Mark Meynell has done a lot of thinking about civility and cynicism and the writer's responsibility not just to win arguments, but to tell the truth. In this episode, Jonathan and Mark discuss the practice of generosity involved in both writing and reading, the virtues and vices of rhetoric, and how fiction and nonfiction persuade us in different ways.

Writers who make Mark want to write:

• Graham Greene
• John LeCarre
• Elizabeth Strout

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Mark Meynell has done a lot of thinking about civility and cynicism and the writer's responsibility not just to win arguments, but to tell the truth. In this episode, Jonathan and Mark discuss the practice of generosity involved in both writing and reading, the virtues and vices of rhetoric, and how fiction and nonfiction persuade us in different ways.

Writers who make Mark want to write:

Graham Greene

John LeCarre

Elizabeth Strout

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Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member

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Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson, Associate Professor of English at John Brown University, is currently preparing the unfinished manuscript of Flannery O'Connor's last novel for publication. In this episode, Jonathan and Jessica geek out about Flannery O'Connor, exchange strategies for balancing academic writing and fiction, and discuss how reading poetry has made Jessica a better writer. 

Writers who make Jessica Hooten Wilson want to write:

• Gina Ochsner (The Necessary Grace to Fall)
• Michael O'Brien (Father Elijah)
• Leif Enger (Virgil Wander)
• Flannery O'Connor (of course)

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Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson, Associate Professor of English at John Brown University, is currently preparing the unfinished manuscript of Flannery O'Connor's last novel for publication. In this episode, Jonathan and Jessica geek out about Flannery O'Connor, exchange strategies for balancing academic writing and fiction, and discuss how reading poetry has made Jessica a better writer. 

Writers who make Jessica Hooten Wilson want to write:

Gina Ochsner (The Necessary Grace to Fall)

Michael O'Brien (Father Elijah)

Leif Enger (Virgil Wander)

Flannery O'Connor (of course)

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Mary Laura Philpott is the author of I Miss You When I Blink, a nationally bestselling memoir-in-essays. Her writing also appears in publications including The New York Times, The Paris Review Daily, The Washington Post, O The Oprah Magazine, and others. In this episode, Jonathan and Mary Laura talk about the unexpected correlations between perfectionism and humor, the fascinating question "Who were you before you wondered who you were?" 

Mentioned in this episode:
Jerry Seinfeld: How to Write a Joke

Writers who make Mary Laura want to write:

• Maggie O'Farrell (I Am, I Am, I Am)
• Alexander Chee (How to Write an Autobiographical Novel)

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Mary Laura Philpott is the author of I Miss You When I Blink, a nationally bestselling memoir-in-essays. Her writing also appears in publications including The New York Times, The Paris Review Daily, The Washington Post, O The Oprah Magazine, and others. In this episode, Jonathan and Mary Laura talk about the unexpected correlations between perfectionism and humor, the fascinating question "Who were you before you wondered who you were?" 

Mentioned in this episode:

Jerry Seinfeld: How to Write a Joke

Writers who make Mary Laura want to write:

Maggie O'Farrell (I Am, I Am, I Am)

Alexander Chee (How to Write an Autobiographical Novel)

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Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joseph Patton is a staff songwriter at Sony/ATV Music Publishing on Nashville's Music Row. In this episode, Jonathan and Joseph talk about what happens in Music Row writing rooms, the difference between songs that help people remember and songs that help people forget, and the tensions between commercialism and "loving thy listener."

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Joseph Patton is a staff songwriter at Sony/ATV Music Publishing on Nashville's Music Row. In this episode, Jonathan and Joseph talk about what happens in Music Row writing rooms, the difference between songs that help people remember and songs that help people forget, and the tensions between commercialism and "loving thy listener."

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Find out more about The Habit Membership.

Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Karen Swallow Prior is the author of On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life Through Great Books. In this episode she talks with Jonathan about the instructive power of fictional worlds to shed light on our own, how fiction can teach us to love our enemies, and joy as a courageous act of imagination.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Stylish Academic Writing, by Helen Sword
• Desiring the Kingdom, by James K.A. Smith

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Karen Swallow Prior is the author of On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life Through Great Books. In this episode she talks with Jonathan about the instructive power of fictional worlds to shed light on our own, how fiction can teach us to love our enemies, and joy as a courageous act of imagination.

Mentioned in this episode:

Stylish Academic Writing, by Helen Sword

Desiring the Kingdom, by James K.A. Smith

Subscribe to The Habit Weekly newsletter.

Find out more about The Habit Membership.

Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.