Danelle Morton is an investigative journalist and best-selling co-author of twenty books. She’s worked at The New York Times, The San Jose Mercury News and People magazine, and ghostwritten for famous people and everyday people with incredible stories.
Danelle’s latest project is City of the Rails, a podcast debuting January 18 on iHeartRadio.
Danelle’s background in her own words
I wanted to be a writer ever since I started to read, and I’ve made my living, for better and for a lot worse, at that trade my whole career. I’ve worked at The New York Times, The San Jose Mercury News and People magazine interviewing, writing stories, and helping others tell their stories in their own voices as a ghostwriter.
Podcasting is a new way use the same skills that I’ve been developing my whole life. It’s been wild learning a new skill and way of collaborating, trying to make a story that can reach the widest audience because it’s told through voice. I needed all the help offered to me to tell a story that is as nuanced and complicated as The City of the Rails.
I began looking into the world of the railroads when my daughter started hopping trains. I never thought I’d remain intrigued by railroads fourteen years later. That’s because the rails are a lot more than just the story of hobos. They are intertwined with the history of America, and the history of American business, and they reach into all of our lives. More than that, the people who work on them, and the people who ride them, are some of the most interesting characters I’ve ever met. Every single one of them has a story to tell. I’ve only told a fraction of what I’ve learned, and there’s so much more to say.
I continued to write for magazines and to write humor pieces. I’ve received many honors for my investigative work, been nominated for the ASME National Magazine Award in the public service category, and was a finalist for the PEN/USA Literary Non-Fiction Award. I’ve also received grants in support of my investigative reporting from The Nation Institute for Investigative Journalism and the George Polk Foundation.