Mary Roach wants to you to be uncomfortable, but intrigued.
We spoke with Mary to learn about how she works.
What kind of phone you use?
Are you an iPhone person?
or a Samsung thing or what?
I have an iPhone.
What is it, a 5?
My stepchildren are always [saying] why do you still have this old phone?
what is wrong with you?
But theyre all good enough now.
You dont really need the best one.
Does it also follow that you use a Mac?
In fact, no, Im a PC person.
I have been all along.
Im just used to the system.
My husband is a Mac guy so we have Macs at home but they frustrate me.
My needs are pretty basic.
So when youre actually going about your work, how do you keep yourself organized?
How do you keep track of all your research and your notes and your transcripts and all of that?
As time goes on, a folder may split into two or three file folders.
I cant toggle back and forth between different windows.
I need to be underlining and circling.
So does that mean youre printing out a lot of stuff or writing in books?
No, I mean interview transcripts, or its a journal paper.
I dont use a lot of secondary source material, though I might get some arcane history book.
Or scan and print.
I just like to have all of that material in a folder right there.
I think its just because Im old.
Old school and old.
No, Im the same way.
I know it’s possible for you to have multiple things open but it just doesnt work for me.
Just open Microsoft Word or what?
No fancy software thats specifically for books or anything like that?
Its really straightforward so Word is just fine.
Even an idiot like me can read a book likeGruntand understand the scientific principles, right?
So when you approach a topic, do you have that in mind?
Like, how am I going to explain this to someone else?
That happens during the reporting because I am my reader, I am you.
I dont have a background in any of this material.
Each book is in a new field and I dont know anything about it.
That makes my job both more difficult and easier.
Im never going to get to a level where I need to pull it back and simplify.
My job is to get the researcher to explain it tomein a way that I can understand.
And then I just relate it because Im really at the level of most of my readers going in.
You embrace your own ignorance to use yourself as the lens.
And covering material that most people will find interesting.
So Im kind of having to steer them to back up to something much broader.
Or sometimes theyll just show me a Powerpoint and I have a zero tolerance policy for Powerpoints.
Nopeput that computer away!
Yeah you should probably get beyond the Powerpoint, thats always an important step.
Are you always working on something or are you the kind of person who wanders between projects?
Or are you always churning away?
I prefer to be always churning away.
Its less anxiety provoking for me.
Im also curious how you choose these topics.
So what draws you to that kind of topic?
Well, theyre often kind of taboo things, or things that people turn away from.
Im always trying to write about stuff that hasnt been written about a lot.
Thats kind of why.
But it is limitingI am struggling right now to figure out what the next one will be.
I typically go through that grasping, groping, panickingtheres nothing left!
Ive used it all up.
Do you kind of feel stuck in a niche now?
Like this is your thing?
Writing about these uncomfortable subjects?
I mean, its definitely what people expect of me.
But I do definitely, yeah, I have a niche that I enjoylike any creature, you know?
A place you feel comfortable.
Do you ever like, want to do something drastically different like fiction or something like that?
Fiction no,Ijust know I would suck at fiction.
And so much about what I love about what I do is the research.
Not to say that you dont do research for fiction but I like the constraint of fact.
I would feel unmoored if I could make everything up and go anywhere.
Dont take me outside of my box of reality!
Oh god what would I be doing?
I think if had to completely start over, I probably would have pursued a different academic path.
I think something like that could have been really interesting.
You do travel a lot for your work now, right?
How do you manage that?
So thats really it.
Its actually super simple.
The challenge for me is that the research I do, I cant know whats gonna happen.
Its all dependent on somebody elses schedule, the researchers, the person Im gonna go see.
So its very difficult to schedule talks or teaching.
I cant really combine my books with teaching or speaking tours or other things because of that.
Otherwise Ill get too many calendar conflicts.
Thats the trickiest thing, the timing and the arranging.
