The Austin Meyer Podcast

This week’s guest on The Austin Meyer Podcast is Annalisa Quinn. Annalisa is a contributing writer, reporter, and literary critic for NPR where she created NPR's Book News column and covers literature and culture. Annalisa also writes about arts and culture for the New York Times and the Financial Times, and is a frequent contributor to the New York Times Magazine section First Words, which includes essays on what language reveals our current moment in culture and politics. In this conversation Annalisa and I talk about life as a freelance journalist, the end-to-end process of reviewing books for NPR, how reading hundreds of books has influenced her writing, how stories benefit from posing big questions, and then just in time for the holiday season, what books she recommends you get your loved ones!

This week my guest is Daniella Zalcman, a documentary photographer based between London and New York. She is a multiple grantee of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a fellow with the International Women's Media Foundation, a National Geographic photographer, and the founder of Women Photograph, an initiative working to elevate the voices of female and non-binary visual journalists. Her ongoing project, Signs of Your Identity, is the recipient many awards including of the 2017 Arnold Newman Prize and a 2017 Robert F Kennedy Journalism Award. Daniella’s most recent project on Native American imagery and identity, which is featured in the December 2018 issue of National Geographic Magazine. In this conversation, Daniella and I talk about how and why she made a jump from hard news photography to longer-term documentary projects, how she uses unconventional techniques like double exposures to tell complex stories, and photography’s potential in elevating the voices of those who have been oppressed.

This week my guest is Daniella Zalcman, a documentary photographer based between London and New York. She is a multiple grantee of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a fellow with the International Women's Media Foundation, a National Geographic photographer, and the founder of Women Photograph, an initiative working to elevate the voices of female and non-binary visual journalists. Her ongoing project, Signs of Your Identity, is the recipient many awards including of the 2017 Arnold Newman Prize and a 2017 Robert F Kennedy Journalism Award. Daniella’s most recent project on Native American imagery and identity, which is featured in the December 2018 issue of National Geographic Magazine. In this conversation, Daniella and I talk about how and why she made a jump from hard news photography to longer-term documentary projects, how she uses unconventional techniques like double exposures to tell complex stories, and photography’s potential in elevating the voices of those who have been oppressed.

This week's guest is Lauren Goode, a senior writer at WIRED. Lauren is an Emmy award winning journalist who covers all things tech. Before arriving at WIRED, Lauren was the senior technology editor at The Verge, Managing editor of reviews and consumer tech coverage at ReCode, and a video producer at the Wall Street Journal. In this conversation, Lauren and I talk about her career path, and the lessons she has learned along the way. Then we move into the ethical responsibilities of technology reporters and how she designs stories specifically for the various platforms she works on. Reach out to me on social @austinmeyerfilms and let me know what you think of the podcast!

This week's guest is Lauren Goode, a senior writer at WIRED. Lauren is an Emmy award winning journalist who covers all things tech. Before arriving at WIRED, Lauren was the senior technology editor at The Verge, Managing editor of reviews and consumer tech coverage at ReCode, and a video producer at the Wall Street Journal. In this conversation, Lauren and I talk about her career path, and the lessons she has learned along the way. Then we move into the ethical responsibilities of technology reporters and how she designs stories specifically for the various platforms she works on. Reach out to me on social @austinmeyerfilms and let me know what you think of the podcast!

Today on the podcast I am chatting with Steve Fiffer. Steve Fiffer is a prolific author who has written 16 books, several screenplays, and dozens of articles on a range of topics. Steve writes non-fiction, and has written numerous memoirs, not only about his own life, but as co-author for others working on theirs. His as-told-to memoirs include books by Miami Dolphins football star Mercury Morris, former Secretary of State James Baker, and the co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Morris Dees. In this conversation, Steve and I discuss his amazing personal story, how to write a compelling memoir, and then we also dig into very practical strategies and exercises you can do to get started writing whatever it is that you’ve always wanted to write... Steve's books that were discussed in this episode include: Three Quarters, Two Dimes and a Nickel: A Memoir of Becoming Whole... Jimmie Lee and James: Two Lives, Two Deaths and the Movement That Changed America... Tyrannosaurus Sue: The Extraordinary Saga of the Largest, Most Fought Over T. Rex Ever Found

Today on the podcast I am chatting with Steve Fiffer. Steve Fiffer is a prolific author who has written 16 books, several screenplays, and dozens of articles on a range of topics. Steve writes non-fiction, and has written numerous memoirs, not only about his own life, but as co-author for others working on theirs. His as-told-to memoirs include books by Miami Dolphins football star Mercury Morris, former Secretary of State James Baker, and the co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Morris Dees. In this conversation, Steve and I discuss his amazing personal story, how to write a compelling memoir, and then we also dig into very practical strategies and exercises you can do to get started writing whatever it is that you’ve always wanted to write... Steve's books that were discussed in this episode include: Three Quarters, Two Dimes and a Nickel: A Memoir of Becoming Whole... Jimmie Lee and James: Two Lives, Two Deaths and the Movement That Changed America... Tyrannosaurus Sue: The Extraordinary Saga of the Largest, Most Fought Over T. Rex Ever Found

This week on the podcast I am chatting with Lisa Kay Solomon. Lisa does it all. She is a speaker, an author, and an educator focused on helping leaders learn how to be more creative, flexible and resilient in the face of increasing complexity and change. She is a currently a Designer in Residence at Stanford University’s Institute for Design and founding Chair of Transformational Practices and Leadership at Singularity University. Lisa co-authored the Wall Street Journal bestseller, Moments of Impact: How to Design Strategic Conversations that Accelerate Change, and, more recently, Design a Better Business: New Tools, Skills and Mindset for Strategy and Innovation. In the first half of this conversation we take a close look at Lisa's best selling book, Moments of Impact. Specifically, we talk about the idea of Designing Conversations. What does that mean? How does it relate to telling stories? And what are strategies we can use to design for impact? In the second half, we talk about the class Lisa is currently teaching at Stanford called Creativity Rules: Inventing the Future, and discuss the value of telling stories about the future. Hope you enjoy!

This week on the podcast I am chatting with Lisa Kay Solomon. Lisa does it all. She is a speaker, an author, and an educator focused on helping leaders learn how to be more creative, flexible and resilient in the face of increasing complexity and change. She is a currently a Designer in Residence at Stanford University’s Institute for Design and founding Chair of Transformational Practices and Leadership at Singularity University. Lisa co-authored the Wall Street Journal bestseller, Moments of Impact: How to Design Strategic Conversations that Accelerate Change, and, more recently, Design a Better Business: New Tools, Skills and Mindset for Strategy and Innovation. In the first half of this conversation we take a close look at Lisa's best selling book, Moments of Impact. Specifically, we talk about the idea of Designing Conversations. What does that mean? How does it relate to telling stories? And what are strategies we can use to design for impact? In the second half, we talk about the class Lisa is currently teaching at Stanford called Creativity Rules: Inventing the Future, and discuss the value of telling stories about the future. Hope you enjoy!

I'm so excited to welcome our first musician to the show: Max Cowan. Max is a keyboard player based out of Berkeley, California. In his music, Max uses elements of funk and jazz and blends them into grooves that will surely get you up and moving. Max co-leads the East Bay meets New Orleans funk group, Atta Kid, and has played alongside some of the most accomplished musicians out there today. In this conversation, Max and I talk about how he tells stories through chords, melodies, and by playing with the musical conventions that we all know so well. We talk about everything from creative process, to finding your authentic voice, to musical history, to what makes someone a composition wizard, and if you stick around until the end, you’ll even get to hear Max compose a song on the spot. I had so much fun with this one. Hope you enjoy!