The Sunday Long Read Podcast

Washington Post columnist and four-time NYT best-selling author Sally Jenkins recounts the advice Billie Jean King gave her about dealing with sexism; shares her opinion of Lance Armstrong, Joe Paterno, and Roger Goodell; and explains why journalism is a civil religion. She and Don also discuss several pieces of advice for young writers.

Longtime friends Don and Scott discuss how Price started going by S.L., the changes they've seen in American newsrooms, and how writing requires being both the god and dog of your story. Then they go personal, discussing Scott's profile of Michael Jordan when they were both students at the University of North Carolina, the articles he has turned into books, and his time working internationally.

Kevin Van Valkenburg is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, where he writes primarily about football and golf. Prior to joining ESPN, he spent 11 years at the Baltimore Sun. In 2015, he was the T. Anthony Pollner Distinguished Professor at the University of Montana, where he taught a class on storytelling. He and Don discuss his start in journalism, how he faked his way through an ESPN job interview, the time they've spent co-reporting, and his powerful Sunday Long Read essay.

Seth Wickersham and Wright Thompson both write for ESPN The Magazine and have been discussing stories since their time together at the University of Missouri (they discussed several while guest editing The Sunday Long Read in September). Don chatted with them about how they developed their confidence, the stories that got away, and what they'd like to be remembered for—or at least Don tries to get them to answer that last one. We think you'll enjoy it.

This week's episode contains explicit language.

Souad Mekhennet is a national security correspondent for The Washington Post and the author of the national best-selling, "I Was Told To Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad." Last month, she was named the 2017 recipient of the Daniel Pearl Award. In this conversation with her friend and former colleague, Don Van Natta Jr., Mekhennet describes her 16 years covering Jihad for the Post, The New York Times and other publications; the techniques she uses to gain the trust of sources, including terrorist leaders, and how she manages their expectations; where her immense bravery and courage likely come from. She also discusses several of her most renowned pieces, including one for The New York Times that she and Don collaborated on in 2005 about a German man's imprisonment and torture in an Afghanistan prison by officials believed to be with the CIA, as well as her most recent story, The Jihadist Plan To Use Women To Launch the Next Incarnation of ISIS.

In the middle of his Twitter hiatus, two-time National Magazine Award winner Chris Jones chats with Don Van Natta Jr. Jones shares behind-the-scenes details from his favorite stories—including profiles of Roger Ebert and Teller. He also explains why he's just now learning to cook and how he managed to expense both poker losses and marijuana.

In a fun, wide-ranging conversation with Don, Taffy discusses the privilege and challenges of the freelance writer’s life; the traits of great and bad editors; the challenges of writing stories to length. Don also reads a few of his favorite Taffy ledes. And there’s a “lightning round” of questions submitted by a mystery past editor of Taffy’s.

Christopher Goffard, now at The Los Angeles Times, is an experienced journalist of over 20 years. Most recently, he's the reporter, writer and voice of Dirty John, a captivating series told via print and chart-topping podcast. Christopher tells Jacob why he assigns his journalism students stories of everyday people, the way he first learned about "Dirty John" Meehan, how creating a podcast was "harder work than I think I've ever done" (but work he recommends to any journalist), and why he isn't comfortable with the True Crime label for Dirty John.

Ana Menendez is “a triple-threat”—she’s been a reporter, a columnist and is now a full-time fiction writer (and, last week, Ana was guest-curator of the SLR). In their 40-minute conversation, Don and Ana discuss their shared early days at The Miami Herald, the joys and difficulties of writing (and re-writing), the music and rhythm of the finest prose (and its poetic origins), and the wisdom and folly of reviewing one’s own work 10 or 15 years later.

Also, special thanks to Justin Morris for providing our new intro music.

Don and Jacob discuss their latest work, the Sunday Long Read's origin story, and why they share 15 stories every week.