Now That's A Great Story
54 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 54 ratingsA 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.
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Episodes
Episode 21: The Creative Couple
November 10, 2021 17:25 - 59 minutes - 67.8 MBSonya 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 publications. Mannnnn, our conversation is as fun as their book. We talk a ton about craft and if you wanna learn even more? Check out this free workshop on the secrets of longform storytelling Sonya and I put together. It's 100% free. You just gotta enter your email: https://www.becomethestorytellingyouwo...
Episode 20: How to Lead a Still Life
November 03, 2021 10:30 - 1 hour - 92.9 MBAre 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 Living. That book, and my discussion with Rebecca, has helped to transform how I see the world. It's one of the best episodes we've done. If you want a similar transformation in your writing life, I've got a free workshop out now, and available for 10 days, on how to unlocks the secrets of storytelling, th...
The Power of Strangers
October 27, 2021 12:19 - 37 minutes - 42.4 MBWe're back! Today we've got a special guest, Joe Keohane, author of The Power of Strangers. Sonya and I loved the book and, from within The Salon, we talked with Joe about why you need not only friends but strangers to enrich your life and improve your health. To talk with a stranger is a lot like interviewing someone as a journalist, and Joe and I discuss the practical things you can do to improve your own interviewing techniques. Hit me up with your feedback at paulkixnewsletter.com.
Episode 18: Noah Lefevre of Polyphonic: BONUS Episode
June 10, 2021 09:58 - 34 minutes - 39.3 MBFrom within The Salon I talk with Noah Lefevre, the creator of the YouTube channel, Polyphonic, which to date has over 84 million views. Noah and I talk about how and why he started his music- and storytelling obsessed channel, the flow state that every creative type knows, entrepreneurship, and blowing up in your early 20s. The Salon's doors are open for a short time. Head to paulkix.com/subscribe to apply for membership.
Episode 17: In the Lull
May 27, 2021 12:12 - 5 minutes - 6.29 MBSonya 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 schedule. And about our schedule: We'll be back in a month's time. To stay in touch, reach me through the newsletter at paulkixnewsletter.com.
Episode 16: A battle with more What Ifs
May 13, 2021 11:49 - 11 minutes - 13.2 MBSonya 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 last, is less about the physical world than our mental states. There are also practical tips on when you should stop your book research. Best way to stay in touch is through the newsletter. Sign up at paulkixnewsletter.com.
Episode 15: A battle with the funk
May 06, 2021 10:36 - 19 minutes - 21.7 MBSonya 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 own depression and anxiety—in other words: calling all writers!—give this episode a listen. To stay in touch, reach me through the newsletter. Sign up at paulkixnewsletter.com.
Bonus Episode: The art of great podcast storytelling, with Jody Avirgan
April 29, 2021 10:56 - 31 minutes - 36 MBI talk with Jody Avirgan in this bonus episode. Jody basically created ESPN's 30 for 30 serialized podcasts, and now host his own podcast while executive producing, among others, Death at the Wing, hosted by Academy Award Winner Adam McKay. Jody and I discuss the differences between a great "talk" podcast and a great narrative one. Our conversation occurs within The Salon, the private membership forum I run, of which Jody is a member. Salon membership is normally closed to newcomers, but ...
Bonus episode: Uncommon Success, with John Lee Dumas
April 13, 2021 14:21 - 18 minutes - 21 MBIn this bonus episode I talk to the great John Lee Dumas, the entrepreneur and podcaster whose new book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, inspired me. JLD's been inspiring me for years now. He's one of the reasons I decided to break out on my own. The two of us discuss how the life and career you want are never as far away as you imagine. If you like this episode, best way to stay in touch is through the newsletter, paulkixnewsletter.com.
What to think about when you think about structure
April 13, 2021 13:58 - 15 minutes - 17.3 MBThink 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 their books. We also talk about some of the novels that have inspired me. If you like this episode, best way to stay in touch is paulkixnewsletter.com.
Episode 11: Why idleness is the path to greater productivity
April 06, 2021 17:13 - 17 minutes - 20 MBIt'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 downtime, and what that downtime has meant for us and our family and how I had a come-to-Jesus after my last book was published. I needed to be there more for my kids. If you want to stay in touch, best way is through the newsletter: paulkixnewsletter.com.
