Telling The Story

You can imagine my surprise when a childhood friend of mine wound up being the 2nd-most popular person named Adam Levine. But I was completely unsurprised when this Adam Levine -- now going as Adam Seth Levine -- became a published author. A faculty member at Cornell University for several years, Levine recently embarked on the journey of writing a book. Nearly three years later, that journey is complete, and the result is American Insecurity: Why Our Economic Fears Lead to Political Inaction. Levine joins me for Episode #26 of the Telling The Story podcast. He is an atypical guest for the podcast; he does not work in journalism or storytelling by trade. Levine has, though, at least partially, made it his trade. His background is academic; the potential audience for this book is far wider. He thus faces the challenge of producing a book that both general and academic readers can find useful. And when Levine discusses the process of writing a book -- the surprises, the triumphs, the difficulties -- he unearths

Roughly seven minutes into this episode of the Telling The Story podcast, guest John Kirtley said the following: "No one said this was easy. If it was easy, the world of storytelling wouldn't be such a unique thing." During an already honest interview, this was a particularly honest moment. So often in this business, we try to maintain an optimistic, even idealistic, point of view. But Kirtley made his opinion perfectly clear: this job is difficult. And to do it well, and to do it regularly? Even tougher. "It's practice; you know that. You gotta work on improving a little detail each time, and eventually you're going to get to the point where it all adds up." Kirtley has seen things add up. He has worked in numerous cities in his ten-year career, but he has found a home in Asheville, N.C., where he has now become the assistant chief photographer at WLOS-TV. He has also claimed seven regional Emmy awards. He joins me for Episode #25 of the Telling The Story podcast. → The post PODCAST EPISODE #25: John Kirtle

New York can be a competitive place. Just look at Instagram. As of this writing, the hashtag #newyorkcity had been used on more than 4 million Instagram posts. Even the less obvious hashtag #newyorknewyork had been used 200,000 times. New York City may be the most photographed city in the world. And my guest on this episode of the Telling The Story podcast may be its most popular Instagram photographer. Natalie Amrossi is a freelance photographer who is better known by her Instagram name: Misshattan. She uses her account to showcase spectacular photos of the Big Apple, usually from an aerial or rooftop view. With barely a thousand posts under her online belt, Amrossi has already amassed more than 200,000 Instagram followers. → The post PODCAST EPISODE #24: Natalie Amrossi, @Misshattan appeared first on Telling The Story.

Challenging. Adrenaline-pumping. Riveting. Exhausting. These words barely begin to describe working at a local TV station during a story so large it compels round-the-clock coverage. We experienced it in Atlanta last winter during "Snowmageddon", where a few inches of snow-turned-ice led to massive back-ups on the highways and left people stuck in their cars for hours. Local TV journalists in Buffalo went through it last month, when the region was pelted with a different kind of snowstorm. A seven-foot kind of snowstorm. The historic snowfall -- even by Buffalo standards -- created massive issues across the region, and its NBC affiliate, WGRZ-TV, replaced its regular programming with non-stop news coverage. Anchors, reporters, producers, photographers, and staffers across the board worked extra-long shifts -- outdoors, too, for the crews in the field. Situations like these often stretch a newsroom to its thinnest. In this case, half of the WGRZ newsroom was not there. So says longtime reporter Claudine Ewing:

I have had numerous conversations with storytellers and journalists about why storytelling works. But until recently, I had never thought about having that conversation with a neuroscientist. A few weeks ago, I came across an article in the Harvard Business Review entitled, "Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling". The author? A professor at Claremont Graduate University named Dr. Paul J. Zak. I found the article compelling and reached out to the professor. He responded, and he joins me on this episode of the Telling The Story podcast. → The post PODCAST EPISODE #22: Dr. Paul J. Zak, on the science of storytelling appeared first on Telling The Story.

I have spent a lot of time on this site talking about my annual tradition. Every year, around this time, I purchase the Best American Sports Writing anthology and go to town. I crack it open and find 25 of the year’s finest pieces of sports writing. I read them, learn from them, and get inspired → The post PODCAST EPISODE #21: Glenn Stout, Series Editor, Best American Sports Writing appeared first on Telling The Story.

