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From Hitchhiking the Sahara (and Storing Hash in the Garage) to Co-Founding MTV and Running Viacom

From Hitchhiking the Sahara (and Storing Hash in the Garage) to Co-Founding MTV and Running Viacom

Terry McDonell Talks to Tom Freston, Author of Unplugged: Adventures from MTV to Timbuktu

By Terry McDonell | December 19, 2025

Who Was Peter Matthiessen, Really?

Who Was Peter Matthiessen, Really?

Terry McDonell Talks to Lance Richardson About Matthiessen’s Moral Ambiguity, Bigfoot, and More

By Terry McDonell | October 14, 2025

The Craft of This Mortal Coil: Jonathan Gluck on Writing a Different Cancer Story

The Craft of This Mortal Coil: Jonathan Gluck on Writing a Different Cancer Story

Terry McDonell in Conversation with the Author of “An Exercise in Uncertainty”

By Terry McDonell | June 11, 2025

Graydon Carter on <br>The Golden Age of Magazines

Graydon Carter on
The Golden Age of Magazines

Terry McDonell Talks to Legendary Editor About His New Book

By Terry McDonell | March 25, 2025

How To Write About Your Mother

How To Write About Your Mother

Terry McDonell: “I did not set out to write about Irma.”

By Terry McDonell | May 12, 2023

“I Never Saw Her Cry.” Terry McDonell Remembers His Mother, Irma

“I Never Saw Her Cry.” Terry McDonell Remembers His Mother, Irma

“What passes between a mother and a son is not defined by her love in the moment, but later by the echoes of her motherhood.”

By Terry McDonell | May 1, 2023

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Books of the Week

How Hunter S. Thompson Would Cover Donald Trump

By Terry McDonell | August 3, 2017

So You've Decided to Write: How the Hell Do You Get Paid?

By Terry McDonell | August 2, 2017

So You've Decided to Write: Is Your Novel Actually Fiction or Non?

By Terry McDonell | August 1, 2017

So You’ve Decided to Write: The Best Way to Deal with Rejection

So You’ve Decided to Write: The Best Way to Deal with Rejection

“I long to hold the poetry editor’s penis in my hand.”

By Terry McDonell | July 27, 2017

So You've Decided to Write: The Writer I Never Had to Edit

So You've Decided to Write: The Writer I Never Had to Edit

Terry McDonell on the Value of Leaving Well Enough Alone

By Terry McDonell | July 26, 2017

So You've Decided to Write: Will You Tell the Truth?

So You've Decided to Write: Will You Tell the Truth?

Terry McDonell on the Deal All Writers Have to Make With Themselves

By Terry McDonell | July 25, 2017

So You've Decided to Write: On Editing James Salter

So You've Decided to Write: On Editing James Salter

Terry McDonell on Working with a "Writer's Writer"

By Terry McDonell | July 20, 2017

So You've Decided to Write: Take Advantage of Your Insomnia

So You've Decided to Write: Take Advantage of Your Insomnia

Terry McDonell on the Importance of Taking Nighttime Notes

By Terry McDonell | July 19, 2017

So You've Decide to Write: What I Learned Editing Hunter S. Thompson

So You've Decide to Write: What I Learned Editing Hunter S. Thompson

Terry McDonell on the Origin of 'Gonzo' and Late Night Calls from Hunter

By Terry McDonell | July 18, 2017

So You've Decided to Write: What I Learned From Editing Jim Harrison

So You've Decided to Write: What I Learned From Editing Jim Harrison

Part Three of Terry McDonell's Summer Series on Becoming a Writer

By Terry McDonell | July 13, 2017