Welcome to the second part of my interview with award-winning journalist Beth Macy, author of the brand new book “Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America” about how politics has divided her hometown of Urbana, Ohio and even her own family. It’s a hard, heart-stirring read for anyone who wonders, “How did we get here? And how can we come back together.”
Beth is also the author of “Dopesick” about the about the opioid crisis–which was also turned into an Emmy-award winning Hulu series–and “Factory Man” about how the effects of globalization have taken a toll on small rural communities.
In this episode, we get into some of the thornier questions about writing, especially writing about polarizing topics–including family.
We cover:
- Why she makes it a point to include humor even in the darkest stories she tells (like babies being born addicted to opiates)
- Keeping her mom’s spirit alive by writing about her in “Paper Girl”
- How interviewing her ex-boyfriend for “Paper Girl” flew right past awkward and into threatening–and how she dealt with it
- What she does to get through those “what do I do now??” moments
- How her husband helped her find the opening scene to “Dopesick”
- Her recently acquired skill of consulting “future Beth” when anxiety starts creeping in
- Her best interviewing question that she got from Denzel Washingon
- The one rule of newspaper reporting she thinks is total B.S.--and how she got around it without breaking it, directly, when she was on staff at the Roanoke Times
Connect with Beth on Bluesky and/or Instagram @bethmacy.
For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.
Thank you for listening!
And thanks to this week’s sponsor, Air Doctor Pro. Visit airdoctorpro.com and use code KATE to save 30% off an amazing indoor air filter *and* receive a free three-year warranty (an $84 value).

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