Of all the qualities and personality traits I will miss about Paul Crawley, I will miss one the most: He is, every day, on time for work. More than that, he is early for work. Rare is the day at 11Alive when our 9:30 morning meeting actually begins at 9:30. Typically it kicks off at → The post PODCAST EPISODE #20: Paul Crawley, reporter, WXIA-TV appeared first on Telling The Story.

When I started in broadcast journalism, I encountered a very vocal school of thought from more experienced colleagues regarding backpack journalists — or, more simply, reporters who shoot and edit their own stories. I was told repeatedly that the rise of backpack journalism would (A) be a passing fad in larger markets and (B) bring down the quality → The post PODCAST EPISODE #19: Ted Land, reporter, KING-TV appeared first on Telling The Story.

Last week I wrote a tribute to the amazing — and newly retired — Sports Illustrated writer Gary Smith. I mentioned how I first read one of Smith’s famous long-form, back-of-the-magazine epics as a teenager; I then rediscovered him as a young journalist. Turns out I wasn’t alone. One of Smith’s successors at Sports Illustrated — and → The post PODCAST EPISODE #18: Thomas Lake, senior writer, Sports Illustrated appeared first on Telling The Story.

I know you can’t help it. I can’t help it, either. I am a journalist by trade, a person who values the craft and importance of storytelling, and a big believer in complex, rich reporting … and I can’t help it. I always click on lists. You know the articles: “6 Great Moments in Seinfeld History”, → The post PODCAST EPISODE #17: Ryan Shmeizer, on why we love lists appeared first on Telling The Story.

This is a story of faith. Not religious faith, mind you. Not “the Cubs will one day win the World Series” kind of faith. This is about Field of Dreams-type faith … the faith that, “If you build it, they will come.” In this story, “you” is Brian Kaufman, a 31-year-old, Emmy Award-winning photographer and videographer → The post PODCAST EPISODE #16: Brian Kaufman, Detroit Free Press appeared first on Telling The Story.

Young photojournalists — heck, all photojournalists — need to listen to this podcast. Last week, after winning my own award as NPPA Solo Video Journalist of the Year, I decided I wanted to interview another of the association’s big award winners for 2013. I found a photojournalist whose work I have admired and referenced before → The post PODCAST EPISODE #15: Michael Driver, Photographer, KUSA-TV appeared first on Telling The Story.

“What is it like to cover the Olympics?” I have heard this question from virtually everyone I know since I came back from Russia three weeks ago. But before I answer, I generally need to ask a question of my own: “Which part?” Reporting from the Olympics combines an array of unique experiences for any → The post PODCAST EPISODE #14: Dave Schwartz, sports anchor, KARE-TV appeared first on Telling The Story.

This year has been a blast. Since launching the Telling The Story podcast in April, I have interviewed twelve great journalists and storytellers about their work. With the year wrapping up, I decided to take a look back. I compiled some of the best moments from the past year into a "Best Of" advice edition of the Telling The Story podcast. Hear from eight terrific storytellers about their thoughts on what makes a great storyteller, such as: Jon Shirek: my first podcast guest and my co-worker at WXIA-TV in Atlanta Anne Herbst: a versatile news photographer and now assistant chief photographer at KDVR-TV in Denver Matt Detrich: a longtime staff photographer at the Indianapolis Star Andrew Carroll: the author of the fascinating new book, Here Is Where Roman Mars: the esteemed host of 99% Invisible, and my most popular podcast guest to date Erin Brethauer: multimedia editor of the Asheville Citizen-Times, and -- for a week this year -- the overseer of the New Yorker's Instagram account Tomas Rios: a self-describ

One of the biggest challenges of storytelling -- particularly when dealing with stories of emotion -- is determining what to leave out. As a reporter for a local news station, I will regularly shoot several hours of video for a story that lasts several minutes. I realized early in my career I would never be able to tell someone's full story -- only as much of that story as I could fit into the allotted space. A news director of mine once crystallized the appropriate mentality: it's all about eliminating the "good" in one's story and keeping the "great". Of course, sometimes you don't even get to keep all of the "great". And sometimes, as in the case of filmmakers Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, you shoot 800 hours of video for a two-hour documentary -- a documentary in which you are two of the main characters. Brewster and Stephenson are the husband-and-wife duo behind American Promise, currently playing in select cities and premiering on PBS in February 2014. The documentary follows two young boys from

