‘Writing Is My Medicine:’ A Veteran Reflects on the Horrors of Our Evacuation from Afghanistan
Release Date: 07/23/2024
A Sassy Conversation with Magazine Icon Jane Pratt
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When I helped launch Twist magazine in the late '90s, we basically huddled around old issues of Sassy like sacred texts, trying to decode what made them so special. The answer? Jane Pratt. So it was with excitement and a little nervousness that I jumped on a Substack Live Interview with her. We chatted about: Her miserable boarding school experience and how it inspired Sassy Getting pulled off 70% of newsstands after a boycott by the religious right The secret behind Sassy’s success and why it changed so many lives Her evolution...
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Captain Cook Reached Paradise. Then It Turned on Him.
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Historian Hampton Sides joins the show to talk about The Wide Wide Sea, his riveting new book about Captain James Cook’s final—and fatal—expedition in 1776. We get into: Why Cook lost his cool on his last voyage What really happened in Hawaii The crew’s wild sexual escapades in the South Pacific What this story reveals about power, empire, and the price of discovery Subscribe to my Substack @
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What Every Author Gets Wrong About Publicity
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Guest Kim Dower has spent the last 40 years helping authors get noticed — as one of the top literary publicists in the business. She's also a celebrated poet, with a brand-new collection out now called . In this episode, Kim pulls back the curtain on what publicists actually do, who really needs one, and the biggest mistakes authors make when trying to promote their work. If you're publishing a book — or even thinking about it — this conversation will help you understand the industry, the stakes, and what it takes to break through. Subscribe to my Substack: JonSmallTalk.substack.com...
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The New Retirement Is Not At All What We Expected
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A lot of Gen Xers are facing an existential crisis, feeling stuck, burned out, unemployed, and just unsure about the future. This was supposed to be the time when we start to wind down so why does it feel like we're on a highway to hell? This doesn't mean we're doomed; it just means we need a reset on how we think about retirement. In my first-ever Substack Live over on my newsletter Small Talk, I had a live conversation with Brian Clark—entrepreneur, writer, and founder of Further—about what this next chapter actually looks like for Gen X. And how we can stop chasing old myths...
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The Advice We’d Give to Our Younger Selves
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Gretchen Rubin joins the show to talk about her new book, in which she boils down a lifetime of wisdom into powerful aphorisms that resonate. Gretchen is a bestselling author, podcast host, and one of today’s most trusted voices on happiness, habits, and human nature. In this conversation, we talk about the lessons we learn too late, the advice she wants to pass on to her daughters, and why small, well-phrased truths often carry the biggest impact. Other topics: – Why she made the leap from clerking at the Supreme Court to writing about happiness – The Four Tendencies framework and why...
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The NYT called Gen X Obsolete. That Didn't Go Well.
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When the New York Times declared it was “the end of work as we knew it” for Gen X, it did not feel fine. The story called the generation obsolete, irrelevant, and even likened them to candlestick makers in the age of electricity. Seriously? The article sparked a firestorm, prompting host Jonathan Small to write a viral Substack response that only raised the temperature. Now, Dana DuBois—fellow Gen X-er, writer, alt-rock aficionado—joins the show to talk about why the article sparked so much rage, what it got dead wrong, and how Gen X is not just surviving but reinventing midlife on...
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5 Secrets for Crafting an Unforgettable Memoir
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Has anyone ever told you, "Your life is so interesting—you should write a memoir!" It's flattering, no doubt. But then comes the doubts and the fears and the paralysis. How do you transform decades of memories and anecdotes into a narrative people would actually want to read? You can start by reading guest Wendy Dale's new book, . In it, she gives you the structure for constructing your memoir from the ground up. On this episode, we talk about useless writing advice such as just write a first draft, why the journey is more important than the memories themselves, and the things to prep...
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Kenneth Turan on the Hollywood Duo Who Built an Empire
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Back in Hollywood's Golden Age, two men with vastly different backgrounds came together to shape the future of film. Louis B. Mayer, a shrewd businessman and Irving Thalberg, a visionary producer, formed a partnership that defined MGM and set the standard for the modern studio system. In this episode, famed film critic Kenneth Turan explores their unlikely partnership, their imperial rise, and their eventual fall.
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2025 Oscars: Scandals and Predictions
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The 97th Academy Awards will grace Hollywood this Sunday, bringing its signature blend of glamour and controversy to the red carpet. To unpack all the drama, we're joined by Katey Rich, Awards Editor at The Ankler and host of the acclaimed podcast "Prestige Junkie." Katey reveals her journey to securing her coveted position, the state of awards shows in today's world, and why they continue to be popular despite yearly reports of their demise. Katey also delves into the scandals clouding this year's Oscar race and shares her expert predictions for best picture, best actress, best...
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An Explosive Lawsuit Reveals the Dark Secret of Romantasy Novels
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Was a bestselling romantasy novel stolen from someone else's unpublished book? New Yorker staff writer Katy Waldman investigates a fascinating case of alleged plagiarism rocking the publishing world—the first novel copyright infringement to reach trial in a century. The case raises profound questions about creative ownership in publishing, while exposing the way books in this red-hot genre are written. You'll never look at enemies-to-lovers werewolf sexcapades the same way again. Read Katy's story @ https://bit.ly/4hyxLUP Subscribe to Small Talk @ jonsmalltalk.substack.com
info_outlineWill Selber is a former Middle East Foreign Area Officer with 20 years of experience in the intelligence community. He served for nearly 1500 days in Iraq and Afghanistan during heavy combat operations. How retired, his life's mission is to shed light on the current situation in Afghanistan and help many of the U.S.'s allies escape the country and the Taliban. It’s grueling and heart-breaking work that requires him to make Sophie's Choice-like decisions about who lives and dies. He now writes about his experiences for such publications as The Bulwark. In our interview, we touch on why he joined the Air Force, the horrors he saw in Iraq and then Afghanistan, the mental heath challenges he’s had to face, how writing has become therapy, his upcoming trip to Israel, what we don’t understand about groups such as the Taliban and Hamas, and his hope for the future of Afghanistan.
Sign up for Jonathan Small's Six-Week Non-Fiction Writing Course @ https://bit.ly/46fnKae
Subscribe to Will Selber's substack @ https://substack.com/@willselber