Riley Morton speaks with non fiction authors about their most important work - featuring 3 interviews with each author, about 1) pitching and writing, 2) releasing/doing press and then 3) the afterlife of that book/what we've learned since. Conversations are wide ranging and fun, featuring authors like Tim Cahill, Christopher Ryan, Lyanda Haupt and Bruce Barcott.
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Author's Note, episode 12, Bruce Barcott, interview 3 of 3.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rileymorton.substack.com (https://rileymorton.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
11 Dec 2025
AN11-Bruce Barcott, Weed The People, 2 of 3
After the 2012 breakthrough of legalization of cannabis, followed by opening the world’s first legal (not just tolerated) cannabis stores in 2014, Washington and Colorado got down to the brass tacks of managing the newly legal markets. In the 13 years since, 20 other states and a few nations have followed suit. Throughout that time, Barcott has been following these efforts - both the successes and failures of trying to turn a giant underground industry into a legal, fully functional part of society.
Sure, Barcott covers the business of cannabis and the political and legal issues involved, but he’s highly attuned to cultural shifts as well. Weed has had an important role in America’s counterculture for most of the last century. What happens when you take a substance that used to signal sticking it to The Man, and turn it into a $30B industry? What happens when teenagers are no longer taught that smoking a joint will turn you into a hopeless drug addict? What happens when lower Manhattan smells like a Reggae concert?
The implications of legalization are large, but not always obvious. Barcott helps us contextualize all these changes in this episode, and next weeks as well. So stay tuned ;)
music is by Colin Lake (http://www.colinlake.com)
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rileymorton.substack.com (https://rileymorton.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
4 Dec 2025
Author's Note episode 10 - Bruce Barcott 1/3
Author Bruce Barcott unpacks American drug policy for me throughout the last century or so, with special focus on the unprecedented blend of politics and timing that allowed Washington and Colorado to legalize recreational cannabis in 2012. His book WEED THE PEOPLE is an amazing document of that moment in time.
Well researched and immediate, the book is a total pleasure to read, whatever your interest in the subject. You’ll get a sense of that in our wide ranging discussion on the many implications of legal cannabis. So many questions that we had in 2012 are coming into focus: “where is it acceptable to consume cannabis and where is it not?” “Do we have to worry about stoned drivers?” “How do we talk about this with our kids?” So its amazing to spend a few hours with Barcott who has done so much thinking and writing on the subject, first in WEED THE PEOPLE, and then as editor of Leafly for 7 years.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rileymorton.substack.com (https://rileymorton.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
27 Nov 2025
AN09-Lyanda Lynn Haupt, 3/3
On this episode of Author’s Note, Lyanda (https://www.lyandalynnhaupt.com/) and I talk about her career since CROW PLANET was published in 2009. She’s published 2 more incredible books: MOZART’S STARLING and ROOTED and is working on another. She’s moved out of the city to a more rural existence, trying to find a way to be even closer to her beloved Planet Earth.
We also get a bit more meta on the great questions in life - questions like ‘how to live’
Thanks for listening to Author’s Note. All the music on the show is by Colin Lake (https://www.colinlake.com/).
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rileymorton.substack.com (https://rileymorton.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
21 Nov 2025
AN08 - Lyanda Lynn Haupt, part 2 on Author's Note
The author and modern naturalist sits down with Riley Morton to discuss the release of Crow Planet in 2009: how scary it was to open the New York Times for the full page review… how interesting to learn at the book events that there were far more crow tattoos than Lyanda had ever imagined.
In this wide ranging conversation, Lyanda explains why anthropomorphizing animals gets a bad rap in modern science, and how she sees that to be in conflict with her version of naturalism. We also get into death, both human and corvid, and just what it is that humans might occasionally give back to animals.
Author’s Note is for fans of non fiction. Thanks for listening.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rileymorton.substack.com (https://rileymorton.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
13 Nov 2025
AN07 - Crow Planet with Lyanda Lynn Haupt 1/3
“A completely charming and informative book on the pleasures of keeping one’s eyes open.” —David Sedaris
Lyanda has built an incredible career as a modern urban naturalist, writing 6 fascinating books in this category. I’ve known her for years, and was happy to finally convince her to spend 3 sessions talking about the book that was a turning point early in her career: Crow Planet. Here, we talk about the origin of the book and how she crafts a book in this unique style.
