Ep 197: Linda Holmes

First Draft Episode #194: Linda Holmes

Linda Holmes, pop-culture critic at NPR and co-host of the Pop
Culture Happy Hour podcast, is out with her debut author of Evvie
Drake Starts Over. I loved what Linda had to say about how
practicing appellate law helped hone her critical writing;
getting used to listening to her own voice; how she manages
anxiety and depression, and the difficulty in even acknowledging
that she wanted to write a novel.
Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode



I got the good NPR shirt, and the soup-sized mug, when I
visited Linda to interview her at NPR headquarters in
Washington, D.C.




Linda’s interview on The Hilarious World of Depression
podcast




Television Without Pity, which became Previously.tv, which
recently became PrimerTimer.com!




The Amazing Race was on the top of my mind when thinking
about Television Without Pity




Again With This, a podcast hosted by Sarah D. Bunting and
Tara Ariano, two of the founders of Television Without Pity,
who do episode-by-episode recaps of Beverly Hills 90210




Stephen Thompson, one of Linda’s dear friends and co-workers,
worked at The Onion before joining NPR




Linda’s writing was formerly hosted on the Monkey See blog at
NPR, but that blog was sunsetted in favor of expanding the
Pop Culture Happy Hour brand




Dancing with the Stars is now discussed on NPR, and that is
largely due to Linda’s influence




All Songs Considered, the music-oriented NPR show and podcast
that served as the inspiration for Pop Culture Happy Hour




Talk of the Nation, a live call-in show which had Linda on as
a guest. She loved the spontaneity of participating in a live
radio show




Linda had every intention of writing a book for National
Novel Writing Month, alas her apartment flooded




Chuck Knoblauch throwing a baseball into the stands, hitting
Keith Olbermann’s mother




If the yips interests you as much as it interests Linda,
check out Field of Fear, a 30 for 30 mini-documentary




Before Sunrise is a movie that’s mostly talking, and is
amazing, but Linda wanted Evvie Drake to have more action
than that




Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a TV show that brings Linda joy and is
fun, but also is warm-spirited and compassionate




Audie Cornish gets a break from being a very serious NPR news
reporter when she guests on Pop Culture Happy Hour




Linda uses Matt Damon growing potatoes in the film The
Martian as a parable for the importance of art and culture in
our lives




Sarah Burnes at The Gernert Company reps Linda (hear Sarah
Burnes’ episode of First Draft with Sarah Enni here)


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Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author
of Divergent; Michael Dante  DiMartino, co-creator of
Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big
Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or
Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we
take deep dives on their careers and creative works.


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