Courtenay Hameister Asks: What is Objective Truth, Anyway?

First Draft Episode #227: Courtenay Hameister

Courtenay Hameister, debut author of memoir Okay Fine Whatever:
The Year I Went From Being Afraid of Everything to Only Being
Afraid of Most Things, and former host, co-producer and head
writer of Live Wire Radio.


Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode




Books by Beverly Cleary (author of Ramona Quimby, Age 8,
Beezus and Ramona, and The Mouse and the Motorcycle) and and
Judy Blume (author of Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret,
Forever, and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing) and The Crystal
Cave series by Mary Stewart were some of Courtenay’s
favorites growing up




Create More, Fear Less is an organization in Portland
Courtenay volunteers with that works with anxious kids




While Courtenay went to New York University, she had the
chance to work with legendary comedy group The State. The
State — made up of Kevin Allison, Michael Ian Black, Robert
Ben Garant, Todd Holoubek, Michael Patrick Jann, Kerri
Kenney-Silver, Thomas Lennon, Joe Lo Truglio, Ken Marino,
Michael Showalter, and David Wain — was formed in 1998 and
had a self-titled comedy sketch show on MTV from 1992-1995.
You can learn more about the history of the group in The
Union of the State by Corey Stulce.




Members of The State went on to create Reno 911, which is
coming back!




“The 7,000 Dollar Pyramid,” is one of The State’s sketches
that Courtenay remembers Robert Ben Garant writing




Writing Movies For Fun and Profit: How We Made a Billion
Dollars at the Box Office, and You Can, Too! by former State
members and co-writers Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant




The Joan Didion quote Courtenay paraphrases is, “I don't know
what I think until I write it down.”




Some of Courtenay’s favorite guests from her many years of
hosting Live Wire include: comedian, storyteller, director
and actor Mike Birbiglia, who is best known for Sleepwalk
With Me, which was also a comedy special and a New York Times
bestselling book, Sleepwalk with Me and Other Painfully True
Stories, and his new comedy special, The New One is also
going to be a book, coming out in May 20202, The New One:
Painfully True Stories from a Reluctant Dad; Carrie
Brownstein, guitarist with Sleater-Kinney (who have a new CD
in 2019, The Center Won’t Hold), co-creator and writer of TV
show Portlandia, and author of memoir Hunger Makes Me a
Modern Girl; director Todd Haynes (who has directed Velvet
Goldmine, Far From Heaven, and this year’s Dark Waters;
Cheryl Strayed, author of Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on
Love and Life From Dear Sugar and memoir Wild: From Lost to
Found on the Pacific Crest Trail; and David Rakoff, humorist
and author of Fraud: Essays, Don't Get Too Comfortable: The
Indignities of Coach Class, The Torments of Low Thread Count,
The Never- Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil, and Other
First World Problems




Courtenay’s friend Daniel H. Wilson wrote Robopocalypse: A
Novel (which was optioned by Steven Spielberg, but after some
delays has now been thrown over to Michael Bay) was the one
who introduced Courtenay to his agent, Laurie Fox, who is an
author in her own right, of The Lost Girls: A Novel and My
Sister From the Black Lagoon: A Novel of My Life.




Jean Garnett at Little, Brown was Courtenay’s editor




Courtenay super recommends Sleepwalking with Einstein by
Joshua Foer (and, oh my god, would you look at that, he also
has a TED talk!)




The Oprah and James Frey controversy which exploded over his
memoir, A Million Little Pieces, is an inevitable reference
point for a conversation about what “truth” means in the
memoir category




Courtenay’s recommendation for David Carr’s memoir, Night of
the Gun: A Reporter Investigates the Darkest Story of His
Life. His Own, was so persuasive that I bought the audiobook
that night!




I admit to being a complete comedy nerd, and having recently
mightily enjoyed John Hodgman’s collection of personal
essays, Medallion Status: True Stories From Secret Rooms.




Jennifer Pastiloff (author of On Being Human: A Memoir of
Waking Up, Living Real, and Listening Hard) and Lidia
Yuknavitch (author of memoir The Chronology of Water and
Verge: Stories, out Feb. 4, 2020!) teach a class called
“Writing and the Body” that incorporates yoga and writing to
enrich personal stories.




Humor writer Steve Almond, author of Bad Stories: What Just
Happened to Our Country? and William Stoner and the Battle
For the Inner Life: Bookmarked.




Writers Samantha Irby (author of We Are Never Meeting in Real
Life: Essays, Meaty: Essays and omg she has a new one coming
out this year, Wow, No Thank You!) and Jenny Lawson, aka The
Blogess (author of Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: A
Mostly True Memoir and Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About
Horrible Things), were bloggers before they had books, and
they indicate the kind of conversational writing style that
Courtenay tends to naturally align with in her writing




Elizabeth Gilbert’s 2009 TED Talk, “Your Elusive Creative
Genius”




Dan Harris, author of 10% Happier Revised Edition: How I
Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My
Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works--A True Story,
and Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics: A 10% Happier How-to
Book




Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a
World That Can't Stop Talking and her TED talk on the subject
of introverts




Courtenay admires Michael Ian Black’s evolution as a writer.
Especially significant to her was his honesty in the memoir
Navel Gazing: True Stories of Bodies, Mostly Mine (But Also
My Mom’s, Which I Know Sounds Weird). His newest book, A
Better Man, tackles toxic masculinity in the form of letters
to his son as he goes off to college.




I have always dreamt of being able to link to an article
about Jeff Bezos’s dick pics (just kidding but here we go):
this incident was wild - The National Enquirer allegedly
tried to blackmail Jeff Bezos, threatening to release
intimate pictures of him unless he paid up. Instead, Bezos
released the pics himself and told them to screw off. It was
wild. It was great.




That incident calls to mind So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by
Jon Ronson




“To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This,” the Modern Love essay
by Mandy Len Catron, references Dr. Arthur Aron’s study,
which included 36 questions to generate intimacy. (And hey,
look at that, Mandy has TED talks about love stories, too!)




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