hard Things.“What hard conversations can do is—you can witness what's hard. You can be with what's hard. Admit what's hard. That can be its own relief. … Some hard conversations … are successful when they end in a place that's like, Oh, we're not going to agree on this. … I think you can get used to the feeling of feeling out of control and that makes them less scary.” Thanks to Mailchimp for sponsoring this week's episode. Show notes: @annasale annasale.com Sale on Longform Podcast 07:00 Let’s Talk About Hard Things (Simon & Schuster • 2021) 10:00 Sale's Death, Sex & Money archive Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brooke Jarvis is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine.“Obsession is inherently interesting. We want to know why somebody would care so much about something that it could direct their whole life. ... When people care about something a lot, what can be more interesting than that to understand what drives those powerful emotions? ... Part of why I do this work is that I am able to get temporarily obsessed with a lot of different things and then move on to the next thing that I'm temporarily obsessed with. ... There's always a new question that I want to follow.” Thanks to Mailchimp for sponsoring this week's episode. Show notes: @brookejarvis brookejarvis.net Jarvis on Longform 02:00 "Maryville native Brooke Jarvis wins Livingston Ward for young journalists" (Amy Beth Miller • The Daily Times • Jun 2017) 05:00 The New Kings of Nonfiction (Ira Glass • Riverhead Books • 2007) 06:00 "The Squirrel Wars" (D.T. Max • New York Times Magazine • Oct 2007) 08:00 "When We Are Called to Part" (The Atavist • Nov 2013) 11:00 Jarvis’ Yes! Magazine archive 16:00 "The Deepest Dig" (California Sunday • Nov 2014) 19:00 "Unclaimed" (California Sunday • Dec 2016) 22:00 The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Carson McCullers • Marina Books • 1940) 25:00 "The Insect Apocalypse Is Here" (New York Times Magazine • Nov 2018) 27:00 "Who Speaks for Crazy Horse?" (New Yorker • Sep 2019) 30:00 "The First Shot: Inside the Covid Vaccine Fast Track" (Wired • May 2020) 31:00 "The Scramble to Pluck 24 Billion Cherries in Eight Weeks" (New York Times Magazine • Aug 2020) 33:00 "The Launch" (California Sunday • Jul 2019) 37:00 "The Forgotten Sense" (New York Times Magazine • Jan 2021) 39:00 "The Obsessive Search for the Tasmanian Tiger" (New Yorker • Jul 2018)   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Michael Grabell and Bernice Yeung are investigative reporters at ProPublica. They won the George Polk Award for Health Reporting for their coverage of the meatpacking industry's response to the pandemic, including their feature "The Battle for Waterloo." This is the final part of our week-long series of conversations with winners of this year's George Polk Awards in Journalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Roberto Ferdman is a correspondent at VICE News. He and his colleagues at VICE News Tonight won the George Polk Award for Television Reporting for their coverage of the killing of Breonna Taylor and the investigations that followed. This is part four in a week-long series of conversations with winners of this year's George Polk Awards in Journalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Helen Branswell is an infectious disease and global health reporter for STAT. She won this year's George Polk Award for Public Service for her coverage of the pandemic. This is the third in a week-long series of conversations with winners of this year's George Polk Awards in Journalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ryan Mac and Craig Silverman are reporters at BuzzFeed News. Together they won this year's George Polk Award for Business Reporting for their coverage of Facebook's handling of disinformation on its platform.  This is the second in a week-long series of conversations with winners of this year's George Polk Awards in Journalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tristan Ahtone is the former Indigenous Affairs editor at High Country News and is currently the editor-in-chief at The Texas Observer. His High Country News article “Land-Grab Universities,” co-authored with Robert Lee, won the 2021 George Polk Award for Education Reporting. This is the first in a week-long series of conversations with winners of this year's George Polk Awards in Journalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dana Goodyear is a staff writer for The New Yorker and host of the new podcast Lost Hills.“I do find people who take risks—artistic and physical or even intellectual risks—really interesting. ... There are so many people that I have written about who take a really long time with their projects, whether years or decades, and they might or might not work out. ... They just don't go along with what's received, and they—at a great personal cost—often do things that are very different. And then those things are the things in our world that are the most fascinating or feel the most human.” Thanks to Mailchimp and CaseFleet for sponsoring this week's episode. Show notes: @danagoodyear danagoodyear.com Goodyear on Longform Goodyear's New Yorker archive 01:00 Lost Hills (Western Sound and Pushkin Industries • 2021) 32:00 "An Artist’s Life, Refracted in Film" (New Yorker • Jan 2019) 42:00 "The Gardener" (New Yorker • Aug 2003) 49:00 "The Scavenger" (New Yorker • Nov 2009) 49:00 "A Photographer at the Ends of the Earth" (New Yorker • Oct 2019) 42:00 "Man of Extremes" (New Yorker • Oct 2009) 42:00 Honey Junk (W.W. Norton • 2006) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices