Podcasts by Now Thats A Great Story
A twice-a-week look inside one story, book, screenplay, or song, and how the piece reveals the writer's backstory and artistic worldview. Hosted by best-selling author Paul Kix.
Further podcasts by Paul Kix: author, journalist, podcaster
Podcast on the topic Bücher
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Episode 21: The Creative Couple from 2021-11-10T17:25:49
Sonya and I chat with Jennifer Miller and Jason Feifer, who co-wrote Mr. Nice Guy, a novel about two sex columnists who sleep with each other and critique their performance in competing...
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Episode 20: How to Lead a Still Life from 2021-11-03T10:30:44
Are you stressed? Stretched too thin? Stymied by your writing projects? Give this episode a listen. I talk with Rebecca Pacheco, the author of Still Life: The Myths and Magic of Mindful Livi...
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The Power of Strangers from 2021-10-27T12:19
We're back! Today we've got a special guest, Joe Keohane, author of Listen
Episode 18: Noah Lefevre of Polyphonic: BONUS Episode from 2021-06-10T09:58:58
From within The Salon I talk with Noah Lefevre, the creator of the YouTube channel, Polyphonic...
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Episode 17: In the Lull from 2021-05-27T12:12:14
Sonya and I talk about the travel I plan to do next month and what that means for today, which is nothing, which is rest. We discuss how I've tried in the past to deal with these lulls in the sc...
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Episode 16: A battle with more What Ifs from 2021-05-13T11:49:48
Sonya and I discuss how I'm fully vaccinated and ready to travel—but the archives aren't open. And if the archives aren't open now, what will happen if they never open? This episode, like the la...
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Episode 15: A battle with the funk from 2021-05-06T10:36:28
Sonya and I talk about the depressive funk that came over me last week: what caused it, why certain thoughts worsened it, and how I overcame it (for now). If you're a writer who deals with your ...
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Bonus episode: Uncommon Success, with John Lee Dumas from 2021-04-13T14:21:01
In this bonus episode I talk to the great John Lee Dumas, the entrepreneur and podcaster whose new book, Listen
What to think about when you think about structure from 2021-04-13T13:58:12
Think about the people who make stuff up for a living—especially if you're writing a nonfiction book. Sonya and I discuss why nonfiction authors should be inspired by novelists when structuring ...
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Episode 11: Why idleness is the path to greater productivity from 2021-04-06T17:13:17
It's true! Sonya and I have found it to be the case in our own lives and especially—especially!—when doing book research. We talk about how you should schedule your day to incorporate more downt...
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Episode 10: Up in your business from 2021-03-30T10:00
If you're gonna write a book, you've got to create a business to support it. You've got to turn yourself into an LLC. Sonya and I talk about all the benefits—fiscal but mostly psychological—work...
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Episode 9: The tricks to overcome boredom and distraction from 2021-03-23T10:00
The answer is not: scroll Twitter. It's instead a certain technique I learned a few years ago and have had to apply this week, when working through an absolute deluge of old research files. Sony...
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Season 2, Episode 8: Life as an interracial couple from 2021-03-16T10:00
Sonya and I talk about meeting, marrying, and having kids as an interracial couple. We've each learned a lot from each other and our experiences, me probably more than Sonya. I see the world now...
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What to do when you see problems everywhere from 2021-03-09T11:00
Sonya and I talk about a quote from Ralph Abernathy's memoir: How the problems he and MLK faced in Birmingham were, he believed, God guiding them to the solution they needed. I read that passage...
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Season 2, Episode 5: When to travel for book research from 2021-02-23T11:00
Where to go to do your book research is easy. When to travel is the question to ask, and one we learned the hard way. Tons of stories here and tons of tips to avoid the mistake...
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Season 2, Episode 4: Notes Will Keep Us Together from 2021-02-16T11:00
The evolution of our marriage is also the evolution of how I learned to take, with Sonya's guidance, ever better notes. We talk about the various systems we adopted and discarded to arrive at so...
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Season 2, Episode 3: How NOT to start book research from 2021-02-09T11:00
Sonya and I talk about the mistakes I made with my first book and how I've tried to correct those mistakes in the early going of the research phase with my second book. You may think book resear...
