The Sunday Long Read Podcast

In a new Sunday Long Read podcast episode, Alana Newhouse, the editor-in-chief of Tablet Magazine, unpacks one of the magazine’s latest cover stories: a piece about the horrors of factory farming in the U.S., specifically as it relates to pig farms. Newhouse unflinchingly argues in a corresponding letter from the editor that Americans should stop eating industrially produced meat. “We are consumin...

In a new Q&A with The Sunday Long Read, journalist Bradley Hope chats about his recent story for WIRED: a deep dive into the deadly sinking of the superyacht Bayesian, which sank off the coast of Italy during a storm last year, killing seven people— including the vessel’s billionaire owner, Michael Lynch. The yacht’s tragic, and initially unexplained, sinking immediately became fodder for conspira...

Sunday Long Read co-founder Jacob Feldman talks with ProPublica’s Max Blau in a wide-ranging conversation about his piece “I Don’t Want to Die”: Needing Mental Health Care, He Got Trapped in His Insurer’s Ghost Network, the art of combining investigative and feature reporting and what it was like to see his story adapted for a stage performance. This episode was recorded in July live at the Univer...

The Sunday Long Read chats with Bloomberg’s Patrick Clark about one of his latest articles: a deep dive into the hotel chain Hampton Inn, and why its reputation as being "rigorously OK” has led, unexpectedly, to world domination. Read Patrick's story : American Mid: Hampton Inn’s Good-Enough Formula for World Domination As Americans take some of their last summer vacations this Labor Day weekend,...

As summer officially kicks off, Behind the Story host Amanda Ulrich chats with fellow journalist Rowan Jacobsen about his in-depth reporting on sunlight and sun exposure—and its many benefits you may not know about. Rowan gives his take on when you should wear sunscreen, how to write a narrative-driven science story, and whether or not moving to a sunny place may just be the key to longevity. Rowa...

Behind the Story host and journalist Amanda Ulrich chats with The Washington Post’s Geoff Edgers about everything music and pop culture — from Edgers’ recent story about a group of diehard Kinks fans, to his approach to interviewing celebrities like Tiffany Haddish and the late Norm Macdonald. His biggest reporting tips? Don’t be afraid to reach out to big names for an interview (repeatedly) and t...

SLR podcast host and writer Amanda Ulrich talks with fellow journalist Rhana Natour about her National Magazine Award-winning story, "Coming to America." That piece, written for The Atavist Magazine last year, tells the story of one teenager from Gaza: 14-year-old Layan Albaz, who lost both of her legs in an Israeli airstrike and traveled to the United States for medical treatment. This episode of...

Host and journalist Amanda Ulrich chats with fellow writer Natalia Galicza of Deseret Magazine about her reporting on solitary confinement, the future of long-form journalism, and Natalia's surprise at being selected as a finalist for a National Magazine Award. Read Natalia’s Deseret Magazine story : What’s the future of solitary confinement? This episode of The Sunday Long Read Podcast was hosted...

In a new piece for Vanity Fair, author and presidential historian James Robenalt, who has written about commanders in chief from Warren G. Harding to Donald J. Trump, uncovers the full story of JFK and Jackie’s surprising and little-known home video — and what it might say about the late president’s state of mind in his final months. The SLR’s Amanda Ulrich talks to Robenalt about the story, his i...

The first time Caity Weaver, a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine, heard about the legend of Zozobra, she stumbled upon it almost by accident. Back in 2018, Weaver and her now-husband happened to be visiting Santa Fe, New Mexico, on the sole night of the year when one of the country’s most unique celebrations was taking place. In her latest piece, Weaver delves into the broader idea of Zo...

This holiday season, we are rereleasing some of our favorite Sunday Long Read Podcast episodes of all time. A few years ago, SLR cofounder Don Van Natta Jr. spoke to his friends and colleagues, Wright Thompson and Seth Wickersham about their careers, finding your voice in writing and share some fun stories : - Awakening The Giant (ESPN The Magazine, 2014) - The trouble with Johnny (ESPN The Magazi...

This holiday season, we are rereleasing some of our favorite Sunday Long Read Podcast episodes of all time. Around five years ago, SLR cofounder Jacob Feldman spoke to journalist Jeanne Marie Laskas about her GQ profile of then Presidential candidate Joe Biden, political writing and story ideas. Show notes : To Obama: With Love, Joy, Anger, and Hope Have You Heard the One About President Joe Biden...

