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Episode 579: Kelsey McKinney

Overview

Shownote

Highlights

Transcript

Chapters

Pins

Episode 579: Kelsey McKinney

Longform

2024/05/15
Longform

Longform

2024/05/15
OverviewShownoteHighlightsTranscriptChaptersPins

Shownote

Kelsey McKinney is a features writer and co-owner at Defector.com. She hosts the podcast Normal Gossip and is the author of the upcoming book You Didn't Hear This From Me: (Mostly) True Notes on Gossip. “I was always very interested in how you strategize a...

Highlights

In this candid and reflective conversation, Kelsey McKinney—writer, podcast host, and co-owner of Defector—discusses the realities of building and sustaining a creative career in today’s media landscape.
00:00
Kelsey McKinney is co-owner of Defector and host of Normal Gossip
09:01
Extreme sourness from Bucky's candies forces focused typing during writing sessions
21:06
The CEO who laid them off had to repeat the termination announcement while they were already on a Fulbright in Germany
28:40
Reporting was strategic as it's easier to place reported pieces, helps people learn one's name, is a useful skill, and the guest wanted to prove they could do non-culture reporting
36:08
The gap between public and real self is narrowing, especially with the podcast as a parasocial medium
41:32
She tweeted the idea for Normal Gossip during Omicron after realizing she'd been stuck thinking about gossip for years
51:02
Podcast success gave her the power to turn down unethical advertisers and take creative risks
1:03:18
One should decide their own creative career and not be sidetracked by others' expectations

Chapters

Meet Kelsey McKinney and Normal Gossip
00:00
Why Doesn’t Mrs. Dalloway Get a Day of Her Own? (Slate • Jan 2000)
04:00
Chris Evans: American Marvel (Edith Zimmerman • GQ • July 2011)
13:00
McKinney’s Deadspin archive
23:00
God Spare the Girls (Harper Collins • 2022)
31:00
Gossip Is Not a Sin (New York Times • July 2021)
39:00
You Didn’t Hear This From Me (Viking • 2025)
43:00
Learning To Play Piano When There Is No Recital (Defector • Dec 2023)
58:00

Transcript

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