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Imagine researching a theoretical global disaster that, while you are writing your book, comes to pass. In this episode, Emerging Form welcomes Nicola Twilley and Geoff Manaugh, who were writing their non-fiction book Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine before the COVID-19 pandemic. We talk about writing as metabolic process–how it helps to coalesce life into meaning and purpose. We talk about writing with a partner, Scrivener vs. Word, how to shape a book, how to research, and how to turn reporting into a cohesive narrative. 

Nicola Twilley is cohost of the award-winning podcast Gastropod, which looks at food through the lens of science and history, and is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker. 

Geoff Manaugh is the author of the New York Times-bestseller, A Burglar’s Guide to the City, as well as the architecture and technology website BLDGBLOG. He regularly writes for The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Wired, and many other publications.

Nicky and Geoff live in Los Angeles.

Until Proven Safe Website  

A Burglar’s Guide to the City

Nicky at The New Yorker

Instagram: @untilprovensafe

@nicolatwilley

@geoffmanaugh

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