Origin Stories

David DiGilio is one of the most prolific genre producers and writers working in Hollywood today. In addition to credits on films like “ Tron: Ares ” and hit shows like “ Crossbones ” and “ Strange Angel ,” he is the showrunner of the Amazon Prime blockbuster “ The Terminal List ,” as well as a spin-off/prequel called “ The Terminal List: Dark Wolf .” In this episode, he talks to Matthew about str...

Dana Fox is a veteran screenwriter and producer. The showrunner of the Apple TV series “ Home Before Dark ,” and the creator of the sitcom “ Ben and Kate ,” she is best known as the co-writer of “ Wicked ” and “Wicked: For Good,” two of the highest-grossing (and most popular) movies in American history. In this episode, she talks to Matthew about the art of bringing a beloved franchise to the scre...

Janet Reitman is a fellow at New America and a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine . A former longtime correspondent for Rolling Stone , she is a two-time finalist for a National Magazine Award and the author of some of the most influential journalism of the past two decades. In this episode, she talks with Matthew about " A Disaster of the US Military's Own Making ," her 2024 Times...

Lorelei Lee is a writer, activist, porn performer, and activist. A graduate of Cornell Law School and New York University’s MFA program, they write regularly for a range of publications, including N+1, Buzzfeed, and Wired. In this episode, Lorelei talks to Matthew about their groundbreaking essay “ Cash/Consent, ” which is both a memoir of Lorelei’s time in the porn industry and a reflection on th...

James Vanderbilt is a screenwriter, producer, and director whose work includes some of the most acclaimed films of the last two decades. He’s perhaps best known for writing Zodiac, David Fincher’s modern classic thriller. In this episode, he talks to Matthew about Nuremberg , his new film as both writer and director, set just after World War II as the Allies prepared to put high-ranking Nazi offic...

Clint Smith is a celebrated poet, essayist, and staff writer at The Atlantic. In addition to his two poetry collections, Counting Descent and Above Ground, he is the author of the award-winning nonfiction bestseller How the Word Is Passed. In this episode, he talks to Matthew about the reporting of How the Word is Passed, and how he made it accessible without losing rigor. “When I was writing the...

Gilbert King is a writer, photographer, and author of several books, including  Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America , which won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. In this episode, he talks to Matthew about the creation of Bone Valley , his hit podcast about the 1987 murder of Michelle Schofield. You can preorder the novel about his exper...

Evan Ratliff is a magazine writer, podcaster, and author of Mastermind: Drugs, Empire, Murder, Betrayal , which was released in 2019 by Random House. In addition to co-founding Longform and The Atavist Magazine, Evan was also one of the founding editors of Pop-Up Magazine. In this episode, he talks to Matthew about Shell Game , a hit narrative podcast Evan funded, created, and distributed independ...

Bonnie Tsui is a veteran journalist and the author of several critically-acclaimed books, including On Muscle , American Chinatown , and Why We Swim , which was published in 2020 by Algonquin Books. In this episode, she talks with Matthew about the challenges of writing Why We Swim, which mixes rigorous scientific reporting, history, and long passages of essayistic exploration. “It’s an instinctiv...

Roy Wood Jr. is a comedian, actor, and former correspondent for The Daily Show. In this episode, he talks to Matthew about his new book, " The Man of Many Fathers: Life Lessons Disguised as a Memoir ," which is structured as an extended letter to his young son. Early drafts, Wood recalls, were composed by voice note, while walking to the set of The Daily Show – a process that helped give the book...

Mitch Albom is a journalist, playwright, and the author, most famously, of " The Five People You Meet in Heaven. " Before scoring his breakout hit with " Tuesdays With Morrie ," Mitch was a longtime sports reporter for The Detroit Free Press , where his column still appears every week. In this episode, he talks to Matthew about his new novel, Twice , and the importance of putting theme first. "The...

Steve Burns is best known as the first host of the groundbreaking kids TV show Blue's Clues , which debuted nearly three decades ago, in 1996. After leaving Blue's Clues , Steve worked as a voiceover actor and a musician; his song " Mighty Little Man " became the theme song for "Young Sheldon." In this episode, he talks to Matthew about the creation of his new hit podcast, " Alive With Steve Burns...

