Write About Now

Only a few months in, and it's already a bleak year for the media. Journalists lost 500 jobs in January alone, with mass layoffs at the LA Times, Business Insider, Sports Illustrated, and others. I lost my own job at Entrepreneur after working there for five years. But according to my guest Chandra Turner, where one door may be closing, others are swinging wide open. Chandra founded The Talent Fairy, a recruiting agency that places journalists in editorial, brand publishing, and content marketing positions. She sees a bright and lucrative future in content marketing and rejects the belief that these jobs are sellouts. On the pod, she talks about her own career trajectory from magazines editor to job fairy, who's hiring in 2024, and what skills they desire. 

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In the fall of 2020, a Canadian farmer named Helen Naslund was sentenced to 18 years in prison for killing her violently abusive husband. That case and the lengthy sentence she received sparked tremendous outrage around Canada, exposing serious issues with how the justice system in that country treats abused women. Guest true crime journalist Jana Pruden spoke to Naslund through multiple interviews and letters from prison. It was the first time Helen opened up publicly about what happened that fateful night and everything that came after. Pruden shares this story of unspeakable violence and a woman's fight for her freedom in the critically-acclaimed podcast, In Her Defence.  

Read her Globe & Mail story here. 

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Kristin Hannah is among the most successful American novelists working today. Her books focus on unsung heroines throughout history. Her new novel, The Women, focuses on Army Nurses during the Vietnam War. The pageturner is at once an intimate portrait of a young woman coming of age in a hellish war zone and an epic tale of an American divided during an unpopular war. Hannah talks about the process of writing the book, what she's learned about storytelling as the author of over 20 novels, and how she deals with the fear of failure. 

Write About Now listeners are invited to take an online masterclass with host Jonathan Small called Proven Formulas for Writing Stories that Sell on Feb 18 at 1 pm ET. Experienced and first-time writers can sign up @ https://pandemicuniversity.com/product/articles-that-sell/

Jana Monroe was the first female agent to join the agency's famed Behavioral Science Unit (BSU) to help understand who criminals are, how they think, why they do what they do. She even trained Jodie Foster for her role as Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs. Monroe has a new book out called Hearts of Darkness that chronicles her extraordinary career profiling such abhorrent serial killers as Jeffrey Dahmer and Edmund Kemper. On the show, Monroe talks about why she became a serial killer profiler, how she managed to be in such close contact with pure evil, and what she learned about herself and humanity on the job. 

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Denise Hutchins and Aaron Quinn are the subject of the current top-rated show on Netflix called 'American Nightmare.' The couple's harrowing kidnapping experience and the police’s baffling response calls into question how the authorities, the press, and local government handled what became known as the real-life “Gone Girl” case. On this episode, Jon revisits his conversation with the couple, who also have a book on their story called 'Victim F. '

Breaking news: Jonathan is teaching an online masterclass on how to write an article that sells. For more information visit: https://pandemicuniversity.com/product/articles-that-sell/

What if I told you that we spend most of our day on auto-pilot? Our brains are using half their potential and generally just respond to crisis after crisis. As a result we are not actively protecting and regulating our brain’s energy to be happier and more productive. That is the thesis behind the work of guest Deb Smolensky who is a “brain trainer” and author of the book Brain On! Mental Fitness Strategies for Sharpening Focus, Boosting Emerging, and Winning the Workday. Deb combines science and anecdotal evidence from her coaching business to help people upgrade their brain power.  We discuss various techniques for getting out of the caveman-ish fight-or-flight mode and allowing your "thinking brain" to rule the day. 

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Time is the great equalizer. Everyone of us only has 24 hours each day to get things done. How we use that time constructively separates the productive from the procratinators. Guest Laura Vanderkam is a time management expert and the author of six books on the topic, including her latest, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters. In this episode, she offers smart strategies for getting stuff done more efficiently while also enjoying your life. 

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Jennifer McAdam is a Scottish coal miner's daughter who lost her life's savings to a multimillion-dollar cryptocurrency scam called OneCoin. She even convinced many of her friends to invest before she realized it was all a big lie. But rather than wither away in shame, McAdam fought back, creating an online Victims’ Support Group and taking legal action. Her incredible story is captured in her new book Devil’s Coin: My Battle to Take Down the Notorious OneCoin Cryptoqueen. I interviewed Jennifer on my other podcast "Dirty Money" with my fearless co-host Dan Bova. If you like what you hear, please follow the show for more juicy tales of financial true crime. 

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Connell Barrett is a modern-day 'Hitch,' a dating coach who helps lovelorn men approach women, be more confident, and attract a great partner. In his new book Dating Sucks, but You Don't, he offers tips and insights that have "helped thousands of single men date amazing women." We talk about navigating dating in the #Metoo, Tinder world, the best ways to flirt and pay someone a compliment, getting over approach anxiety, and so much more. 

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Guest Lisa Cron is a story coach and author of Wired for Story, Story Genius, and Story or Die. Cron combines her wisdom of working with writers in the publishing and TV business with her fascination in the latest breakthroughs in neuroscience. She says that all humans are hardwired for story; we think in story. When writers tap into this, it triggers a dopamine rush that tells us to pay attention. The problem is too many writers don't know what makes a good story. They're stuck more in "writing well" than in writing in a way that triggers the brain to want more. In this interview, she untaps the the hidden source of great storytelling, with practical tips on how to apply it to your own work. 

