Michael Paterniti, a correspondent for GQ, has also written for Esquire, Rolling Stone and Outside. His latest book is The Telling Room.

"I want to see it, whatever it is. If it's war, if it's suffering, if it's complete, unbridled elation, I just want to see what that looks like—I want to smell it, I want to taste it, I want to think about it, I want to be caught up in it."

Thanks to this week's sponsors: TinyLetter and Hari Kunzru'sTwice Upon a Time, the new title from and Atavist Books.

Show notes:

@MikePaterniti

Paterniti on Longform

[4:30] Driving Mr. Albert (Dial Press • Jun 2001)

[5:00] The Telling Room (Dial Press • Jul 2013)

[9:30] "He Might Be A Prophet. That, Or the Greatest Chef in the World." (Esquire • Jul 2001)

[13:00] "XXXXL" (GQ • Mar 2005)

[42:45] "The Man Who Sailed His House" (GQ • Oct 2011)

[46:00] Paterniti's Outside archive

[47:30] "Driving Mr. Albert" (Harper's • Oct 1997) [sub. req'd]

[48:15] "The 15 Year Layover" (GQ • Sep 2003)

[48:15] "The Suicide Catcher" (GQ • May 2010)

[50:00] "How to Drake It In America" (GQ • Jun 2013)

[50:00] "On the Cover: Javier Bardem" (GQ • Oct 2012)

[50:45] "The Luckiest Village in the World" (GQ • May 2013)

[51:15] "The House That Thurman Munson Built" (Esquire • Sep 1999)

[56:00] "The Long Fall of One-Eleven Heavy" (Esquire • Jul 2000)

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices