How Long Gone 914. - Tom Junod
4 snips
Mar 6, 2026 
Tom Junod, award-winning longform profile writer and memoirist, joins to talk about life in Atlanta, his days selling handbags, and the craft of magazine storytelling. He shares tales of his rescue dogs, his shed writing routine, the hunt for buried documents, and the oddities of modern journalism. Conversations bounce from Paris fashion week to iTunes habits and seasonal cocktails his dad favored.
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Dogs Played Central Roles In Tom's Life And Work
- Tom is a devoted dog owner and ranks past dogs by personality: Dexter was 'the Morgan Freeman of dogs' while Jacques is energetic and demands play.
- He recounts shelter adoption, barking quirks, and owning six adult dogs with his wife.
Use Cold Sales Work To Build Reporting Muscles
- Use early-career jobs that force you to cold-approach strangers as training for journalism and reporting.
- Tom says knocking on boutique doors to push sample cases builds resilience and interviewing nerve.
Longform Magazine Era Gave Permission To Take Risks
- Magazine longform once offered time, resources, and editorial risk to take big chances on stories.
- Tom recalls Art Cooper's GQ era where writers drank in the office and were treated like knights sent out to fetch those pieces.
