The Make Meaning Podcast

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Writers figure out what they believe and make sense of the world by putting words on the page.

How authors, writers and those in publishing go from idea to book-length story to published with a sought-after audience is the focus of this podcast!

The Make Meaning Podcast features authors, writers, and those who bring their words to the forefront. Host Lynne Golodner is a former journalist, multi-title author, award-winning marketing strategist and inspirational speaker who knows just how to ask the right questions to yield rich, inspiring responses. She also shares her own writing process and creative pursuits in lively conversations with stunning writers of great books, compelling stories, and life-changing articles.

Since our first episode on July 9, 2018, we have interviewed more than 100 visionaries. Among them…

A celebrated and well-published author and journalist originally from the U.K. and now an advisor to the leader of Kosovo

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And a New York Times-bestselling author whose Modern Love column became a book

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Not to mention a curator of local author events that highlight up-and-coming women’s voices while reinventing how we define community.

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Make Meaning Podcast Episodes

Tom Sleigh

Episode 141 – Tom Sleigh– A Lifetime of Poetry

The award-winning author of 11 books, Tom Sleigh is the latest author to be a guest on the Make Meaning Podcast. In this episode, Tom talks with host Lynne Golodner about how his love of language traces back to childhood, when his mother, an English teacher, first read Thoreau aloud.  That journey continued through decades when he was a war correspondent on the front lines in Lebanon and Syria to his archeologist days in southern Mexico and finally, to the resonance of the global COVID-19 pandemic, which turned us all into isolated individuals yearning for the connection that language brings. […]

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Minda Zetlin

Episode 140 – Minda Zetlin – On ASJA, Leadership & Writing for Inc.

Minda Zetlin has written columns for Inc. Magazine for more than a decade, and out of that research, reporting and curiosity grew the material and focus for her latest book, CAREER SELF-CARE. The latest author to share her story on the Make Meaning Podcast, Minda Zetlin talks with host Lynne Golodner about how crucial membership in the American Society of Journalists and Authors has been for her career, how self-doubt and self-belief have been her biggest challenges, and how important it is to not just build a career, but build a life you’re happy to live. In this episode, Lynne […]

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Desiree Cooper

Episode 139 – Desiree Cooper – Being “Genre Agnostic”

Desiree Cooper was once a Detroit Free Press columnist, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, a Kresge Artist Fellow, an attorney and now she’s a children’s book author – which explains why she considers herself “genre agnostic.” The latest author to share her story on the Make Meaning Podcast, Desiree started writing professionally before social media was a thing, and readers regularly sent her letters and pictures in response to her columns. Her children’s book NOTHING SPECIAL was three years in the making – and it might be her best creation yet. In this episode, host Lynne Golodner interviews Desiree Cooper about […]

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Sara Bennett Wealer

Episode 138 – Sara Bennett Wealer – Connecting with YA Readers

When your mother is an English teacher and your favorite TV show is Masterpiece Theater on PBS, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll take to writing creative, compelling, fantastical stories that captivate readers. “Writing was something I knew I could do,” says Sara Bennett Wealer, the latest author to share her story on the Make Meaning Podcast. In this episode, host Lynne Golodner interviews Sara Bennett Wealer about how to make a living as a writer, how to earn money writing books and how they are not often the same thing. Sara discusses the importance of the author hustle to keep […]

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Christopher P. Locke

Episode 137 – Christopher P. Locke – Breathtaking Essays & Stories

The key to great writing, says Christopher P. Locke, is to be vulnerable. Don’t worry about what people will think. Don’t censor yourself. Just share your realness and that will help others feel less alone. In the latest episode of the Make Meaning Podcast, host Lynne Golodner interviews Christopher P. Locke about his writing journey, their shared memories in the MFA program at Goddard College, the importance of great mentors and taking yourself seriously as a writer. In this episode, Lynne and Chris discuss:  Links and Resources:  Find Christopher P. Locke: Website  Facebook Instagram  Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, […]