And in terms of managing that schedule, do you just use a simple calendar?
Or how do you keep track of it?
You cant really do that very well on a iPhone calendar.
What kind of tape recorder do you use?
Its anOlympus DS30 digital tape recorder.
Just so cute and perfect.
Im particular about tape recorders and pens and thats about it.
Tell me about when youre not traveling.
Tell me about your officeyou actually have an office that you go to, right?
It keeps me from being socially isolated when Im not on the road.
Its a corner with a little hallway and there are seven or eight rooms.
And that also helps you treat it like a nine-to-five job?
Some of my coworkers make fun of me because they say I keep bankers hours.
Im kind of nine-to-five.
But thats healthy, I think.
I have worked out of my home but theres a tendency towork just bleeds into everything else.
Right, yeah.
Yeah, no, Im pretty straightforward.
you’ve got the option to sort of gradually become nocturnal.
For the most part.
Because Im always researching and writing at the same time.
Im researching two or three chapters and writing one, so I kind of split it up.
And things kind of quite down in the afternoon so I tend to do my writing in the afternoon.
Thats usually how it goes.
So you write chapter by chapter?
Or do you do all the research and then try and push through all the writing?
When I finish the research for a chapter, Ill write it right away.
Thats why I have that split where morning is research and afternoon is writing.
Im usually writing one and working on a few others.
I give a shot to write it while its relatively fresh.
Otherwise you start to write and you cant even remember what people looked like.
I have a go at take some pictures when Im there but it kind of fadesit grays over time.
Its better to do it while its fresh.
Otherwise it just makes me crazy.
Its daunting to see this massive pile.
In terms of editing do you cut a lot back?
How does editing go for you after you do a first draft?
Its more micro editing.
I think drafts are a product of the typewriter era.
Do you take a stab at punch it up?
Yeah, I do.
So Im trying to set myself up for their being some kind of surreal or surprising or goofy scenario.
The work goes more into the research and setup.
But to answer your question, yeah I do.
Its nice to have that right there because it just completely takes you out of your head.
What everyday thing are you better at than everyone else?
Whats your point of pride?
Otherwise everybody can do it.
But Im extremely nearsightedIm minus seven diopters which I think would be like wearing seven power reading glasses.
Thats my super power that I show off when Im out with middle-aged people.
You know somebody that you already asked,Maria PopovaofBrainpickings.
That was fascinating to readbut you asked her so I dont have to ask her.
She just finds this amazing stuff.
But lets see, someone else… let me think, let me see.
We can come back to that.
Whats the best advice youve ever received?
Whats a bit of advice thats kind of stuck out to you?
The best advice would be: Dont send that.
As in, an email.
Common advice in my work is to never tweet.
So dont send that, I agree with that.
Yeah, dont send that.
Dont send that email.
Are you currently reading anything that you really like right now?
Any book that you would recommend?
I just startedBefore the Fall, Noah Hawleys novel.
Hes the creator of Fargo for TV.
Thats what Im reading right now.
Do you watch much TV?
No, I watch hardly any TV.
My husband is often watching the Giants during baseball season.
No, I dont, theres so many shows.The Night Managersomebody told me I need to be watching.
Those were shows where Id rent the whole thing and watch them all.
Breaking Bad I made it halfway through and just feltit wore me down.
But no, I dont watch a lot of TV.
Thats understandable.
Although there will be another season of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Thats great, Im looking forward to that.
Is there anything else youd like to say to your readers and fans?
I have a tremendous amount of admiration for people who do two or three things at once.
Why Ive succeeded is that Ive been able to only have one burner going at any time.
Those four burner people amaze me.
So I guess Id want to hear from Elon Musk.
Have you talked to him?
No but Id be happy to.
That manhow does he do it?
Hed be the person Id really love to hear how he manages all that.
Not only time-wise but money-wise, risk-wise, personal life?
Jesus, I cant imagine.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
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