Figuring out which stories I've been telling are based in fact and which are pure fiction. Plus recs for Greg Hochmuth's NYC questions, Connor O'Malley conspiracies, and Sarah Lustbader on abolition.
Thank you, Katie! It's called Humor Me and it's a book about the power of humor and how to laugh more. It's being published early next year by Doubleday and I'm really excited!
Good question! I'm sure I could, but I'm not primarily doing the fact checking to protect myself legally, more to make sure that I get the stories right and also so that when my friend Tom reads the book, he doesn't go "hey, you told a story about me and it was wrong and you changed my name to Mot, which is just Tom backwards"
"Every episode of the podcast I host for TED is fact checked and at some point in the first season, I told a jokey anecdote about how I had once received 'hundreds of angry emails' after I made a joke on public radio and inaccurately described the size of the moon.
The fact checker asked me to forward her the emails so she could count them. I dug back into my inbox and discovered that it was actually three emails. But emotionally, it felt like hundreds! Factually, the fact checker explained, three did not qualify as 'hundreds.'"
it makes me want to send you hundreds of happy emails!
Chris that Conner O'Malley video is unhinged in the best way. Thank you for bringing that into my life.
You're welcome / I'm sorry
A book! Best news ever.
Thank you, Katie! It's called Humor Me and it's a book about the power of humor and how to laugh more. It's being published early next year by Doubleday and I'm really excited!
Legit question: couldn’t you just change the names?
Good question! I'm sure I could, but I'm not primarily doing the fact checking to protect myself legally, more to make sure that I get the stories right and also so that when my friend Tom reads the book, he doesn't go "hey, you told a story about me and it was wrong and you changed my name to Mot, which is just Tom backwards"
Also a few times the stories are about comedians and it adds something, in my opinion, to be able to say their real names instead of a pseudonym
dear chris,
great piece!
i love this story:
"Every episode of the podcast I host for TED is fact checked and at some point in the first season, I told a jokey anecdote about how I had once received 'hundreds of angry emails' after I made a joke on public radio and inaccurately described the size of the moon.
The fact checker asked me to forward her the emails so she could count them. I dug back into my inbox and discovered that it was actually three emails. But emotionally, it felt like hundreds! Factually, the fact checker explained, three did not qualify as 'hundreds.'"
it makes me want to send you hundreds of happy emails!
thanks for sharing!
love you!
myq
Myq, thank you for leaving thousands of positive comments in response to this one email! It really means a lot!!!
Thanks a million!