How to Write Unapologetically Well — Tom Junod

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Tom Junod is famous for writing essays that have defined both people and events. He wrote a piece called "The Falling Man" for Esquire, which is the canonical piece about 9/11. Later on, he wrote the iconic "Can You Say...Hero?" about Fred Rogers, also for Esquire. What's unique about this conversation is that it's both practical and deep, but it all comes to a head at the end. In this climax, we get to talk about his bookshelf, and it fast becomes one of my favorite things that's ever happened on How I Write. Enjoy! 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:42 The art of a sentence 00:02:01 The Falling Man on September 11th 00:07:18 “Say the unsayable” 00:16:10 Look for contradictions 00:19:40 Ellipses 00:28:35 Lessons from Fred Rogers 00:40:48 Write to improve your thinking 00:46:14 Tom’s favorite writing trick 00:50:11 What makes for a good ending? 00:54:57 Advice for young writers 01:02:58 “Writing is a tug of war of souls” 01:04:30 Tom’s anti-AI rant *About the host* Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible. *Follow me* Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv X: https://x.com/david_perell