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Episode 2: How to land an agent, and a book deal from 2021-02-02T11:00
This week Sonya and I break down how to find an agent if you don't have one. We cover what you should be looking for in an agent and how to identify the traits that will best help you. We also t...
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Episode 1: The Proposal from 2021-01-26T11:00
The proposal is the first step to writing a book. Sonya and I break down how we did it for my first book and the differ...
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Season Two Trailer: The Process from 2021-01-26T11:00
This season of Now That's a Great Story covers the process of writing a book, specifically how my process for writing my forthcoming book can help you write yours. This season will be a week-by-...
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Episode 30: Ambition and obsession in America's coolest kitchen from 2019-11-25T11:00
Author Kevin Alexander comes on to talk about the crazy rise and maturation of Gabriel Rucker, the chef in Portland who basically fathered America's farm-to-table dining revolution. Rucker's bo...
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Episode 29: After Show: Question for You from 2019-11-21T11:00
I've got a question for every listener of this podcast—and I want your answers!
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Episode 28: The Art of Living Well, with Ryan Holiday from 2019-11-18T11:00
I talk with the fascinating Ryan Holiday, the entrepreneur and everyman philosopher, about a sequence of Stillness is the Key, Ryan's latest book,...
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Episode 27: The Story of the Billigans, with Don Van Natta Jr from 2019-11-11T13:10:50
The two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Don Van Natta Jr joins the show to discuss the time that he, a reporter whom Bill Clinton loathed, played a round of golf with the president. The day is recoun...
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Episode 26: After Show: The Novelty of It All from 2019-11-07T11:00
I loved Kitty Sheehan's approach to the story she told Monday, and made that approach—a first-person essay that actually has an omniscient point of view—the focus of today's After Show. Because ...
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Episode 25: The Strongest Woman in the Room, with Kitty Sheehan from 2019-11-04T11:00
I talk with the teacher-turned-writer Kitty Sheehan, and the essay that took her 40 years to write, describing what happened one day in 1...
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Episode 24: After Show: When Bad Things Are Good Things from 2019-10-31T10:00
I talk about how a couple aspects of Listen
Episode 23: We Are Not Tribal Enough, with Sebastian Junger from 2019-10-28T10:00
I talk with Sebastian Junger about Tribe, the book that after two decades as a war correspondent and documentary filmmaker is the best-selling aut...
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Episode 22: The After Show: The "And" Rule from 2019-10-24T10:00
I talk in depth about something Patrick Radden Keefe touched on Monday: How to know the proper length and arc of your story. It's a principle I learned from my first editor when I was 22 or so. ...
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Episode 21: "Say Nothing": Patrick Radden Keefe on The Troubles from 2019-10-21T10:00
The New Yorker staff writer and New York Times best-seller Patrick Radden Keefe joins the show. We talk about an at-times hilarious and above all chilling sequence of his lates...
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Episode 20: After Show: Trust the Process from 2019-10-17T10:00
I pick up on a point Rich Cohen made and discuss something that the guy who played Walter White, the woman who created Fleabag, and the emperor who once ruled Rome knew: Do the work. Forget the ...
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Episode 19: The Craziest Business Story You'll Ever Hear, with Rich Cohen from 2019-10-14T10:00
Rich Cohen, the seven-time New York Times best-selling author, comes on the podcast to discuss a sequence of my favorite business book, The Fish Th...
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Episode 18: After Show: The Story That Nearly Broke Me from 2019-10-10T10:00
On Monday Wright Thompson talked about how his profile of the Williams family nearly broke him. Well, the very next piece we worked on nearly broke me. It was about New Orleans, and when Wright ...
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Episode 17: Wright Thompson on Ted Williams' cycle of suffering from 2019-10-07T10:00
This episode's different. I bring on Wright Thompson, a dear friend and great writer. For eight years, I edited Wright's pieces at ESPN the Magazine and we discuss what might be my favo...
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Episode 16: After Show: When a Hero Becomes a Peer from 2019-10-03T10:00
Much like the protagonist of Cheryl Della Pietra's novel, I once got to edit an idol of mine. I talk about working with Peter Richmond how gazing at him in awe wasn't the best way to edit his s...