Episode 10: Up in your business
March 30, 2021 10:00 - 17 minutes - 39.3 MBIf 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—working within an LLC has provided us. We give some tips to avoid some of the mistakes we made along the way. To stay in touch with me, hit me up at paulkixnewsletter.com.
Episode 9: The tricks to overcome boredom and distraction
March 23, 2021 10:00 - 13 minutes - 14.9 MBThe 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. Sonya and I talk about this technique, and what works for her. If you like this episode, the best way to stay in touch is through the newsletter: paulkixnewsletter.com.
Season 2, Episode 8: Life as an interracial couple
March 16, 2021 10:00 - 32 minutes - 37.1 MBSonya 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 with new eyes because I am the father of Black children and the head of a Black household. We talk about how my education in the Black experience is akin to Prince Harry's. To stay in touch with me, head to paulkixnewsletter.com.
What to do when you see problems everywhere
March 09, 2021 11:00 - 21 minutes - 24.9 MBSonya 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 at just the right time in my own book research. We talk about what happens when you hit insurmountable obstacles, and how they can guide you to the solution you need. If you like this episode, sign up for the newsletter: paulkixnewsletter.com. There I talk even more about what it takes to live the ...
Season 2, Episode 6: How to find time to do what you love
March 02, 2021 11:00 - 23 minutes - 26.4 MBSonya and I talk about the way to report or write a book while holding a full-time job. The first step is to—you ready for this?—listen to your body. We explain what we mean and also share stories of how to steal time out of your day...even at that full-time job. Season Two: The Process. If you like what you hear, reach me via email at paulkixnewsletter.com. It's free to sign up.
Season 2, Episode 5: When to travel for book research
February 23, 2021 11:00 - 29 minutes - 34 MBWhere 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 mistakes Sonya and I made. For more stories like this head to paulkixnewsletter.com and sign up for my newsletter.
Season 2, Episode 4: Notes Will Keep Us Together
February 16, 2021 11:00 - 23 minutes - 27.6 MBThe 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 something, with my book on Birmingham, is truly efficient, and in no-small part awesome. The better a writer's notes system, the less frustration he encounters in writing a book.
Season 2, Episode 3: How NOT to start book research
February 09, 2021 11:00 - 23 minutes - 17.7 MBSonya 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 research is reading as widely as possible. It is actually reading as deeply as possible. Learn from my mistakes. To keep up with what I'm doing, connect with me via email. Sign up for the newsletter (it's free) at paulkixnewsletter.com.
Episode 2: How to land an agent, and a book deal
February 02, 2021 11:00 - 44 minutes - 50.9 MBThis 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 talk about what happens when you're book goes to market, and all the stress and joy that comes with it. If you like what you hear, rate and review the podcast. Best way to stay in touch is through https://www.paulkixnewsletter.com/.
Season Two Trailer: The Process
January 26, 2021 11:00 - 3 minutes - 4.24 MBThis 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-week audio diary of not only what I'm learning but how that research into the Civil Rights movement still shapes our nation and the workings of my interracial family. My wife Sonya will co-host this season of the pod, and we'll talk about the teamwork necessary to write a book, offer tons of tips on t...
Episode 1: The Proposal
January 26, 2021 11:00 - 26 minutes - 31.1 MBThe proposal is the first step to writing a book. Sonya and I break down how we did it for my first book and the different approach we took this time, with my second book. We talk about how to stay motivated during the proposal process, how long the proposal itself should be, and also how, with my new book, we decided the proposal had to include the social justice movement of 2020. It affected our interracial family, which meant it was also relevant to a proposal on Black-and-white relations...
Episode 31: Season (One) Greeting
December 23, 2019 13:19 - 2 minutes - 2.09 MBI talk about my decision to switch the podcast away from a weekly format to a seasonal one.
Episode 30: Ambition and obsession in America's coolest kitchen
November 25, 2019 11:00 - 48 minutes - 44.6 MBAuthor 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 boozy story is the centerpiece of Kevin's Burn The Ice, which is the rarest of foodie books: The one I couldn't put down. I've known Kevin since 2008 and have watched him transform as well, from a struggling grad student to the James Beard winner who's the nation's best food writer. For full show notes ...
