The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience

How Award-Winning Journo & The Atlantic Writer Olga Khazan Writes


Listen Later

Award-winning journalist and The Atlantic staff writer Olga Khazan spoke to me about the worst way to launch a book, writing long-form watchdog journalism, and her latest ME, BUT BETTER, The Science and Promise of Personality Change.

Olga Khazan is a staff writer for The Atlantic – covering science, health, and psychology for more than a decade – and the author, previously, of Weird: The Power of Being an Outsider in an Insider World. She was also The Atlantic’s Global editor, and ​​former host of The Atlantic’s podcast How To Start Over.

In her forthcoming book Me, But Better: The Science and Promise of Personality Change (S&S/Simon Element), she reveals the science behind lasting personality change, and explains how anyone, at any age, can seize the reigns of their destiny.

New York Times bestselling author Gretchen Rubin called the book, “Hilarious, honest, and packed with cutting-edge research…”, and #1 New York Times bestselling author Adam Grant wrote, “This book shatters the myth that personality is set in stone. Drawing on state-of-the-art evidence and rich personal experience, Olga Khazan artfully reveals what our traits really are—and how we can adapt them to achieve our goals.”

Olga Khazan has also written for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Vox, and other publications. She is a two-time recipient of the International Reporting Project’s Journalism Fellowship and winner of the 2017 National Headliner Award for Magazine Online Writing.

[Discover The Writer Files Extra: Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox at writerfiles.fm]

[If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews. And drop us a rating or a review wherever you listen]

In this file Olga Khazan and I discussed:

How she got her start at The Atlantic

Why she never got to see her first book in a bookstore

Turning a piece of long-form journalism into a book pitch

Why reducing your neuroticism by even a small amount can improve your life

On crappy first drafts 

And a lot more!

Show Notes:

olgakhazan.com

Olga Khazan - The Atlantic

Me, But Better: The Science and Promise of Personality Change by Olga Khazan (Amazon)

Kelton Reid on Twitter

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and NeuroscienceBy Kelton Reid

  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5

4.5

222 ratings


More shows like The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience

View all
Writing Excuses by Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler

Writing Excuses

1,298 Listeners

Helping Writers Become Authors by K.M. Weiland

Helping Writers Become Authors

1,004 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

472 Listeners

The Creative Penn Podcast For Writers by Joanna Penn

The Creative Penn Podcast For Writers

631 Listeners

10% Happier with Dan Harris by 10% Happier

10% Happier with Dan Harris

12,748 Listeners

Writer's Routine by Dan Simpson

Writer's Routine

314 Listeners

Totally Booked with Zibby by Zibby Owens

Totally Booked with Zibby

624 Listeners

Poetry Unbound by On Being Studios

Poetry Unbound

3,583 Listeners

Fiction Writing Made Easy | Top Creative Writing Podcast for Fiction Writers & Writing Tips by Savannah Gilbo

Fiction Writing Made Easy | Top Creative Writing Podcast for Fiction Writers & Writing Tips

1,478 Listeners

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing by Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing

774 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

15,942 Listeners

Poured Over by Barnes & Noble

Poured Over

315 Listeners

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel by James Thayer

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel

413 Listeners

Writers on Writing by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett and Marrie Stone

Writers on Writing

93 Listeners

How I Write by David Perell

How I Write

86 Listeners