I talk with Sebastian Junger about Tribe, the book that after two decades as a war correspondent and documentary filmmaker is the best-selling author's manifesto. Our conversation moves from the history of Native American tribes to survivors of AIDS to veterans returning to the States. Underpinning it all is an argument about our innate desire for a tribal group of friends, how the modern life cleaves us from that and literally sickens us, and what we can do to get it back. My time with Sebastian had a profound impact on me. I'm betting it'll do the same for you. For full show notes go to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.

I talk in depth about something Patrick Radden Keefe touched on Monday: How to know the proper length and arc of your story. It's a principle I learned from my first editor when I was 22 or so. It's called the And Rule. For full show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.

The New Yorker staff writer and New York Times best-seller Patrick Radden Keefe joins the show. We talk about an at-times hilarious and above all chilling sequence of his latest book, Say Nothing, a history of the Troubles that is also a commentary on how that history never really ended. Patrick and I discuss how and why he reports stories like this one, and what he's constantly seeking as an investigative journalist and writer. For show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.

I pick up on a point Rich Cohen made and discuss something that the guy who played Walter White, the woman who created Fleabag, and the emperor who once ruled Rome knew: Do the work. Forget the outcome. And you'll find you'll have a better outcome than you hoped for. For full show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast. 

Rich Cohen, the seven-time New York Times best-selling author, comes on the podcast to discuss a sequence of my favorite business book, The Fish That Ate the Whale, a biography of Sam Zemurray, who built his fortune in the banana trade. What Zemurray did in Honduras—I mean, just listen. I don't want to give away anything. For full show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast. 

On Monday Wright Thompson talked about how his profile of the Williams family nearly broke him. Well, the very next piece we worked on nearly broke me. It was about New Orleans, and when Wright and I finished we both said, Never again will we do this to ourselves.

For full show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast. 

This episode's different. I bring on Wright Thompson, a dear friend and great writer. For eight years, I edited Wright's pieces at ESPN the Magazine and we discuss what might be my favorite story of his: His profile of Claudia Williams, Ted Williams' daughter. It's a piece about inter-generational pain and was the most challenging story Wright's ever written. I still think of it as the magazine version of One Hundred Years of Solitude. For full show notes, head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.

Much like the protagonist of Cheryl Della Pietra's novel, I once got to edit an idol of mine. I talk about working with Peter Richmond  how gazing at him in awe wasn't the best way to edit his story. Though the episode is about magazine-making, its lesson is applicable to anyone in search of a bit more confidence. For full show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.

I talk with Cheryl Della Pietra, the author of Gonzo Girl, a novel based on her real-life experience serving as Hunter S. Thompson's research assistant. The book is as loud and bawdy as you imagine but the real joy of it—and the focus of this interview—is when Cheryl discusses having an ambition that is greater than your hero's. For full show notes please head https://www.paulkix.com/podcast. 

On Monday, former CIA agent Michele Rigby Assad talked about the key to overcoming a presumed liability: Having more knowledge than anyone else. Today I talk about walking a not-at-all straight path to expertise about spies and saboteurs during World War II. The walk nearly ruined me and yet I'm so grateful for it. For full show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.