In one of her latest longform articles for ProPublica, reporter Lizzie Presser tells the story of teenagers caught on opposite sides of the drug trade: those who are selling opioids and those who are using them. In an interview with SLR Contributor Amanda Ulrich, Presser talks about her writing and research process and shares her personal reflections on the drug trade. This episode of The Sunday L...

Why do steakhouses have such a stranglehold on Republicans in Washington D.C.? Washingtonian's Jessica Sidman joined one of the party members to find out and ended up having “the most Washington night of my entire life in Washington.” Ahead of Election Day, SLR Contributor Amanda Ulrich spoke to Sidman about her reporting, getting to the bottom of the fascinating connections between parties, food...

In March, after years of work, producer Naomi Despres and screenwriter John Gatins released “Little Wing,” the story of a young pigeon racer, first told by Susan Orlean, in The New Yorker. In this episode of The Sunday Long Read Podcast, Despres and Gatins explain the trials and tribulations of getting an adaptation like this one out into the world and how much loyalty is owed to the authors of th...

Over the last few years, Texas Monthly has had a booming success on the big and small screen, turning impeccable stories into films and TV series. In an interview with The Sunday Long Read’s Jacob Feldman, Texas Monthly’s Executive Producer for TV, films and podcasts, Megan Creydt, explains how it all happened.

A self-described “Star War Kid” and “nerd,” Marc Bernardin left journalism a few years ago to follow his dream: becoming a television writer. Bernardin explains to host Jacob Feldman why nerd culture took over entertainment, and what it was like making the jump from magazine newsroom to Hollywood writers’ room. Marc Bernardin is a writer, director, and producer on shows such as Picard, Carnival Ro...

In a span of only three years, two of Jessica Pressler’s New York Magazine stories ended up on screen, a journey that involved a playdate with Julia Stiles in Queens. In an interview with Don Van Natta Jr., Pressler recounts her experience writing the original stories and the oddness of seeing herself played in a film twice. Jessica Pressler is a contributor to New York Magazine. Her 2015 piece “T...

Edith Zimmerman rocketed to media stardom early in her career. Her editing of the influential and hilarious website The Hairpin got her a place on Forbes’ 30 under 30—at only twenty-eight, she was a “much sought after writer,” noted the magazine. Zimmerman hasn’t lost an ounce of her humor in the years since, but she has slowly rediscovered herself. In the last episode of Take a Joke, Zimmerman an...

Award-winning radio reporter Matt Shearer is making Boston’s WBZ station—and by extension, local journalism—cool again. The thirty-six-year-old TikTok star’s success has breathed new life into the industry. In a wide-ranging conversation with host Jacob Feldman, Shearer shares his path to social media stardom. In the third episode of “Take a Joke,” an SLR series on the mixing of humor and reportin...

Dina Gusovsky was an award-winning investigative reporter before she put that career aside to pursue comedy in 2016, joining Late Night with Seth Meyers. Not because she wanted to move away from the news, but the opposite—she saw comedians doing deeper dives than journalists. In the second episode of “Take a Joke,” an SLR series on the mixing of humor and reporting, Jacob Feldman talked to Gusovsk...

Welcome to the first episode of Take a Joke, a Sunday Long Read podcast series on the captivating world of humor. Our first guest, Maureen Dowd, has been thorn in the side of American politicians for decades. In her conversation with host Don Van Natta Jr., she explains where her sense of humor comes from and how the subjects of her stories have taken it. Take a Joke is sponsored by Funny Girls, a...

Welcome back to The Art of Remembering, a Sunday Long Read podcast series on the fascinating world of obituaries. Our fourth guest is magazine writer and author Garrett Graff. In early 2023, the prolific journalist was tasked with one of the toughest assignments of his career: writing the obituary of his friend, New York Times editor and reporter Blake Hounshell. In a conversation with Don Van Nat...

Welcome back to The Art of Remembering, a Sunday Long Read podcast series on the fascinating world of obituaries. Our third guest, James Hagerty, is the only fulltime obituary writer at The Wall Street Journal, where he has worked for nearly 40 years. He's also written a book, Yours Truly, on the value of telling your own story. He and Don discuss the value of humor in the face of grief and how th...

Welcome back to The Art of Remembering, a Sunday Long Read podcast series on the fascinating world of obituaries. Our second guest, Kathleen McElroy, is a journalism professor at The University of Texas at Austin after spending nearly 30 years in the industry, including serving as Associate Managing Editor at The New York Times. Her 2013 article in the Journal of Black Studies focused particularly...