I talk with Michele Rigby Assad, a former CIA agent, about an episode in her book, Breaking Cover, where she interrogated a terrorist in Iraq and turned her presumed liabilities to her advantage. Nominally about espionage and brinkmanship and the war on terror, this episode actually highlights what it takes to convince others of your worth. For full show notes, head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast. 

I talk about Quake Books, the ones that alter who you are as a writer and person. I give some advice that your English or MFA professors won't like, and I talk about how Nathan Hill's quake book, and mine, were written by the same author. For full show notes, please head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast. 

I talk with Nathan Hill, author of the New York Times bestseller The Nix, a comedic novel about, um, well, the 60s, Norse mythology, video games, love—it's about a lot of things. It's also amazing. I love this book, and Nathan and I discuss a four-page sequence that's belly-laugh funny and reflects everything Nathan's trying to do as a writer. For complete show notes, head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast

I explore an idea that Eliza Griswold and I touched upon Monday: How to understand someone, and get him or her to trust you, when the two of you come from different classes. I share my story of moving to a tribal Boston, and meeting a guy named Vito Gray. For full show notes, please head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast. 

I'm joined by Eliza Griswold, a poet and New Yorker contributor whose latest book, Amity and Prosperity, won the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction. We talk about the book's protagonist, a single mother, who cut a deal with a fracking company to get at the natural gas beneath her property in Western Pennsylvania. She comes to bitterly regret that deal.

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

I pick up where Monday's episode with Taffy left off, and talk about how I learned to believe in myself through the most stressful, panicked months of my career. Full show notes at https://www.paulkix.com/podcast

I talk with Taffy Brodesser-Akner about her profile of Ethan Hawke, and how the work of trying to do great work is the story of not only Hawke's career but Taffy's. Both faced dismissive sneers for believing in themselves, for wanting to be taken seriously. Today Hawke is much more than a pretty boy, and Taffy's recently released novel is a New York Times bestseller. Taffy and I recorded this before she'd finished the novel, which serves as a goose-bumpy coda for anyone who listens to the end. For complete show notes, head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast. 

I talk about a few theories on how to end stories, approaches that have worked for Oscar-winning screenwriters, Ellie-winning magazine writers, and for me, with my best-selling book. I link to all the books and videos for this episode at https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.

I talk with the great Chris Jones, the writer and producer of the forthcoming Netflix series "Away," about his profile of the magician Teller. Chris is a two-time National Magazine Award winner and his story on Teller is his all-time favorite, the one he keeps returning to and thinking about, even seven years after Esquire published it. It's about magic and storytelling but mostly the eternal fight between what the brain knows and the heart wants. 

In our time together, Chris and I discuss a lot of books and magic tricks and videos. If you want to see any of them yourself, search my show notes for this episode at https://www.paulkix.com/podcast

I talk about what the Newtown shooting did to me and my way of thinking, an endless cycle of thoughts that led me ultimately to do my own story on Newtown. My piece, years after the shooting, focused on whose pain is assuaged when strangers give a gift of condolence. For full show notes, please head to paulkix.com.