This was a big week for me in podcasting with three shows recorded, including a really fun, birdseye view talk with Joe Dimino on his YouTube podcast FAMOUS INTERVIEWS WITH JOE DIMINO. We covered a lot of ground outside my book Chained Birds and in particular, what inspired me to become a journalist in the first place. (The interview can also be heard on Apple Podcasts.)
I told Joe that in college, I originally majored in Broadcast media with the goal of entering TV news reporting. Right after I graduated, I was even asked to interview at a small Nebraska TV station (I couldn’t remember the city, it was that long ago!), but I had already met my East-Coast-based husband, so I declined the interview and found my way into print journalism instead. That was an excellent decision on many levels!
Joe’s FAMOUS INTERVIEWS show is a newer companion to his NEON JAZZ radio program, launched in 2011, and which showcases modern jazz music and the stories of the artists behind it (he’s based in Kansas City, a jazz music hub and epicenter for legendary musicians). On FAMOUS INTERVIEWS, Joe has branched out to talk with folks from all over the world on a wide range of topics from art, music, culture, podcasting, business, therapy, coaching, spirituality, love, relations, and of course, books. Joe has even published his own poetry collection this fall titled The American Enigma is You.
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oe often asks his guests what inspired them to become what they’ve become, and for me, we discussed two books that influenced my trajectory as a journalist and writer: All the President’s Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, and In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. The 1976 film adaptation of All the President’s Men, starring Robert Redford as Woodward and Dustin Hoffman as Berstein, was more inspiring to me than the book (an admittedly hard read), and I’ve probably seen that movie more than any other in my life. The story, which follows the two reporters as they uncovered the Watergate scandal — which then led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation — is the first factual journalist thriller that I’m aware of. It celebrates freedom of the press and establishes the importance of journalism in society.
Capote’s In Cold Blood, published in 1966, is often credited with launching the true crime genre and establishing narrative nonfiction as a legitimate literary form. Capote’s story blended journalist research into the senseless, brutal murders of the Clutter family in Kansas by two psychopaths with an immersive narration style. He called the book a “nonfiction novel,” and my exposure to that book and a subsequent film adaptation cemented my admiration for outstanding storytelling, especially ones based on true events.
I like to think I emulated some of these qualities in Chained Birds, and I thank Joe for asking the question 😊
Carla Conti is a true crime journalist, storyteller, and prison reform advocate. Her debut book, Chained Birds: A True Crime Memoir, will be published by WildBlue Press on November 12, 2024.
