Overview of 914. - Tom Junod
This episode of How Long Gone (hosts Chris Black & Jason Stewart) was recorded in Paris during Fashion Week and features writer Tom Junod. The conversation moves freely between travel anecdotes, fashion-week logistics, and a deep dive into Junod’s life and work: his new memoir In the Days of My Youth, I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man; his background as a handbag salesman and long‑form magazine writer; his writing process; views on journalism in the age of AI and misinformation; and personal details about living in the Atlanta suburbs, dogs, music habits, and creative rituals.
Guest background
- Tom Junod: veteran magazine writer (Esquire, GQ and others), memoirist, longtime Atlanta resident.
- New book: In the Days of My Youth, I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man — presented as a personal memoir (title referenced multiple times).
- Career note: spent early years as a traveling handbag salesman (brand Felipe), then moved fully into magazine journalism; has written long investigative pieces (mentions a 32,000-word ESPN story from 2022 about a Penn State sexual‑assault case).
Topics discussed
- Travel & Paris Fashion Week: hosts’ arrival delays, hotel early check-in issues, Loewe gift boxes, run-ins with fellow passengers and overhead-bin etiquette.
- Fashion industry: impressions of Fashion Week, shifting commercial tiers (luxury vs. cheap fast fashion), the shrinking “middle” of fashion, and how people like Mark Zuckerberg fit into the scene.
- Tom’s past jobs: handbag wholesaler tales (wholesale price points, a memorable “Bert” anecdote about overselling), transition to writing.
- Writing & magazines: the heyday of long-form magazine journalism, resources and freedom writers enjoyed in prior decades, Junod’s own experience writing long investigative pieces and a memoir.
- Memoir process: took ~9 years to complete; intense, solitary final six months; retreat in Shelter Island; wrote daily, used a shed as a writing space.
- Dog life & home: lives in Marietta (suburbs of Atlanta) with a pit bull named Jacques; lots of dog anecdotes and the realities of suburban life.
- Tech, music, and habits: still buys music on iTunes/iTunes Match; uses Apple Pages for writing; nostalgia for analog (vinyl, magazines).
- Media, truth, and AI: concerns about post‑truth era, scams, deepfakes, and the erosion of shared facts; a belief that some people still have trouble distinguishing real from fake.
- Podcasting: Junod’s take that podcasting is not as easy as celebrities think — requires being comfortable with informal, sometimes imperfect conversation; authenticity is key.
- Autonomous vehicles: reactions to Waymo and self‑driving cars — novelty vs. unease; scent and social aspects of ridesharing.
Memorable anecdotes & stories
- Handbag salesman episode: boss “Bert” oversold a store in College Station, TX with Felipe bags; Junod later returned to find the shop overwhelmed and the boss’s advice to “get in your car and drive away” (a lesson in sales cruelty/survival).
- Shed writing: Junod rewrote his life in a shed on Shelter Island — initially a neglected, creepy shed, later renovated, where he wrote intensely (2,000 words/day during peak stretch).
- Gumshoe moment: Junod described how investigative reporting sometimes hinges on improbable, human moments — e.g., a judge who kept files related to a serial rapist and later provided them to Junod, enabling publication.
Notable quotes & insights
- “I wrote a book to get away from being a handbag salesman and now I’m a handbag salesman again.” (On promoting and selling the memoir.)
- On magazines and longform: the old magazine era allowed time, resources and risk-taking that felt like “kingdoms” for writers; that luxury is diminished but not entirely dead.
- On misinformation/AI: “Has there ever been a better time to be a liar?” — caution about plausibility of fakes and social willingness to accept uncertainty.
- On podcasting: hosts must accept sounding like an idiot sometimes; real, off‑mic conversational tone is a key to podcast success.
- On modern “luxury”: opting out (not being on your phone) is becoming the true luxury.
Main takeaways
- Tom Junod’s memoir caps a long arc from traveling handbag salesman to respected long‑form journalist — a career path shaped by persistence and odd early jobs that trained him for reporting.
- Longform journalism still has impact — Junod cites big, resource‑heavy projects (e.g., 32k-word investigations) that find readership — but the ecosystem has changed: speed, platforms, and misinformation complicate attention and truth.
- The creative process for major projects can be long and solitary; Junod emphasizes daily discipline, a dedicated space, and the thrill of hitting a productive zone after years of work.
- Media consumers should be wary: AI and bad actors make misinformation easier to produce and more persuasive; analog rituals (vinyl, physical magazines, unplugging) may gain cultural value as a reaction.
- Podcasting is laborious and benefits from hosts who sound like themselves — authenticity wins over performative hosting.
Recommended next steps (for listeners who want more)
- Read Tom Junod’s memoir In the Days of My Youth, I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man (to hear the full narrative he discusses).
- Seek Junod’s longform journalism (Esquire/GQ/ESPN pieces) if you enjoyed his reporting style and investigative anecdotes.
- If you create a podcast: prioritize authentic conversation, accept the learning curve, and prepare for the promotional/sales side of launching work.
- Consider analog/“opt-out” experiments: try vinyl, limit screen time, or reconnect with longform reading to see how the experience compares to algorithmic feeds.
Credits: Episode features Chris Black & Jason Stewart (Talkhouse). Guest: Tom Junod. Sponsors and ads are in the episode (briefly discussed in transcript).