Write About Now

Was a bestselling romantasy novel stolen from someone else's unpublished book? New Yorker staff writer Katy Waldman investigates a fascinating case of alleged plagiarism rocking the publishing world—the first novel copyright infringement to reach trial in a century. The case raises profound questions about creative ownership in publishing, while exposing the way books in this red-hot genre...

Stuck in a creative rut? Need some fresh ideas? The solution isn't staring harder at your screen – it's getting up from your desk and walking. This simple activity has been the secret weapon of history's most brilliant minds, from Charles Dickens to Virginia Woolf, Aristotle to Steve Jobs. Science backs this up: walking increases creative output by 60% compared to doom scrolling. But not a...

The devastating wildfires in Los Angeles have destroyed 12,000 structures and taken at least 25 lives. In an intimate conversation, guest Lee Ann Daly shares her harrowing experience of evacuating her Pacific Palisades home with just minutes to spare, managing to save three cats and only a few documents. Lee Ann is a creative executive and former head of marketing at ESPN, Reuters, and the Game Show Network. In our conversation, sh...

Two years ago, most people had never heard of generative AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude. Now, they're an integral part of our workflow. But what astonishes and impresses us about the technology also scares the living bejesus out of us. Will AI eventually replace us as writers? Will our profession become obsolete? How do we make this rapidly evolving technology our assistant, not our adversary? Tech expert Christoper S. Penn joins ...

In this year-end episode, we look back at some of the most memorable moments from the show, featuring intimate discussions with some of the literary world's most fascinating voices. You'll hear the writing origin stories of JA Jance, Joyce Maynard, and Richard Osman, how Kristin Hannah overcomes her fear of failure, writing through writer's block with Steve Almond, the best writing advice linguist Valerie Fridland ever received, To...

Douglas Vigliotti is the author of the new book "Aristotle for Novelists: 14 Timeless Principles on the Art of Story." He says everything you need to know about storytelling can be found in the Ancient Greek philosopher's great treatise "Poetics," written over 2300 years ago. In this episode, Vigliotti breaks down Aristotle's tried-and-true principles that have been used since antiquity to tell great stories, includin...

Guest Taylor Lorenz is one of journalism's most notable and controversial voices. She covers tech and online culture as a reporter, podcaster, and internet personality. After leaving prime jobs writing for The New York Times and The Washington Post, she has launched her own media company called User Mag that covers "tech from the user side." In this spirited conversation, Lorenz explains why she's done with traditional media, how l...

Liz Mugavero is a bestselling cozy mystery writer of the Cat Cafe series, which she writes under the pen name Cate Conte.  She's also a writing coach and the host of the podcast Get Writing with Liz Mugavero. In this episode, we explore the fundamentals of mystery writing and Liz's journey to becoming a published author. She shares insights passed down from her grandfather, a small town detective, and reveals how she discovered her...

In August 2020, during the depths of the pandemic, an unlikely TV show about a clueless American football coach taking over an English soccer team became a cultural phenomenon. In this episode, we're joined by New York Times television editor Jeremy Egner, whose new book "Believe" takes us behind the scenes of Ted Lasso's journey from a commercial to an Emmy award-winning, hit series. Through extensive interviews with the cast, cre...

It's hard enough writing a novel, try writing one on your cell phone. Nifemi Aluko wrote his new book Musta's Mixtape with his thumbs. He says the process was liberating, allowing him to write whenever and wherever he wanted, including at the Parisian cafes Ernest Hemingway frequented. Nifemi joins the podcast to talk about his unique approach to writing, marketing, and funding his book, including using blockchain technology and N...

Andrew Bridgeman has sold everything from carpets to insurance, but like so many of us, his lifelong dream was to publish a novel. And now he’s done it. At the age of 59, he just released his debut, Fortunate Son, a political thriller with memorable characters and plot twists that will keep you reading through the night. On the pod, Andrew talks to me about the challenges of learning to write at a later age, the impo...