Award-Winning Writer and Podcast Host Jeanne Marie Laskas Joins Lee Gutkind on Monday 9/8
These two masters of immersion journalism will chat about how to dig below the surface and find stories others might miss.
Writing reported profiles and features isn’t just about asking questions. The best journalists immerse themselves in new situations and dig below the surface to find stories others might not see. No one does that better than Jeanne Marie Laskas, who has spent her career helping Americans understand the lives of other Americans—coal miners, gun shop clerks, migrant workers, staffers in the White House mailroom.
Jeanne Marie is the author of eight books, including the bestseller Concussion, the basis for the 2015 Golden Globe-nominated film starring Will Smith; and To Obama: With Love, Joy, Anger, and Hope—which grew out of an article Jeanne Marie wrote for The New York Times Magazine, where she is a contributing writer. A correspondent at GQ and a two-time National Magazine Award finalist for feature writing, her stories also appear in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Esquire.
More recently, she is the host and co-writer of the Audacy Original podcast series CEMENT CITY, named one of the top ten “Best Podcasts of 2024” by The New York Times. The series, an incredible immersion into a dying town with a dark secret, has been shortlisted for two Ambie awards, including “Podcast of the Year,” and the 2024 National Magazine Award for best podcast.
In the next episode of Narratively Academy’s Open Book live video series, Jeanne Marie will speak with Creative Nonfiction Founder Lee Gutkind about how she immerses herself in unfamiliar territory and finds full, compelling human stories.
This conversation will be held live on Zoom on Monday, September 8 at 6pm ET.