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Tammy Pasterick

Episode 136 – Tammy Pasterick – Writing & Publishing Your Way

Tammy Pasterick didn’t intend to become a historical fiction novelist. But when a deep dive into her family’s immigrant history unearthed fascinating storylines about Eastern European emigres who settled in Pennsylvania, she knew she had a great story on her hands. In the latest episode of the Make Meaning Podcast, host Lynne Golodner interviews Tammy Pasterick about her journey of writing Beneath the Veil of Smoke and Ash, why she went for hybrid publishing, growing up in a family of steelworkers and coal miners, and her career as an investigator with the National Labor Relations Board, a paralegal and a […]

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Camille Pagan

Episode 135 – Camille Pagan – Making Writing Your Career

As a first-generation college student, Camille Pagan thought she’d study medicine. She ended up writing about health and then penned her first novel after the birth of her daughter, selling it at auction in a six-figure deal. But all was not easy after that. While Camille has enjoyed a hearty career as the bestselling author of eight novels, she endured ups, downs and redirects along the way and now guides other writers in staying the course to build success as an author. In the latest episode of the Make Meaning Podcast, host Lynne Golodner interviews Camille Pagan about being an […]

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Andrew McDiarmid

Episode 134 – Andrew McDiarmid – Simply Scottish

What began as penance for speeding has become a beloved radio show-turned-podcast called Simply Scottish that allows writer Andrew McDiarmid to stay connected to his heritage and his homeland. “Being an immigrant has enriched my life,” says Andrew, who emigrated to the United States from Scotland at the age of 11 and straddles cultures and countries in his identity and his affiliations. In the latest episode of the Make Meaning Podcast, host Lynne Golodner interviews Andrew McDiarmid about the influence of the Scots on North America, what they both love about podcasting, building community around great ideas and ways to […]

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Sara Henning

Episode 133 – Sara Henning – Poetry about Loss & Redemption

In her latest poetry collection, Sara Henning tries to make meaning of grief, after losing her mother to metastatic colon cancer. “I lost my center,” Sara says, and Terra Incognita is her way to regain a firm stance on this earth. In this episode, Sara does a live reading of her poem “Queening” around the 25-minute mark. In the latest episode of the Make Meaning Podcast, host Lynne Golodner interviews Sara Henning about where poetry comes from, how to let the soul speak and how to keep on living after immense grief. Her poems interrogate meaning, and Lynne and Sara […]

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Merryn Glover

Episode 132 – Merryn Glover – Literary Fiction about Place

Merryn Glover writes literary fiction from the Scottish Highlands, deep into the Cairngorm Mountains. Her lyrical prose invokes place and relationship in gorgeous ways, her words rising from the page to attach to the reader’s heart. Born in Kathmandu and raised in Nepal, Pakistan and India, Merryn is the daughter of Australian missionaries and moved to Scotland after she met the love of her life. In the latest episode of the Make Meaning Podcast, host Lynne Golodner interviews Merryn Glover about how a sense of place shapes us, how we belong, and the shifting territories of culture. Writing since she […]

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Weina Dai Randel

Episode 131 – Weina Randel – The Last Rose of Shanghai

Weina Dai Randel emigrated to the United States from China at the age of 24, switching from her native Chinese to English, as she began to write fiction. She wrote a duology about China’s first and only female emperor, Wu Zetian, and then penned a truly stunning historical novel called The Last Rose of Shanghai, about a love story between a Chinese woman and a Jewish refugee in Shanghai during World War II. In the latest episode of the Make Meaning Podcast, host Lynne Golodner interviews Weina Randel about the long road to landing an agent and a multiple book […]

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Merle Saferstein

Episode 130 – Merle Saferstein – Journaling & Legacy

Merle Saferstein has been journaling since 1974, so when she decided to comb through her nearly 400 journals to create a book, she knew it would not be an easy endeavor. It has taken the better part of the last two decades to create LIVING AND LEAVING MY LEGACY, volume 1, which debuted in June 2022 to much acclaim. Volume 2 will be published in June 2023. In the latest episode of the Make Meaning Podcast, host Lynne Golodner interviews Merle Saferstein – the first guest to make a repeat appearance on the Make Meaning Podcast! – about journaling, legacy, […]

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