Listen "Episode 349: Alex Mar"
Episode Synopsis
Alex Mar has written for The Believer, Wired, and New York. She is the author of
Witches of America and the director of the documentary American Mystic.
“I really do believe that all of us run on some kind of desire for meaning. And if someone is an atheist and they don’t subscribe to an organized system, it doesn’t mean that they don’t crave something. Maybe it’s their job. Or maybe it’s the way that they raise their children with a certain kind of intense focus. Or something else. As humans, we are built to crave meaning, right? For me, that was something that I wanted to explore about myself.”
Thanks to MailChimp, On the Media, The TED Interview,and Pitt Writers for sponsoring this week's episode.
@alex_mar
Mar on Longform
[02:20] Witches of America (Sarah Crichton Books • 2016)
[02:37] "Are We Ready for Intimacy With Androids?" (Wired • Oct 2017)
[10:00] Mar’s Documentary: American Mystic
[10:17] ”Satan in Poughkeepsie" (The Believer • 2015)
[15:12] No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (Fawn McKay Brodie • Vintage • 1995)
[16:07] Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief (Lawrence Wright • Vintage • 2013)
[34:15] Mar’s Rolling Stone archive
[39:10] ”Man of the Future" (The Believer • 2013)
[55:40] ”Breakdown Palace” (Topic • 2019)
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Witches of America and the director of the documentary American Mystic.
“I really do believe that all of us run on some kind of desire for meaning. And if someone is an atheist and they don’t subscribe to an organized system, it doesn’t mean that they don’t crave something. Maybe it’s their job. Or maybe it’s the way that they raise their children with a certain kind of intense focus. Or something else. As humans, we are built to crave meaning, right? For me, that was something that I wanted to explore about myself.”
Thanks to MailChimp, On the Media, The TED Interview,and Pitt Writers for sponsoring this week's episode.
@alex_mar
Mar on Longform
[02:20] Witches of America (Sarah Crichton Books • 2016)
[02:37] "Are We Ready for Intimacy With Androids?" (Wired • Oct 2017)
[10:00] Mar’s Documentary: American Mystic
[10:17] ”Satan in Poughkeepsie" (The Believer • 2015)
[15:12] No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (Fawn McKay Brodie • Vintage • 1995)
[16:07] Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief (Lawrence Wright • Vintage • 2013)
[34:15] Mar’s Rolling Stone archive
[39:10] ”Man of the Future" (The Believer • 2013)
[55:40] ”Breakdown Palace” (Topic • 2019)
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
More episodes of the podcast Longform
Introducing "Origin Stories"
12/09/2025
Episode 585: John Jeremiah Sullivan
26/06/2024
Bonus: Mailbag
26/06/2024
Episode 584: Ta-Nehisi Coates
19/06/2024
Episode 583: Jay Caspian Kang
12/06/2024
Episode 582: Joseph Cox
05/06/2024
Episode 581: Tavi Gevinson
29/05/2024
Episode 580: Rachel Khong
22/05/2024
Episode 579: Kelsey McKinney
15/05/2024
Episode 578: Lissa Soep
08/05/2024
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.