All the music on the show is by Colin Lake (http://www.colinlake.com).
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rileymorton.substack.com (https://rileymorton.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
6 Nov 2025
AN06 - The 3rd interview with Christopher Ryan about Sex At Dawn
In this last interview, we get into what the last decade plus of Christopher Ryan’s life has looked like - another book, a successful podcast, and a move away from the cities of the west coast to the mountains of Colorado. ‘Humans are living in a zoo of their own choosing,’ argues Chris, and he’s decided that a small mountain town is the habitat that works best for him.
Next week, we’ll feature the first of 3 interviews with Lyanda Haupt about her book Crow Planet. She’s an incredibly attuned naturalist and talented writer, and you won’t want to miss these episodes. So please subscribe to Author’s Note.
All the music on the show is by Colin Lake (http://www.colinlake.com). Thanks for listening. https://substack.com/@rileymorto (https://substack.com/@rileymorton?)n
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rileymorton.substack.com (https://rileymorton.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
30 Oct 2025
AN05 - the 2nd of 3 interviews with Christopher Ryan
In this episode, we focus on what happened when Sex at Dawn was published in 2010. He’s fielding calls from production companies, taking meetings with agents, etc — getting all sorts of ‘smoke blown up his ass’ as he describes it.
We also get into what it was like to read negative reviews in the press, and even an entire book length refutation of Sex at Dawn.
Chris talks about how important his father’s influence was on his writing, and the irony of all of Chris’s research about non monogamy in humans being the result of his parents very long and very successful monogamous relationship.
If you like what you are hearing, please leave a review on your podcast platform of choice, or recommend the show to a friend or two. Thanks for listening!
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rileymorton.substack.com (https://rileymorton.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
23 Oct 2025
AN04: Dr. Christoper Ryan on Sex at Dawn
In this first episode with Chris, we discuss the origins of his book SEX AT DAWN, conceiving of the book, his very brief search for an agent, and the process of working with an editor to get it published.
As you might know from his podcast, Tangentially Speaking, Chris is a great storyteller, and has a nimble brain - so our conversation is wide ranging.
All the music on Authors Note is by Colin Lake. www.colinlake.com
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rileymorton.substack.com (https://rileymorton.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
17 Oct 2025
Author's Note episode 03 - Tim Cahill, part3
The world has changed in the last few decades. Of the areas i care about deeply, travel and long form journalism might be the areas of biggest change. How lucky am I, then, to get to spend this hour talking with Tim Cahill: a man who has had a front row seat in both categories.
We also talk about the recent changes at Outside Magazine. Earlier this year, after the sale of Outside to a company that is hoping to turn the brand into more of a tech company, 35 of Outside’s previous editors, writers and photographers sent a letter to the new ownership, asking to have their names removed from the masthead. Tim Cahill was one of the signatories, and he’ll tell us why in this episode. We’ll get to further unpack the difficulties of magazine publishing as a business in the current era, and talk about how travel has changed as well - questions like: was it the internet or smartphones that killed adventure travel?
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rileymorton.substack.com (https://rileymorton.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
8 Oct 2025
Author's Note - episode 2, Tim Cahill
Here is my 2nd of 3 conversations with Tim Cahill about , JAGUARS RIPPED MY FLESH discussing the process of releasing the book, doing press for it, what came next for his career at OUTSIDE and beyond.
Tune in next week for the last of our 3 conversations with Tim, and then we’ve got 3 episodes with the always interesting Christopher Ryan, host of the podcast Tangentially Speaking about his first book, SEX AT DAWN.
Future guests include Lyanda Haupt about her book CROW PLANET and Bruce Barcott about WEED THE PEOPLE.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rileymorton.substack.com (https://rileymorton.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
2 Oct 2025
Authors Note - Tim Cahill ep1
Well, this is a special day. This concept - deep dive conversations with authors of my favorite non fiction books - has been brewing for years. And here we are. I hope you find as much joy in this conversation as i did.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rileymorton.substack.com (https://rileymorton.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
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