The Riff

Back to your originally scheduled rager …

Big thanks to those who have stuck around as the frequency of this newsletter has shifted to once a week to celebrate that week’s pod with a mini-riff, a TL;DL transcript sample, and that week’s Parting Shot in print, this in lieu of any post to social media. FOMO has subsided, and I haven’t felt any pang of envy or jealousy. Sure, I’m likely missing out on some of the joys of others. When I do the math, it’s best for my headspace to not be in that neighborhood.

For a hot second, I thought I’d riff on book edits and a new wave of book panic and book anxiety (gotta stay on brand), but I think this rager — on this the day of my birth! — should, in part, pay tribute to the Longform Podcast.

Max Linsky, Aaron Lammer, and Evan Ratliff, started Longform in 2012 to interview luminaries in this shit storm of narrative nonfiction we love so much. Coincidentally, a few months later in 2013, inspired by The Book Show, hosted by WAMC Public Radio’s Joe Donahue, I started Hashtag #CNF, or, as it’s now known, The Creative Nonfiction Podcast. A friend, we’ll call her “Maggie,” told me I should check out this thing called “Longform,” and I was like, “Daaaaaamn, that’s hot.”

To Longform’s credit, they started and kept going week after week and gained that traction so crucial to the start of a podcast back when there were far, far fewer podcasts competing for our attention. I was there, but just floating along, recording a pod when I felt like it, never stringing together more than three in a row for the first four years of CNF Pod’s run.

The triumvirate at the head of Longform gave listeners a freshness at the helm of every interview. As a result, it never felt stale. They paid close attention to the work of their guests and they had the types of conversations regarding the work and the arcs of careers that are so enriching and, at their core, deeply inspiring to those of us who feel so categorically shitty about being reporters and writers in the 21st century.

I can attest to the grind of it all since I do the booking, the reading, the research, the editing, the promoting for CNF Pod. As a host, you can’t read anything that can’t potentially be a podcast guest. It’s a slog and it ain’t pretty. It makes sense to want to move on and let the archive stand on its own.

Ye ol’ CNF Pod is kinda sorta the only game in town for nonfiction, and that’s not necessarily a good thing. A city benefits from having many great restaurants. Maybe we’ll see a bump in listeners, but, man, are they in for a shock. As you know, I’m something of an acquired taste. But that’s part of the fun, right? Right? Evan Ratliff was kind to recommend us:

But what bums people out when a podcast shutters is the routine for the listener. Every Wednesday, listeners got a new interview with a titan or an emerging talent. Often, we listen to a podcast because it makes for good company. Sure, you can dip back into the archive, but it’s like listening to old voicemails. The vitality and newness of a weekly show on a prescribed day has this affirming effect of being alive together. A part of that dies Wednesday, July 3.

I won’t say RIP Longform, as many have. Instead, I’ll close by saying, “Long live, Longform!”

As you know, this newsletter starts here and goes up to XI.

The Books

I . Queen of the Court: The Many Lives of Tennis Legend Alice Marble by Madeleine Blais. Pod TK.

II. Black Boy Out of Time by Hari Ziyad. Real interested in speaking with Hari. He’s also a death dhoula. Pod TK.

III. Asylum: A Memoir & Manifesto by Edafe Okporo. Pod TK.

IV. Any Person is the Only Self by Elisa Gabbert. If Elisa releases an essay collection, you best get on it. Pod TK.

The Other Stuff

V . Joanna Ebenstein writes, “What writing book proposals taught me is how to effectively communicate a book idea to a publisher. I came to realize that a book proposal is not a lofty, idealistic presentation of one’s brilliant idea, but rather a persuasive document meant to convince a publisher to spend their time — and, more to the point, their money — on your idea” How to write a book proposal.

VI . Roxane Gay is no longer your work friend.

VII . Emily Henry is a rager and doesn’t even know it. She doesn’t tour. And doesn’t really use social media. Surprise! She writes books her readers love, and they evangelize them.

VIII . Roger Federer only won 54% of his points.

IX. A fine flash essay on Short Reads from Hanna du Plessis, who was recently diagnosed with ALS. Watch this video and cry a little. Or a lot.

X. Love this little pencil sharpener.

XI . What a lovely box.

CNFin’ Happy Hour: Closing Time

Last month we talked talked about our favorite beginnings. Now let’s talk about great endings.

Thursday, July 18, 5:00 – 6:00pm PST

Video call link: https://meet.google.com/hzm-qmgd-mws

Rage,

Brendan