Longform

Episode 579: Kelsey McKinney


Listen Later

Kelsey McKinney is a features writer and co-owner at Defector.com. She hosts the podcast Normal Gossip and is the author of the upcoming book You Didn't Hear This From Me: (Mostly) True Notes on Gossip.

“I was always very interested in how you strategize a creative career. And I think that that is an unsexy thing to talk about, right? It's much sexier to be like, Oh, I love working on my sentence-level craft, which is not true for me. But I think that a lot of a creative career is understanding it is still a job, and then understanding how you make sure that within the container of the job you can do the work that you want to do. That is a really difficult balance to make. So if you can understand how people who have done it before you, you can copy them.”

Show notes:

  • @mckinneykelsey
  • kelseymckinney.com
  • McKinney on Longform
  • McKinney’s Defector archive
  • 04:00 “Why Doesn’t Mrs. Dalloway Get a Day of Her Own?” (Slate • Jan 2000)
  • 13:00 “Chris Evans: American Marvel” (Edith Zimmerman • GQ • July 2011)
  • 23:00 McKinney’s Deadspin archive
  • 31:00 God Spare the Girls (Harper Collins • 2022)
  • 39:00 “Gossip Is Not a Sin” (New York Times • July 2021)
  • 43:00 You Didn’t Hear This From Me (Viking • 2025)
  • 58:00 “Learning To Play Piano When There Is No Recital” (Defector • Dec 2023)
  • Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    LongformBy Longform

    • 4.6
    • 4.6
    • 4.6
    • 4.6
    • 4.6

    4.6

    1,742 ratings


    More shows like Longform

    View all
    On the Media by WNYC Studios

    On the Media

    9,121 Listeners

    The Book Review by The New York Times

    The Book Review

    3,894 Listeners

    Fresh Air by NPR

    Fresh Air

    38,184 Listeners

    The New Yorker: Fiction by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

    The New Yorker: Fiction

    3,313 Listeners

    The Political Scene | The New Yorker by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

    The Political Scene | The New Yorker

    3,907 Listeners

    Otherppl with Brad Listi by Brad Listi

    Otherppl with Brad Listi

    503 Listeners

    Between The Covers : Conversations with Writers in Fiction, Nonfiction & Poetry by David Naimon, Tin House Books

    Between The Covers : Conversations with Writers in Fiction, Nonfiction & Poetry

    443 Listeners

    The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

    The New Yorker Radio Hour

    6,649 Listeners

    The Gray Area with Sean Illing by Vox

    The Gray Area with Sean Illing

    10,648 Listeners

    The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

    The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker

    2,080 Listeners

    Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso by Lemonada Media

    Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

    1,223 Listeners

    The Paris Review by The Paris Review

    The Paris Review

    784 Listeners

    City Arts & Lectures by City Arts & Lectures

    City Arts & Lectures

    375 Listeners

    The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

    The Ezra Klein Show

    15,312 Listeners

    Critics at Large | The New Yorker by The New Yorker

    Critics at Large | The New Yorker

    574 Listeners