The Most Dangerous Terrorist Before Bin Laden: Carlos the Jackal | Joby Warrick

WATCH FULL EPISODE: https://youtu.be/OCNkGL-4ZQI?si=PD0MrN01bp5rCev6

Subscribe Here: @JulianDoreyDaily

JOBY'S LINKS

- X: https://twitter.com/JobyWarrick

- NEW "CARLOS THE JACKAL" BOOK: https://a.co/d/0fIq94lm

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Joby Warrick joins Julian to tell the story of Carlos the Jackal — one of the most notorious terrorists of the 20th century — starting with who Carlos actually was before getting into the harder part: how Warrick managed to get Carlos to actually agree to talk to him at all. Warrick walks through what it was like spending ninety minutes face-to-face with the man himself, and recounts the Vienna attack along with what he describes as Carlos's genuinely wild entrance into the room.

The conversation then shifts into craft — Warrick breaks down his actual writing regimen, including his use of a physical timer to stay disciplined, and gets into the practical side of long-form nonfiction writing: how he approaches openings, when and how he decides to cut entire chapters, and what he calls the "but/therefore rule" for keeping a narrative moving instead of just listing facts.

Timestamps:

0:00 – Who Was Carlos the Jackal?

10:52 – Getting Carlos to Say YES

21:38 – Ninety Minutes With the Man Himself

31:04 – The Vienna Attack & His Wild Entrance

39:32 – Joby's Writing Regiment and the Physical Timer

52:08 – Openings, Cutting Chapters & the But/Therefore Rule

Subscribe for more deep dives into the stories and the people who tell them.

@JulianDoreyDaily ​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices