Eli Saslow is a Pulitzer-winning feature writer for the Washington Post. His new book is Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist.

Jeanne Marie Laskas writes for GQ and the New York Times Magazine. Her new book is "To Obama."

Elif Batuman is a novelist and a staff writer at "The New Yorker"

Jon Caramanica is a New York Times music writer

Jeff Maysh is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. His latest article is "How an Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald’s Monopoly Game and Stole Millions."

David Marchese is the interviewer for New York's "In Conversation" series

Nathaniel Rich is a novelist and a writer-at-large for The New York Times Magazine. His latest article is "Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change."

Laura June is author of "Now My Heart Is Full"

Rukmini Callimachi covers ISIS for The New York Times and is the host of Caliphate.

Megan Greenwell is the editor-in-chief of Deadspin.

Bryan Fogel is the Oscar-winning director of Icarus.

Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah is an essayist. Her 2017 GQ piece “A Most American Terrorist: The Making of Dylann Roof,” won the National Magazine Award and the Pulitzer Prize.

May Jeong is a magazine writer and investigative reporter.

Helen Rosner is a food correspondent at The New Yorker.

Reeves Wiedeman is a reporter at New York

Elif Batuman is a novelist and a staff writer at The New Yorker. Her latest article is “Japan’s Rent-a-Family Industry.”

Leon Neyfakh is a writer and the host of "Slow Burn."

James Fallows, a national correspondent for The Atlantic, and Deborah Fallows, a linguist and writer, are the co-authors of Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America. “The credo of reporting—you know, what you don’t know till you show it—that’s my 'this-I-believe.' That’s the reason I’ve stayed in this line of work for this many decades because there’s nothing more fascinating that you can do but to serially satisfy your curiosity about things. What’s it like on an aircraft carrier? What’s it like in a Chinese coalmine? What’s it like in a giant data center in Wyoming? What is it like in all of these things? And journalism gives you a structural excuse to go do those.” Thanks to MailChimp, MUBI, Best Self Journal, and Thermacell for sponsoring this week's episode. Also: Longform Podcast t-shirts are now available! @JamesFallows @FallowsDeb James Fallows on Longform Longform Podcast t-shirts [02:15] Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America (Pantheon • 2018) [09:25] The Reinvention of America (New Yorker • May 2018) [19:40] James Fallows's archive at The Atlantic [27:20] Tears of Autum (Charles McCarry • E.P. Dutton • 1974) [34:35] James Fallows's archive at Washington Monthly [38:20] "Lloyd Bentsen: Can Another Texan Apply?" (The Atlantic • Dec 1974) [44:05] “The Passionless Presidency” (The Atlantic • May 1979) [58:25] Redlands Daily Facts [58:45] The Morning Call [59:05] Seven Days [59:15] Erie Reader

Sheila Heti is the author of seven books. Her latest is Motherhood: A Novel. “[My parents] were afraid for me. As anybody who has a kid who wants to be a writer. I think they understood it was a hard life. It was a life in which you wouldn’t necessarily make enough money. It was a life in which you might be setting yourself up for a great amount of disappointment. My dad’s father was a painter, so there was in him this idea that it wasn’t so crazy to him. It wasn’t so outside his understanding. And, yeah, my mom thought it was a bad idea. And it probably is a bad idea in a lot of ways, but my dad was supportive but also cautioning. I think the book really moved [my mom] and really had an effect on her, so maybe you understand that it’s not necessarily a frivolous thing to be doing. Maybe it’s not just playing. I think my mom always had this idea that writing is playing, and it is playing, but it’s a serious kind of playing.” Thanks to MailChimp, MUBI, and Tripping.com for sponsoring this week's episode. @sheilaheti Heti on Longform [01:40] How Should a Person Be?: A Novel from Life (Henry Holt and Co. • 2012) [01:45] Motherhood: A Novel (Henry Holt and Co. • 2018) [2:50] Sheila Heti’s archive at The Believer [07:30] The Middle Stories (McSweeny’s • 2012) [07:35] Ticknor (House of Anansi Press • 2005) [09:10] Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles (Jennifer Baichwal • Zeitgeist Films • 2003) [36:50] Emergency Contact (Mary H. K. Choi • Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers • 2018) [42:35] Da Ali G Show (Sacha Baron Cohen • Channel 4 • 2000) [46:00] "Finding Raffi" (New York Magazine • Dec 2015)

Adam Davidson is a staff writer at The New Yorker. “I am as shocked this moment that Trump was elected as I was the moment he was elected. That fundamental state of shock. It’s like there’s a pile of putrid, rotting human feces on a table and like six of the people around the table are like, ‘That is disgusting.’ And four are like ‘Oh it’s so delicious. Oh, I love it. It’s delicious.’ And I keep saying, ‘Well, why do you like it?’ ... Trump is not a very interesting person in my mind. He’s a very simple, one of the most simple public figures ever. And his business is complex that in that it’s lots of people doing lots of things, but the fundamental nature of it is not that mysterious. So, it is a challenge to keep me engaged, but I’m engaged. And then as a citizen, I’ve never been more engaged.” Thanks to MailChimp for sponsoring this week's episode. @adamdavidson [0:21] Adam Davidson's archive at The New Yorker [00:35] The Big Short (Paramount• 2015) [00:43] Surprisingly Awesome podcast archive at Gimlet Media [00:47] Planet Money [00:51] WBEZ Chicago [00:53] This American Life [0:55] Adam Davidson’s archive at Harper’s [01:35] "Donald Trump’s Worst Deal" (The New Yorker • Mar 2017) [04:15] "Michael Cohen and the End Stage of the Trump Presidency" (The New Yorker • Apr 2018) [26:17] Adam Davidson’s archive at NPR [31:48] Marketplace [34:44] Ben Taub on Longform [39:48] "Making It In America" (The Atlantic• Jan 2012) [41:42] Ira Glass’s Archive at This American Life [42:37] Thriveal Podcast [45:19] Zoe Chace on Longform [45:35] Losers: The Road to Everyplace but the White House (Michael Lewis • Vintage • 1998) [51:13] We The Economy (Cinelan• 2015)

Lauren Hilgers is a journalist and the author of Patriot Number One: American Dreams in Chinatown. “You just need to spend a lot of time with people. And it’s awkward. I read something when I was first starting out as a journalist in China, ‘Make a disci

Charlie Warzel is a senior tech writer for BuzzFeed. “Part of the big tech reckoning that we’re seeing since the election isn’t really about the election, it isn’t really about Trump or politics. It’s more about this idea that: Wow, these services have i

Michelle Dean is a journalist and critic. Her new book is Sharp: The Women Who Made an Art of Having an Opinion. “There isn’t one answer. I wish there was one answer. The answer is: You just have to wing it. And I’m learning that — I’m learning to be oka

Craig Mod is a writer and photographer. His podcast is On Margins. “You pick up an iPad, you pick up an iPhone—what are you picking up? You’re picking up a chemical-driven casino that just plays on your most base desires for vanity and ego and our obsess

Tom Bissell is a journalist, critic, video game writer, and author of The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made. His latest book is Magic Hours. “I kind of have come around to maybe not as monkish or fanatical devotio