Guest Kristal Brent Cook is a journalism professor at Hofstra and author of a new memoir called The Girl in the Yellow Poncho. Growing up in the 80s as a bi-racial child, Zook was raised by Black women after she was abandoned by her white father when she was a baby. The memoir explores Kristal’s journey to find her true identity and ultimately track down her alcoholic father, whom she’d never met. It’s a moving story, beautifully told, about forgiveness, healing, and finding your authentic identity. There’s even a surprise cameo by Slash of Guns and Roses.

The Talking Heads are talking again. Forty years after the release of their classic concert film “Stop Making Sense,” the movie and the band are back on the big stage—same as it ever was, or maybe even better. A remastered, 4k version of the movie was released in September, and the band is back on tour burning down the house. On this episode, host Jon Small revisits his interview with the band’s co-founder and drummer, Chris Frantz, who wrote a memoir about his once-in-a lifetime experience with the band in 2020. Frantz didn’t have the nicest things to say about the band’s lead singer David Byrne, but apparently they’re back on talking terms — and that’s great news because they’re one of the best bands of the 1980s. 

Devon Daniels joins the show to talk about her new book, The Rom Con. Inspired by a 1958 McCall's Magazine article entitled "129 Ways to Get a Husband," the novel gives a modern spin to antiquated and, weirdly, timeless dating advice. Daniels also discusses her unorthodox approach to writing, how her 'unicorn' first book got her multiple publishing offers, the odd appeal of the enemies to lovers genre, and what advice she would like to give her younger self. 

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Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” opened this weekend, raking in an estimated $23 million at the box office. The gut-wrenching movie is based on the excellent book of the same name by my guest David Grann, who resurfaced the mostly forgotten story of a monstrous American crime in the 1920s. Known for his page-turning narratives and in-depth research, Grann has become one of the most successful and revered writers working today. He shares his tumultuous writer's origin story, his decision to give up his dream of writing editorials and focusing on long-read narratives, how he discovered the story of the Osage murders, and his process of researching and writing his books. The interview was recorded in 2018.

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Guest Lori Majewski is a radio host, journalist, and co-author of Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Artists and Songs That Defined the 1980s. She also holds the distinction of being my editor at YM magazine long ago when I wrote stories with titles like 'How to Tell If He's Crushing On You.' Lori is the biggest Duran Duran fan you will ever meet and parlayed her passion for that band into a career as a entertainment writer, 80s music expert, and on-air host of Fierce: Women In Music & Lust For Lists/First Wave on Sirius XM Radio. In our conversation, we talk about her writing origin story, why we just can't get enough of 80s music, and her advice to aspiring writers. 

It’s been 20 years since Ron Burgundy first appeared on the screen urging viewers to "stay classy." Film comedy historian Saul Austerlitz joins the show to talk about his new book Kind of a Big Deal: How Anchorman Stayed Classy and Became the Most Iconic Comedy of the Twenty-First Century, which celebrates this classic movie. Austerlitz shares the inside story of how Anchorman came to be, how it was written and cast, and how it ultimately launched the careers of future superstars like Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, and Paul Rudd. More than just a hilarious comedy, the film was actually a decade ahead of its time taking digs at toxic masculinity and MeToo sexism. You will be surprised at some of the tidbits Austerlitz uncovered in his research on the film. 

Alexander Stille talks about his fascinating new book, The Sullivanians: Sex, Psychotherapy, and the Wild Life of an American Commune. Led by a charismatic psychoanalyst, the Sullivanians flourished in Manhattan's tony neighborhood in the 1970s and 80s, attracting many brilliant, creative people as patients, including Jackson Pollack and Judy Collins. But what started as a utopian experiment in psychoanalysis devolved into a paranoid sex cult in which therapists controlled their patients' lives, instructing them who to sleep with and where they could work. The real tragedy is the story of the children, who were shipped off to boarding schools so that their parents could be free to sleep around and jettison the constraints of the nuclear family. Stille is an accomplished journalists and a professor at Columbia Journalism School. 

In this episode, we're talkin' bout the generations. Guest Dr. Jean Twenge is the author of the endlessly fascinating new book Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents—and What They Mean for America's Future. Twenge dives into government surveys, databases, and scientific studies to give a revelatory report on why generations change, what makes each generation unique, and how we can learn from each other. I understand my kids and my parents so much better now!

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When you think of your 'future self,' who do you see? The image is probably pretty blurry, but it doesn't have to be. My guest Hal Hershfield believes that by strengthening the connections between your present and future selves, you gain a new perspective on what's important—and create the future you want. Hershfield is the author of Your Future Self: How to Make Tomorrow Better Today and a Professor of Marketing, Behavioral Decision Making at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. He spent over a decade researching how understanding our future selves can help us achieve our goals and hopes for the future. Topics discussed include: 

• How similar our future selves are to our present selves
• Why living in the now is not in opposition to planning for the future. 
• How thinking of our future self motivates us. 
• Techniques for connecting with your future self. 

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Guest Courtney Kocak is a writer, podcaster, and comedian based in LA. She reports frequently on taboo topics such as porn, sexuality, and sex work. On her podcast Private Parts Unknown, Courtney takes a Bourdain-like sexual tour around the world, revealing secret seductive subcultures. On this episode, she talks about why she enjoys writing about sex, her fascinating experience getting a happy ending massage in Tokyo, and what she's learned having an OnlyFans page. After you've finished listening head on over to her other podcast, The Bleeders, in which she grills me about writing the "Jake" column for Glamour magazine. 

Listen to our interview on The Bleeders:  https://bit.ly/3YnMmJW

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