Debora Cahn is a television writer, producer, and showrunner. Debora launched her career as a scribe on The West Wing and Grey’s Anatomy; later, she served as a writer and executive producer on Homeland. In this episode, she talks to Matthew about The Diplomat , the hit drama series she created for Netflix. “The game that we're trying to win is to stay in a viewer's life for years,” she says of Th...

Max Minghella is an actor, writer, and director. Born in London, Max has acted in projects as varied as The Social Network, The Handmaid’s Tale, and The Ides of March. He also wrote and directed  Teen Spirit , a coming-of-age drama set in the world of pop stardom. In this episode, he talks to Matthew about his latest directorial effort,  Shell , a body-horror satire about beauty, technology, and t...

Brian Goldstone is a journalist and anthropologist whose reporting focuses on inequality, housing, and the fragile architecture of the American dream. In this episode of Origin Stories, Goldstone talks to Matthew about There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America , his critically-acclaimed new nonfiction book. "In the last five or six months of writing, where I was just in that sort o...

Stephanie Foo is a veteran radio producer and longtime staffer at shows like Snap Judgment and This American Life. She joins Matthew to talk about the creation of her NYT best-selling memoir, “ What My Bones Know ,” which explores her early childhood trauma and her more recent diagnosis of complex PTSD. Foo discusses fart jokes, mining old journals for content, her husband’s editing skills, and ho...

Actor, writer, and producer John Hoffman talks to Matthew about co-creating and showrunning the hit television show " Only Murders in the Building, ” which is now in its fifth season on Hulu. Hoffman addresses writing lines for comedic greats like Martin Short and Steve Martin, his writing schedule (start early!) and how he deals with studio notes. He also describes the wonder of having a series s...

Palestinian filmmaker Yousef Srouji is the creator of the critically-acclaimed documentary " Three Promises ," which uses his mother’s old home video footage to tell an intimate story of life during the Second Intifada. Srouji talks to Matthew about coming to documentary film as a newbie and learning the tools of the trade on the job. He also discusses the difficulty of finding distribution for “T...

Mimi Leder is a producer, director, and two-time Emmy winner. Among her credits are films like Deep Impact and On the Basis of Sex and television programs like The Morning Show , a critically-acclaimed drama now entering its fourth season on Apple TV. In this episode of Origin Stories, she talks to Matthew about the establishing the tone of The Morning Show, the importance of creative synergy with...

New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe is the author of several books, including “ Empire of Pain ” and “ The Snakehead .” He talks with Matthew about “ Say Nothing ,” an award-winning book that was later adapted into a TV series on FX . On the agenda: The importance of outlining, the joys of research, and learning how and when to trust your gut. To Keefe, great reporting in 2025 must be acc...

Connie Walker , a veteran Cree journalist, was the first podcaster to win both the Pulitzer Prize and a Peabody Award in the same year. She talks about the backstory of “ Stolen: Surviving St. Michael's ," a deeply-personal investigation of the Canadian Indian residential school system, which she reported while at Gimlet, then the biggest podcast company in the world. To Connie, all great audio do...

Dan Taberski is a writer, director, and former producer at The Daily Show. He joins Origin Stories to discuss the podcast “ Hysterical ,” which centers on a strange illness that afflicted a group of girls in the New York town of LeRoy. “Hysterical,” a 2025 Pulitzer finalist in the audio reporting category, went on to win a range of awards, including Show of the Year at the Ambies, the podcasting e...

Noah Hawley is a screenwriter, novelist, and Emmy-winning director. He joins Matthew to talk about his latest TV series, Alien: Earth , which grew out of a memo he was once asked to prepare for FX chief John Landgraf. Hawley discusses his creative process, his writing regimen, and the challenges and pleasures of adapting a beloved horror franchise for a modern audience. To Hawley, good ideas have...

Origin Stories is a podcast by creatives –– and for anyone curious about the workings of the creative mind. Hosted by veteran journalist Matthew Shaer, every episode of the show takes you behind the scenes of your favorite book, magazine article, TV show, podcast, or movie –– from the initial spark of curiosity to the long sessions in front of a white board. Nothing is off the table: not the frust...