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No. 15: Drugs, Guns and the Girl Who Out-Gonzoed Mr. Gonzo from 2019-09-30T10:00
I talk with Cheryl Della Pietra, the author of Listen
Episode 14: After Show: Blundering Your Way to Expertise from 2019-09-26T10:00
On Monday, former CIA agent Michele Rigby Assad talked about the key to overcoming a presumed liability: Having more knowledge than anyone else. Today I talk about walking a not-at-all straight ...
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Episode 13: Outsmarting Terrorists, with Michele Rigby Assad from 2019-09-23T10:00
I talk with Michele Rigby Assad, a former CIA agent, about an episode in her book, Breaking Cover, where she interrogated a terrorist in Iraq and ...
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Episode 12: After Show: How Virginia Wolfe Made Me a Feminist from 2019-09-19T10:00
I talk about Quake Books, the ones that alter who you are as a writer and person. I give some advice that your English or MFA professors won't like, and I talk about how Nathan Hill's quake book...
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Episode 11: It's More Fun to Have Fun, with Nathan Hill from 2019-09-16T10:00
I talk with Nathan Hill, author of the New York Times bestseller The Nix, a comedic novel about, um, well, the 60s, Norse mythology, vide...
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Episode 10: After Show: What Vito Taught Me About Class from 2019-09-12T10:00
I explore an idea that Eliza Griswold and I touched upon Monday: How to understand someone, and get him or her to trust you, when the two of you come from different classes. I share my story of ...
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Episode 9: The Quiet Horror, with Eliza Griswold from 2019-09-09T10:00
I'm joined by Eliza Griswold, a poet and New Yorker contributor whose latest book, Amity and Prosperity, won the Pulitzer Prize for nonfi...
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Episode 8: After Show: Staring Through the Fear from 2019-09-05T10:00
I pick up where Monday's episode with Taffy left off, and talk about how I learned to believe in myself through the most stressful, panicked months of my career. Full show notes at Listen
Episode 7: The Art of Taking Yourself Seriously from 2019-09-02T10:00
I talk with Taffy Brodesser-Akner about her profile of Ethan Hawke, and how the work of trying to do great work is the story of not only Hawke's career b...
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Episode 7: The Art of Taking Yourself Seriously from 2019-09-02T10:00
I talk with Taffy Brodesser-Akner about her profile of Ethan Hawke, and how the work of trying to do great work is the story of not only Hawke's career b...
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Episode 7: The Art of Taking Yourself Seriously from 2019-09-02T10:00
I talk with Taffy Brodesser-Akner about her profile of Ethan Hawke, and how the work of trying to do great work is the story of not only Hawke's career b...
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Episode 6: The After Show: All About Endings from 2019-08-29T10:00
I talk about a few theories on how to end stories, approaches that have worked for Oscar-winning screenwriters, Ellie-winning magazine writers, and for me, with my best-selling book. I link to a...
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Episode 5: A Trick is a Beautiful Lie from 2019-08-26T10:00
I talk with the great Chris Jones, the writer and producer of the forthcoming Netflix series "Away," about his profile of the magician Teller. Chris is a two-time National Magazine Award winner ...
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Episode 4: The After Show: Gifting Our Way Through Pain from 2019-08-22T10:00
I talk about what the Newtown shooting did to me and my way of thinking, an endless cycle of thoughts that led me ultimately to do my own story on Newtown. My piece, years after the shooting, fo...
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Episode 3: The Hardest Story Eli Saslow Ever Told from 2019-08-19T10:00
Eli Saslow is a friend, a Pulitzer-Prize winner at the Washington Post, and the author of the book, Rising Out of Hatred. He and ...
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Episode 2: Now That's a Great Story After Show from 2019-07-27T12:46
I talk about not only how much I admire Sarah Hepola's work but how I've never understood the writers who say they hate writing. I also discuss the ways in which Sarah is a far more courageous p...
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Episode 1: The Night in Paris It All Went Wrong for Sarah Hepola from 2019-07-27T12:45
Sarah and I talk about the rawest chapter of her amazing and best-selling memoir, Listen
Episode 0 -- The Trailer from 2019-07-27T12:44
Listen up. Here's what you can expect from me and the show.
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Episode 0 -- The Trailer from 2019-07-27T12:44
Listen up. Here's what you can expect from me and the show.
Listen