Hear-Tell

Anne Hull and Laurie Hertzel

What happens when a journalist known for telling other people’s stories turns the spotlight on her own?

In this episode of Hear Tell, host Laurie Hertzel sits down with Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author Anne Hull to discuss her new memoir, "Through the Groves." After nearly two decades as a national reporter for The Washington Post, Hull shifts from observer to subject, exploring her coming of agein rural central Florida — where her father worked in the citrus groves — and her journey toward understanding identity, family, and belonging.

Hertzel and Hull discuss the challenges of writing a memoir after a career in journalism, the tension between reporting and remembering, and what it means to tell the truth when the story is your own. They also explore how place shapes narrative, how silence can shape a life, and why some stories take decades to tell.

This conversation offers a thoughtful look at craft, courage, and the complicated work of turning lived experience into story.

Here is a link to purchase Anne Hull’s memoir, "Through the Groves."

Sam Bresnahan

This week on Hear-Tell, host Diana Keough sits down with journalist and CNN International supervising producer Sam Bresnahan to discuss her powerful new book, In Blood, Flowers Bloom: A World War II Story of Valor and Forgiveness Across Generations.

 

In In Blood, Flowers Bloom, Sam traces the unexpected journey of a Japanese battle flag taken during World War II— from a battlefield in the Philippines to a shed in upstate New York — and the lives forever connected to it decades later. Weaving together the experiences of an American Iwo Jima veteran, a former Japanese naval officer who became a Buddhist monk, and the son of a Japanese soldier killed in battle, the book explores how memory, trauma, and reconciliation can transcend generations and cultural divides. 

In this episode, Sam (MFA '18) shares how she found this extraordinary story, why physical artifacts can hold deep emotional and historical truth, and what it means to confront history not just as a series of events, but as lived experience that continues to shape the present.

In Blood, Flowers Bloom: A World War II Story of Valor and Forgiveness Across Generations — order or learn more: https://bookshop.org/p/books/in-blood-flowers-bloom-a-world-war-ii-story-of-valor-and-forgiveness-across-generations-samantha-bresnahan/21617008
About Sam Bresnahan and her work: https://www.samanthabresnahan.com/about

Pat Thomas and Jessica Handler

In this episode of Hear-tell, Pat Thomas—MFA Distinguished Professor of Practice at the University of Georgia—joins award-winning author Jessica Handler to talk about Pat’s essay for The Bitter Southerner, “The Answer Is Yes.”

Their conversation moves through memory, hesitation, and what it takes to finally write the story you’ve been quietly avoiding. Together, they reflect on how grief shapes our work and how timing, courage, and curiosity can change what we’re able to say on the page.

Here is a link to Pat’s essay: https://bittersoutherner.com/feature/2024/the-answer-is-yes

And here are links to Jessica Handler’s website with links to all her books: https://www.jessicahandler.com/ 

 

Martin Padgett

In this episode of Hear-Tell, Martin Padgett illuminates the complicated, very human life of Michael Hardwick—the Atlanta man at the center of Bowers v. Hardwick (1986), the Supreme Court decision that upheld state sodomy laws and galvanized LGBTQ+ activism, decades before Lawrence v. Texas overturned it. In his latest book, The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick: Sex and the Supreme Court in the Age of AIDS (W. W. Norton, 2025), Padgett blends biography and narrative history, drawing on newly surfaced materials and interviews to restore Hardwick’s personhood beyond the case caption—set against the backdrop of the AIDS era and shifting American ideas about privacy and liberty. 

 

Padgett’s portrait pushes past a landmark ruling to ask a harder question: Who was Michael Hardwick, and what did that era demand of him? It’s a lesson in writing narrative nonfiction that treats sources—and subjects—with dignity while still telling an unflinching story.

 

The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick: Sex and the Supreme Court in the Age of AIDS (W. W. Norton, 2025).

A Night at the Sweet Gum Head: Drag, Drugs, Disco, and Atlanta's Gay Revolution 

Ryan Atkinson

In this episode of Hear-Tell, Rosalind Bentley—distinguished professor of practice in the University of Georgia’s MFA Narrative Nonfiction program—sits down with recent MFA graduate and freelance journalist Ryan Atkinson for a thoughtful conversation about reporting, trust, and the art of storytelling.

Ryan, now based in metro Atlanta, spent over a decade as a sports writer and editor in newsrooms across the lower Midwest before transitioning into trade publishing.

Last year, he returned to longform with a powerful feature for FanSided, chronicling hurdler Cordell Tinch’s remarkable quest for a spot on the 2024 Paris Olympic team.

In this episode, Ryan talks with Roz about what it took to earn Cordell’s trust, how he navigated access, and what the story taught him about perseverance—both on the track and on the page.

