NPR’s Book of the Day — Detailed Episode Summary

Episode Title: ‘Paper Girl’ and ‘Joyride’ are memoirs by journalists who get close to their subjects
Date: October 24, 2025
Host: Chloe Weiner
Featured Guests: Beth Macy (author of Paper Girl) and Susan Orlean (author of Joyride)

Overview

This episode explores the delicate boundary between journalists and their subjects, focusing on how empathy and intimacy shape reporting. The show features two acclaimed journalists—Beth Macy and Susan Orlean—who reflect on how personal experience and deep immersion inform their memoirs, Paper Girl and Joyride. The conversations dive into changing American landscapes, the crises of rural communities, mistrust in media, and the power of curiosity in storytelling.

Section 1: Beth Macy on ‘Paper Girl’ and Turbulent Change in America (01:25–09:24)

Macy’s Hometown: Lost Community and Growing Divides

• Macy’s Roots: Raised in Urbana, Ohio, a town with a strong community spirit despite economic challenges. She credits her rise from poverty to the support of neighbors, friends’ families, and devoted teachers.

  • “One mom made me lunch every single day of school. Another friend took me to school every day. Yet another friend brought me home from softball practice…” —Beth Macy (02:00)

• The Shift: Macy witnessed Urbana’s transformation—from stable factory jobs and thriving schools in the ‘70s and ‘80s to declining employment, addiction epidemics, lower graduation rates, and political divisiveness.

  • “I had noticed in my hometown, which was a hotbed of abolitionist activity and an underground railroad haven, but there were now Confederate flags flying.” —Beth Macy (03:32)

• Personal Fallout: Political rifts became painfully personal, fracturing even tight-knit family bonds following the 2016 U.S. election.

  • “My brother Tim unfriended me on Facebook because of, quote, all the liberal crap you post. And we had been very close.” —Beth Macy (02:48)
  • Recalling a tense moment at her mother’s deathbed post-2020 election:
    • “My sister said, you wait, it’s fraudulent. He won’t win. And mom is literally laying in her deathbed … And I just thought, oh, my goodness, what has happened?” —Beth Macy (03:12)

The Story of Silas James: One Town, Vastly Divergent Fates

• Finding ‘Young Me’: Macy profiles Silas, a promising yet struggling youth, to illustrate the intensified challenges for today’s poor.

  • “He had grown up in a family with addiction. His father had died of a drug overdose. His mother was in and out of prison, and he didn’t have one stable parent.” —Beth Macy (04:47)

• Decay of Social Infrastructure: Data Macy gathered reveal stark community decline: foster care cases tripled since 2015; mental health emergency calls rose ninefold in 40 years.

• College Access Gone: Highlighting the dramatic decrease in the real value of Pell Grants, Macy argues that a college degree is now virtually inaccessible to the poor.

  • “When I went, the whole thing was paid for…when Silas went…there was no money for him to like, move out of his house…His car died.” —Beth Macy (06:00)

Misinformation and the Waning Trust in Journalism

• On Being a Journalist Now: Macy laments the mistrust directed toward the media—even from old friends—despite the rigor of her reporting.

  • “My first friend…said, ‘I hate the media. All of this is the media’s fault.’ And I said, Joy, I am the media…At one point she raised her voice, ‘Who fact checks the fact checkers?’ …It felt personal when people were saying, you know, you lie.” —Beth Macy (07:17)

• Advice on Repairing Trust:

  • Prioritize local, fact-based reporting and attempt courageous family conversations.
  • “We have to start with our families. As hard as it is…maybe [with them] we’ll have the best chance…Talking across the dividend.” —Beth Macy (08:49)

Section 2: Susan Orlean on ‘Joyride’ and the Allure of Immersion Journalism (09:58–19:03)

Early Storytelling Instincts

• The First Story: Orlean shares her earliest writing, a self-published book at age five about a nearsighted, estranged pigeon, revealing her lifelong drive to capture unusual stories.

  • “I was the publisher, I was the author, I was the illustrator…This was a story about a pigeon who suddenly has become estranged from his friends.” —Susan Orlean (10:54)

• Inherited Curiosity: Orlean credits her father—an aspiring writer who became a lawyer—for modeling insatiable curiosity and the impulse to connect with strangers across social lines.

