The Creative Nonfiction Podcast with Brendan O'Meara

Hampton Sides, a bestselling author known for works like 'Ghost Soldiers' and 'Hellhound on His Trail,' shares his transition from journalism to narrative history. He discusses how he balances extensive research with his writing process, often inspired in coffee shops or late at night. Sides recounts humorous moments, including dealing with barking dogs during the conversation. Additionally, he reflects on the complexities of writing about historical figures like Captain Cook, navigating modern challenges, and the integral role of curiosity in storytelling.

"I talked to my wife, and she was like, 'You're probably tired. You've been writing this book non stop for six months, and you probably just need a break. Like, go get a gelato and chill out.' And I was like, 'I can't,' then I was like, 'All right, fine, I will.' And then I  ate a bunch of ice cream and watched the Pam Anderson documentary on Netflix in the middle of the day. And after, I don't know, four or five days, I had an idea, and I was like, ready to get back to work," says Melissa Febos on Episode 472.Melissa is the author of five books of nonfiction, including her latest, The Dry Season: A Memoir of Pleasure in a Year Without Sex (Knopf).In this conversation, we talk about: Writing in community Literary stardom Being a weirdo Wile E. Coyote The jealousy dragon The theory of bottoms And the liberation of quitting thingsReally rich stuff. You can learn more about Melissa at melissafebos.com and follow her on IG @melissafebos.Order The Front RunnerNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.com

"We are sort of drinking from a fire hose of content right now. And it makes me wonder, because I feel like I'm stuck on this wheel that I have to produce all the time. Do I even want to write for money anymore? I don't know," says Cassidy Randall, author of the book Thirty Below, and back for her second Atavist story "The Longest Journey."Writing is in her bones, so she's not quitting, but the freelance production wheel is tough.We talk about: The productivity wheel Earning trust for stories Constructing a headline and subhead to focus a story And how best to immerse readers in a storyLearn more about Cassidy at cassidyrandall.com and @cassidyrandall on Instagram.Order The Front RunnerNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.com

"I've also learned in this rewilding experiment that so much of our time as writers takes place off the page, as we're thinking about our concepts, as we're doing research, and when I actually do come to the page and have a chance to actually type out these ideas, I've done so much pre-writing over the course of the previous season that that draft comes really easily to me," says Megan Baxter, author of three books of nonfiction, including Farm Girl: A Memoir (Green Writers Press).Megan has got it figured out, man. She has won numerous national awards, including a Pushcart Prize. Her essay collection Twenty Square Feet of Skin was longlisted for the 2024 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. Megan got on my radar when I was doing Prefontaine research and I was thumbing through my stack of True Stories, that chapbook Creative Nonfiction used to put out. I saw this essay titled “On Running” and I was like well shoot, I need to study this. Then I reached out to her and she sent me her essay collections and her memoir Farm Girl, so we dig into that.Megan’s work has appeared in The Threepenny Review, Hotel Amerika, River Teeth, and others. She lives in New Hampshire where she runs her own small farm and teaches creative writing through online courses and lessons. You can learn more about her at meganbaxterwriting.com and follow her on Instagram megan-baxter We talk about:  Rewilding her writing Rabbit holes Actually living the ream Hyperattention The real housewives edit And how Pinterest helps with her writingOrder The Front RunnerNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.com

"I don't feel envy. I don't think. Maybe in some deeper and maybe even more troubling psychological level. I do feel competition with with people, competition over resources, trying to claim certain ideas, stake a claim to certain ideas before other people can, especially when you're working with the subject that's in the public sphere. You don't have any personal, any real wider claim to something than somebody else. It can be nerve wracking," says John O'Connor, author of The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster (Source Books).John returns to talk about his first book, tackling the mythology of Bigfoot and the psyche of those who believe. He talks about writing with humor, making himself the butt of most jokes, and trafficking in a subculture that many — including John — are skeptical of.Find more about him at johnmoconnor.com and follow him on Instagram @centerforhighenergymetaphysics.Order The Front RunnerNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.com

"I genuinely feel that those of us writing books need to remember that we are writing them simply because we feel the desperate need to write that particular thing. And unless I feel that way, I shouldn't be writing it because it's not for the financial benefit. It is not because it gives me more time to do things with other people. It doesn't matter how many books or lengthy features you write, it's all kind of a painful process. So you have to do it because you're really invested in the things that you are focused on," says Maggie Messitt, author of Newspaper and The Rainy Season.Maggie is a professor and a journalist and an author. She's was the founding national director for Report for America and currently is the Norman Eberly professor of practice in journalism. Find more about her at maggiemessitt.com and follow her on Instagram @maggiemessitt.Pre-order The Front RunnerNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.com

Will Bardenwerper grew up playing baseball and even was a member of his college team at Princeton. As a result, he has a great perspective to write about baseball as he does in Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America (Doubleday).That soul, in this book, is partially under attack from private equity firms gobbling up and eradicating minor league baseball teams. It's just one of the many threads of Will's wonderful book.Podcast Specific Substack at creativenonfictionpodcast.substrack.com.Pre-order The Front RunnerNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.com

"Mythology can be really a dangerous thing, because  mythology feels like it can't be changed, or it's always been something," says Katie Goh, author of Foreign Fruit: A Personal History of the Orange (Tin House Books).Katie Goh is a writer and editor based out of Edinburgh, Scotland. She’s also the author of the slim book “The End: Surviving the World through Imagined Disasters” about disaster movies. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, Extra Teeth, and VICE. You can learn more about her at katiegoh.co.uk or follow her on IG @katie_goh. In this conversation we tackle: The love of being edited Having to selfish to be a writer Finding obsessions Issues of identity Style and voice And the trappings of mythologyPodcast Specific Substack at creativenonfictionpodcast.substrack.com.Pre-order The Front RunnerNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.com

"You want to be able to nab the details, but then you also want to be able to tell the story of why this matters and who's harmed by this, and finding the harm is oftentimes the hardest part of investigative reporting," Miranda Green, an investigative reporter.Her latest piece is for The Atavist Magazine titled "All That Glitters" about the seedy underbelly of diamond sales, crypto, and sports ticketing and the man at the center of it all.In this conversation, we talk about: How she earns trust How she navigates background The structure of the piece Finding the harm in an investigative story And her routine (or lack of one)Podcast Specific Substack at creativenonfictionpodcast.substrack.com.Pre-order The Front RunnerNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.com

"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 reportingPodcast Specific Substack at creativenonfictionpodcast.substrack.com.Pre-order The Front RunnerNewsletter: Rage Against the AlgorithmShow notes: brendanomeara.com