Read Ryan’s full story here: Cordell Tinch’s Olympic Journey – FanSided.

Kim Cross

In this episode, Moni Basu, the director of the University of Georgia’s MFA Narrative Nonfiction program, talks with journalist and author Kim Cross.

Kim spent many formative years in the South, swimming in catfish ponds in Alabama, finishing graduate school in Birmingham, and editing stories at Southern Living Magazine.  

Kim is the author of three books:  “What Stands in a Storm,” explores how people came together in the aftermath of the deadliest tornado outbreak in America; “Stahl House,” is a biography of an architectural gem in Los Angeles and “In Light of All Darkness,” delves into the investigation of the murder of Polly Klaas.  

Kim’s books are so deeply reported that readers often feel like they’re standing in the room with her characters.  In this conversation with Moni, she discusses how she finds her main characters and then how she pulls all those details out of them.  

Tommy Tomlinson

In this episode, John T. Edge, a distinguished professor of practice in the University of Georgia’s MFA Narrative Nonfiction program, talks with Tommy Tomlinson about his latest book, “Dogland: Passion, Glory and Lots of Slobber at the Westminster Dog Show.”  

Tommy’s book explores the bond between dogs and their people in this inside account of the Westminster Dog Show that follows one dog on his quest to become a champion. 

In this conversation with John T, Tommy, a UGA grad, discusses his writing process, and how he went about determining his main character amidst the many interesting, complex people he met over the three years he was on the road reporting this story. 

Tommy’s first book was “The Elephant in the Room,” a memoir about being overweight in America. He is also the host of the podcast SouthBound in partnership with WFAE and author of a newsletter, The Writing Shed newsletter.  Before that, he spent 23  years as a reporter and local columnist for the Charlotte Observer.  

Dogland: Passion, Glory and Lots of Slobber at the Westminster Dog Show 

https://tommytomlinson.com/dogland-book/

The Elephant in the Room: One Fat Man’s Quest to Get Smaller in a Growing America

https://tommytomlinson.com/elephant-in-the-room-book/

Southbound:  https://tommytomlinson.com/#podcast

The Writing Shed Newsletter: https://tommytomlinson.substack.com/

Ashley Fantz, From CNN Reporter to Podcaster

In this episode, we talk to Ashley Fantz about her transition from an senior investigative reporter at CNN to writer, reporter and host of two hit podcasts. Ashley graduated with her MFA from UGA in 2024 and has more than 20 years of experience as a reporter, writing and voicing multimedia stories at CNN, where she won two Peabody Awards, an Eppy and numerous other awards.  

 

But in 2021, facing burn-out and a rapidly changing media landscape, she made the jump to podcasting. Her first podcast, "Suspect: Vanished in the Snow," jumped quickly to number one on Apple charts. She followed that, with the multi-episodic podcast, "Body Brokers," whose performance online was equally impressive.  

Here is the link to "Suspect: Vanished in the Snow":  https://wondery.com/shows/true-crime-all-the-time/episode/5632-introducing-suspect-vanished-in-the-snow/  

 

And here is the link to "Body Brokers":  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/body-brokers/id1734449977

 

To learn more about Ashley Fantz: https://www.ashleyfantz.com

Nick Chiles

In this episode, celebrity ghost writer Nick Chiles discusses the process of writing in someone else’s voice.  

Nick, who graduated from UGA with his MFA in 2022, has won nearly 20 major journalism awards, including a 1992 Pulitzer Prize as part of a New York Newsday team.  He is currently writer in residence teaching Feature Writing courses at The University of Georgia.  

Nick is also the author or co-author of 22 books, including three New York Times bestsellers he wrote with R&B icon Bobby Brown, civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton and Dallas pastor, T. D. Jakes.  His most recent book, “Act Like You Got Some Sense,” was co- written with Academy Award-winning actor Jamie Foxx.  

More on Nick Chiles here:  https://nickchiles.com/

Here’s a link to the latest book he co-wrote with Jamie Foxx:  “Act Like You Got Some Sense:”  https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/jamie-foxx/act-like-you-got-some-sense/9781538703281/?lens=grand-central-publishing

Emily Strasser

In this episode, Laurie Hertzel, a distinguished professor of practice in the University of Georgia’s MFA Narrative Nonfiction program, interviewed Emily Strasser about her book, “Half-Life of a Secret: Reckoning With a Hidden History.” 

Emily visited Athens in January to speak to our MFA students during their winter residency. In this conversation, she discussed  her 10 years of research and writing about her grandfather’s role in developing the atomic bomb while a scientist in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, home to the top-secret Manhattan Project. She also talked about her growth as a journalist while weaving together family secrets into this propulsive narrative that explores the long-term impact of nuclear weapons.