  • “He liked talking to every kind of stranger … He had an appetite for learning and discovering and exploring. I think it traveled intact from him to me.” —Susan Orlean (11:44)

The Dangers and Thrills of Going Deep

• Immersion and Seduction: Orlean discusses being "romanced by the adventure" of entering unknown worlds, and the constant risk of losing objectivity as a result.

  • “Immersing yourself…almost means you go into it open heartedly…And it is very easy to begin losing the objectivity of being a reporter.” —Susan Orlean (13:04)
  • “You’re kind of romanced by the adventure itself.” —Susan Orlean (13:44)

• Regaining Distance: After feeling herself drawn too close while reporting on a New Age commune, she deliberately pulled back to preserve her perspective.

  • “I started to feel myself losing perspective. Luckily, I had the wherewithal to stop myself and say, wait a minute…I need to distance myself emotionally…” —Susan Orlean (13:54)

Challenging Stereotypes Through Reporting

• Against ‘Coded Shorthand’: Orlean critiques journalism that relies on loaded, shorthand phrases which obscure nuance and humanity. She describes her story on trailer park life, inspired by how the media referenced Timothy McVeigh’s residence.

  • “We drop these kind of code phrases and assume everybody knows what that means…[A storyteller] unpacks them and looks at them more deeply and gets to the humanity…” —Susan Orlean (14:44)

The Serendipity of Stories: The Making of ‘The Orchid Thief’

• How It Started: Orlean stumbled onto the tale of John Laroche and rare orchids via a short newspaper snippet found on a plane—her curiosity piqued by the sheer oddity of the headline.

  • “Local nurseryman and crew of Seminoles arrested with rare orchids in swamp … I have never seen these words together in one sentence.” —Susan Orlean (16:53)

• Learning as a Superpower: Not being an expert sparked her excitement—she became the “proxy” for the reader and embraced not-knowing as a journalistic strength.

  • “I think the lack of knowledge is a superpower. It brings for me this voraciousness to learn to gobble up this world…In that case, I’m a proxy for my reader.” —Susan Orlean (18:11)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Political Fractures at Life’s End (Beth Macy, 03:12)
  “Mom is literally laying in her deathbed…And I just thought, oh, my goodness, what has happened?”

• On Pell Grants and Vanishing Opportunity (Beth Macy, 06:00)
  “We have taken a four year college degree away from poor kids…”

• Deep Immersion, Loss of Objectivity (Susan Orlean, 13:04 & 13:44)
  “It is very easy to begin losing the objectivity of being a reporter…You’re kind of romanced by the adventure itself.”

• On Challenging Stereotypes (Susan Orlean, 14:44)
  “We drop these kind of code phrases and assume everybody knows what that means…a storyteller…looks at them more deeply and gets to the humanity…”

• Curiosity as a Superpower (Susan Orlean, 18:11)
  “I think the lack of knowledge is a superpower…In that case, I’m a proxy for my reader.”

Important Timestamps

• [01:25] — Beth Macy on her upbringing in Urbana, Ohio
• [02:46] — Macy on first noticing political and social changes in her family and town
• [04:42] — Introduction of Silas James and detailed comparison to her own experience
• [06:49] — The decline of Pell Grant value and impact on poor students
• [07:17] — Macy on distrust of journalists, even from friends
• [08:22] — Macy’s suggestions for rebuilding trust
• [09:58] — Scott Simon introduces Susan Orlean and her storytelling legacy
• [10:54] — Orlean’s first story and growing up with a curious father
• [13:04] — Orlean on being seduced by story subjects
• [14:44] — Orlean on unpacking coded media language
• [16:12] — Discovery of the Orchid Thief story
• [18:11] — Orlean on the value of not knowing and curiosity in journalism

Tone & Style

The tone is reflective, candid, and empathetic—mirroring the personal stakes and stakes for democracy illuminated in both memoirs. Both authors express vulnerability, honesty, and a constant searching for truth, inviting listeners to value both fact-based storytelling and the courage needed for real connection.

This episode powerfully illustrates how journalists’ proximity and empathy can challenge our assumptions, offer fresh insight into changing American realities, and sustain the value of curiosity-driven, deeply reported storytelling.