Episode 29: After Show: Question for You
November 21, 2019 11:00 - 4 minutes - 3.74 MBI've got a question for every listener of this podcast—and I want your answers!
Episode 28: The Art of Living Well, with Ryan Holiday
November 18, 2019 11:00 - 54 minutes - 50.1 MBI talk with the fascinating Ryan Holiday, the entrepreneur and everyman philosopher, about a sequence of Stillness is the Key, Ryan's latest book, which debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Ryan's work has had a huge influence on how I see and process the world, and I'm hoping you'll be just as enlightened. For full show notes—and there are plenty, given Ryan's erudition—head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.
Episode 27: The Story of the Billigans, with Don Van Natta Jr
November 11, 2019 13:10 - 49 minutes - 45 MBThe 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 recounted in Van Natta's best-selling book, First Off The Tee, and Don and I talk about how the game is perhaps the best insight into the lives of men who run the world. For full show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.
Episode 26: After Show: The Novelty of It All
November 07, 2019 11:00 - 4 minutes - 4.09 MBI 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 trying something new, persevering when others tell you you shouldn't because it's new, has its rewards. For show notes, head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.
Episode 25: The Strongest Woman in the Room, with Kitty Sheehan
November 04, 2019 11:00 - 38 minutes - 35 MBI talk with the teacher-turned-writer Kitty Sheehan, and the essay that took her 40 years to write, describing what happened one day in 1978 to her and her family. Kitty's piece went viral after it was published, and our conversation captures the story's appeal: its emotional rawness, its humor, and its hope, for Kitty and anyone who aspires to have their voice recognized by the world. For full show notes, head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.
Episode 24: After Show: When Bad Things Are Good Things
October 31, 2019 10:00 - 9 minutes - 8.63 MBI talk about how a couple aspects of Tribe apply to my life and the lives of many of my friends. For full show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.
Episode 23: We Are Not Tribal Enough, with Sebastian Junger
October 28, 2019 10:00 - 45 minutes - 41.9 MBI talk with Sebastian Junger about Tribe, the book that after two decades as a war correspondent and documentary filmmaker is the best-selling author's manifesto. Our conversation moves from the history of Native American tribes to survivors of AIDS to veterans returning to the States. Underpinning it all is an argument about our innate desire for a tribal group of friends, how the modern life cleaves us from that and literally sickens us, and what we can do to get it back. My time with Seba...
Episode 22: The After Show: The "And" Rule
October 24, 2019 10:00 - 9 minutes - 8.88 MBI 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. It's called the And Rule. For full show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.
Episode 21: "Say Nothing": Patrick Radden Keefe on The Troubles
October 21, 2019 10:00 - 1 hour - 55.8 MBThe 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 latest book, Say Nothing, a history of the Troubles that is also a commentary on how that history never really ended. Patrick and I discuss how and why he reports stories like this one, and what he's constantly seeking as an investigative journalist and writer. For show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.
Episode 20: After Show: Trust the Process
October 17, 2019 10:00 - 8 minutes - 7.59 MBI 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 outcome. And you'll find you'll have a better outcome than you hoped for. For full show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.
Episode 19: The Craziest Business Story You'll Ever Hear, with Rich Cohen
October 14, 2019 10:00 - 48 minutes - 44.4 MBRich 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 That Ate the Whale, a biography of Sam Zemurray, who built his fortune in the banana trade. What Zemurray did in Honduras—I mean, just listen. I don't want to give away anything. For full show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.
Episode 18: After Show: The Story That Nearly Broke Me
October 10, 2019 10:00 - 20 minutes - 18.5 MBOn 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 and I finished we both said, Never again will we do this to ourselves. For full show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.
Episode 17: Wright Thompson on Ted Williams' cycle of suffering
October 07, 2019 10:00 - 50 minutes - 46.4 MBThis 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 favorite story of his: His profile of Claudia Williams, Ted Williams' daughter. It's a piece about inter-generational pain and was the most challenging story Wright's ever written. I still think of it as the magazine version of One Hundred Years of Solitude. For full show notes, head to https://www.paulkix.com/pod...