I am hooked on exquisite photographs. I subscribe to several blogs that curate great photography -- I wrote about them in a recent entry -- and I find myself constantly coming back to them as I scroll through the various feeds and media that dominate my daily reading. And I am absolutely not alone. Alexa Keefe is a photography producer for National Geographic and curates the "Photo of the Day" series for the magazine's web site. And with every picture she posts, thousands of viewers share it. Keefe is my guest on this week's Telling The Story podcast. She has worked as a photo archivist and editor, but now Keefe is responsible for curating beautiful content in an era where photographs are more ubiquitous than ever. But in doing this, sites like National Geographic have thrived. On the podcast, we discuss why. READ MORE >> → The post PODCAST EPISODE #11: Alexa Keefe, National Geographic photo producer appeared first on Telling The Story.

At the end of a lengthy and optimistic answer about how young journalists can succeed professionally, Rachel Hamburg -- a 2011 Stanford graduate -- took a step back. "As a 25-year-old hoping to make a career out of this, I think it's a little bit scary," she said. "And it's OK to be scared." Then she broke into laughter -- the type that occurs when, looking at the difficult journey ahead, all you can do is laugh. The majority of young storytellers and journalists face the challenge of channeling their enthusiasm and skills into a stable, long-lasting career. Many industries have obvious and time-honored career paths; journalism is not one of them. It is a constantly changing field where new tools and vehicles pop up almost annually. Hamburg is off to a great start. She freelances with innovative storytelling programs like Mashcast, and she currently serves as the managing editor for the Stanford Storytelling Project, which provides storytelling training for students in any field. She is also my guest on the

Full disclosure: A month ago, I had never heard of Tomas Rios. Full disclosure #2: I invited him to appear on my podcast off the strength of one article -- a piece he wrote last month called "A Brief History of Bad Sports Writing". Full disclosure #3: I was very impressed with the result. In the article, Rios takes aim at the "hot take" brand of journalism that has, he says, infested the sports media landscape. He traces it back to its evolutionary roots, bringing the reader on a journey from Grantland Rice to Dick Young to various modern-day writers, whom Rios willfully calls out by name. Rios is my guest on Episode 9 of the Telling The Story podcast. We go deep into the discussion of modern sports journalism, and he holds back just as little in our podcast as he does in the article. But I also delve into another subject with the 29-year-old, whose work has also appeared on the Slate and Deadspin web sites, among others: He talk about life as a freelancer. READ MORE >> → The post PODCAST EPISODE #9: Tomas

Can local TV stations produce compelling documentaries? Allow me to make the argument against that idea: Documentaries require significant topics. Documentaries require significant resources. Documentaries require significant talent. Documentaries require significant vision. Now, I would never argue that local news stations lack the vision, talent, resources, and topics to do compelling work. But very few have enough of each to commit to producing a hour of worthy television -- that is, an hour beyond the numerous hours of newscasts they already produce. And yet, last week, my station premiered a documentary, "50 Years Of Change", about the Civil Rights events of 1963; it received praise from both viewers and local leaders. It is a product on which I had the privilege to work, and of which I am very proud. It aired on our station, WXIA-TV in Atlanta, last Wednesday, and an abridged version has been made available for schools to show their social studies classes. How did the stars align to make it a reality

The New Yorker is typically known -- at least in terms of its visuals -- for displaying only the highest-brow material. (After all, this 17-year-old episode of Seinfeld can't be wrong ...) But the publication is now making waves because of how it utilizes a much more for-the-masses technology. Check out the New Yorker's Instagram account. The magazine has more than 82,000 followers there, and every week its editors hand the reins to a different photographer -- one not affiliated with the publication -- to spotlight an important cause. This is where we find the latest guest on the Telling The Story podcast. I am joined this week by Erin Brethauer. By day, she is the multimedia editor and a staff photographer for the Asheville Citizen-Times. By night, by weekend, and by numerous other times, she puts her photographic hands in numerous other projects. A few weeks ago, Brethauer took over the New Yorker Instagram feed and used it to put the focus on Camp Lakey Gap, a local camp for children with autism. She po