“Proximity is power” : Max Blau on mixing investigative and feature writing (Live at UGA)

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 University of Georgia, in partnership with the school’s Low-Residency MFA in Narrative Nonfiction. This episode was hosted by Jacob Feldman and produced by Matthew Whitehurst. The Sunday Long Read Podcast is executive produced by Étienne Lajoie. This episode would not have been possible without the help and support of Monimala Basu, the director of the MFA program at the University of Georgia. Show notes : 2:18 : ProPublica author page 2:20 : “I Don’t Want to Die”: Needing Mental Health Care, He Got Trapped in His Insurer’s Ghost Network (ProPublica) 3:08 : Creative Loafing author page; Atlanta Magazine author page; CNN author page 3:15 : Max Blau’s personal website 3:38 : About the Local Reporting Network (ProPublica) 4:10 : Sunken Costs (ProPublica) 6:25 : An Unbelievable Story of Rape (ProPublica & The Marshall Project) 6:48 : T. Christian Miller’s ProPublica author page 6:50 : Ken Armstrong’s Marshall Project author page 6:50 : Lizzie Presser’s ProPublica author page 6:51 : Ava Kofman’s ProPublica author page 18:45 : Jason Molina’s long dark blues (Chicago Reader) 59:00 : How Jim White Helped His Bluebird Spread Her Wings (Sunday Long Read)