Episode 16: After Show: When a Hero Becomes a Peer
October 03, 2019 10:00 - 11 minutes - 10.1 MBMuch 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 story. Though the episode is about magazine-making, its lesson is applicable to anyone in search of a bit more confidence. For full show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.
No. 15: Drugs, Guns and the Girl Who Out-Gonzoed Mr. Gonzo
September 30, 2019 10:00 - 26 minutes - 24 MBI talk with Cheryl Della Pietra, the author of Gonzo Girl, a novel based on her real-life experience serving as Hunter S. Thompson's research assistant. The book is as loud and bawdy as you imagine but the real joy of it—and the focus of this interview—is when Cheryl discusses having an ambition that is greater than your hero's. For full show notes please head https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.
Episode 14: After Show: Blundering Your Way to Expertise
September 26, 2019 10:00 - 14 minutes - 12.8 MBOn 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 path to expertise about spies and saboteurs during World War II. The walk nearly ruined me and yet I'm so grateful for it. For full show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.
Episode 13: Outsmarting Terrorists, with Michele Rigby Assad
September 23, 2019 10:00 - 42 minutes - 39 MBI 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 turned her presumed liabilities to her advantage. Nominally about espionage and brinkmanship and the war on terror, this episode actually highlights what it takes to convince others of your worth. For full show notes, head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.
Episode 12: After Show: How Virginia Wolfe Made Me a Feminist
September 19, 2019 10:00 - 8 minutes - 7.98 MBI 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, and mine, were written by the same author. For full show notes, please head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.
Episode 11: It's More Fun to Have Fun, with Nathan Hill
September 16, 2019 10:00 - 51 minutes - 47.4 MBI talk with Nathan Hill, author of the New York Times bestseller The Nix, a comedic novel about, um, well, the 60s, Norse mythology, video games, love—it's about a lot of things. It's also amazing. I love this book, and Nathan and I discuss a four-page sequence that's belly-laugh funny and reflects everything Nathan's trying to do as a writer. For complete show notes, head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast
Episode 10: After Show: What Vito Taught Me About Class
September 12, 2019 10:00 - 11 minutes - 10.7 MBI 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 moving to a tribal Boston, and meeting a guy named Vito Gray. For full show notes, please head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.
Episode 9: The Quiet Horror, with Eliza Griswold
September 09, 2019 10:00 - 37 minutes - 34.3 MBI'm joined by Eliza Griswold, a poet and New Yorker contributor whose latest book, Amity and Prosperity, won the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction. We talk about the book's protagonist, a single mother, who cut a deal with a fracking company to get at the natural gas beneath her property in Western Pennsylvania. She comes to bitterly regret that deal. For full show notes, please head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast
Episode 8: After Show: Staring Through the Fear
September 05, 2019 10:00 - 13 minutes - 12.3 MBI 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 https://www.paulkix.com/podcast
Episode 7: The Art of Taking Yourself Seriously
September 02, 2019 10:00 - 56 minutes - 52 MBI 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 but Taffy's. Both faced dismissive sneers for believing in themselves, for wanting to be taken seriously. Today Hawke is much more than a pretty boy, and Taffy's recently released novel is a New York Times bestseller. Taffy and I recorded this before she'd finished the novel, which serves as a goose-bumpy coda for anyone who listens to the en...
Episode 6: The After Show: All About Endings
August 29, 2019 10:00 - 14 minutes - 13.5 MBI 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 all the books and videos for this episode at https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.
Episode 5: A Trick is a Beautiful Lie
August 26, 2019 10:00 - 53 minutes - 48.8 MBI 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 and his story on Teller is his all-time favorite, the one he keeps returning to and thinking about, even seven years after Esquire published it. It's about magic and storytelling but mostly the eternal fight between what the brain knows and the heart wants. In our time together, Chris and I discuss...
Episode 4: The After Show: Gifting Our Way Through Pain
August 22, 2019 10:00 - 17 minutes - 16.4 MBI 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, focused on whose pain is assuaged when strangers give a gift of condolence. For full show notes, please head to paulkix.com.