Kelsey McKinney explained

Kelsey McKinney (born)^[1] is an American journalist, podcaster, and author. She is a staff writer at Defector and the host of Normal Gossip. She previously wrote for Deadspin and Vox.

Early life and education

McKinney grew up in Flower Mound, Texas.^[2] Her father is an Evangelical pastor.

She attended the University of Texas at Austin, earning a bachelor's degree in 2014. While in college, she interned at Reader's Digest and the Harry Ransom Center and began writing freelance stories. She served as an editor for The Daily Texan.^[3]

Career

McKinney previously wrote a newsletter, Written Out, about books written by women who had been marginalized in historical narratives.^[4]

McKinney was hired at Deadspin in spring 2019. That October, she was one of 19 staffers at the publication who resigned in protest after editor Barry Petchesky was fired over a mandate to "stick to sports."^{[5] [6]} Over the following year, she and her former colleagues discussed the idea of a media company that more effectively centered writers. They proceeded to found the sports and culture site Defector, which is owned collectively as a worker cooperative.^[7]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she felt nostalgic for the experience of gossiping with friends in person and tweeted about the idea of hosting a gossip-centric podcast, which would become Normal Gossip. She began working on the first season of the show with producer Alex Sujong Laughlin in September 2021, and it premiered five months later to critical and popular acclaim.^{[8] [9]}

Books

McKinney's 2021 debut novel, God Spare the Girls, follows two daughters of a Texas megachurch pastor who is revealed to have had an affair. Her first essay collection, You Didn’t Hear This From Me, is scheduled for a February 2025 release by Grand Central Publishing.^[10]

Personal life

McKinney lives in the Queen Village neighborhood of Philadelphia with her husband and her dog, Georgia. She was raised Evangelical, but no longer considers herself a believer in Christianity.^[11]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Greenberg . Zoe . 2023-05-30 . Kelsey McKinney is building a (socialist) gossip empire from Queen Village . 2024-06-23 . Philadelphia Inquirer . en.
2. Web site: Rosenthal . Abigail . 2023-08-10 . How Texas Tall Tales Became ‘Normal Gossip,’ the Favorite Podcast of Snoops and Blabbermouths . 2024-06-23 . Texas Monthly . en.
3. Web site: June 21, 2013 . Rising Senior Kelsey McKinney puts her literary knowledge to work . 2024-06-23 . College of Liberal Arts . The University of Texas at Austin . en.
4. Web site: Sone . Sunny . 2021-06-22 . A Feminist Rewrite of Lot . 2024-06-23 . The Texas Observer . en-US.
5. News: Tracy . Marc . 2019-10-30 . Stick to Sports? No Way. Deadspin Journalists Quit en Masse. . 2024-06-23 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
6. Web site: Cohen . Danielle . 2023-12-11 . Podcaster Kelsey McKinney Gets Paid to Gossip . 2024-06-23 . The Cut . en.
7. Web site: Hickey . Walt . September 10, 2020 . Defector’s Kelsey McKinney on how 2020 destroyed the concept of “sticking to sports” . 2024-06-23 . Nieman Lab.
8. Web site: Bryant . Kenzie . 2022-02-10 . Finally, an Antidote for the Lack of Low-Stakes Gossip in Our Lives . 2024-06-23 . Vanity Fair . en-US.
9. Web site: Scire . Sarah . June 8, 2022 . You didn’t hear this from me, but Defector is getting a subscriber boost from its podcast Normal Gossip . 2024-06-23 . Nieman Lab . "Three months after launching, Normal Gossip reached 500,000 listens. Six months in, the podcast sees around 100,000 downloads per episode. Tickets for the first live show — held last week — sold out in 48 hours.".
10. Web site: Puckett-Pope . Lauren . 2024-05-01 . Kelsey McKinney, Host of Hit Podcast 'Normal Gossip,' Has a Juicy New Book on the Way . 2024-06-23 . ELLE . en-US.
11. Web site: Salamon . Jeff . 2021-06-22 . Debut Novelist Kelsey McKinney on Losing Her Religion and Leaving Texas . 2024-06-23 . Texas Monthly . en.