Working: How Fact-Checking Can Improve Your Fiction

Slate Books

Slate Podcasts

Arts

3.8 • 546 Ratings

🗓️ 21 April 2024

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, host Isaac Butler talks to novelist Julia Hannafin and ecologist Adam Rosenblatt. In the interview, they discuss Julia’s new novel Cascade, which includes information about sharks and other marine life that Adam helped to verify. Julia explains how factual accuracy helped to solidify and drive both the plot of Cascade and some of its emotional power. Adam talks about what the collaborative process was like for him and argues that science is more creative than people think. After the interview, Isaac and co-host Ronald Young Jr. talk more about fact-checking in fiction. They also discuss the strengths and weaknesses of first-person present tense in fiction. In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Julia talks about the difference between writing novels and writing for TV. Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows—you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I knew that more plot was hidden in these science questions that I didn't understand.
0:14.0	And, you know, to know what happened in the book, I felt leaning into the reality of the research, leaning into the
0:22.3	minutia of the research actually helped the emotional stakes and the emotional presence
0:27.4	of the book.
0:29.8	Welcome back to working.
0:31.1	I'm your host, Ronald Young Jr.
0:33.4	And I'm your other host, Isaac Butler.
0:35.9	Isaac Butler. Fancy meeting you here.
0:38.4	Ronald Young Jr.
0:40.4	Good to see you again.
0:41.8	Good to see you.
0:43.0	Tell me whose voice to be here at the top of the show?
0:45.9	That was the voice of Julia Hannafin.
0:48.3	And in a rare occurrence for working, they will be joined by a second voice, Adam Rosenblatt.
0:54.7	Whoa, two guests.
0:57.0	I like it.
0:57.7	Is this a working first?
0:59.3	I'm new here.
1:00.1	We've done it occasionally.
1:01.3	It's just a thing we do very rarely.
1:03.3	Okay, great.
1:04.0	So I'll keep that in mind as I'm booking ahead.
	...

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