Today’s guest is someone who has built a career not just on killer plots—but on a deep understanding of what it means to be human.
Gregg Hurwitz is the bestselling author of 26 thrillers, the creator of the Orphan X series, and a writer whose work spans everything from comics and screenplays to Shakespearean tragedy. Yes, really. He holds a master’s from Oxford in exactly that.
Gregg has written for Marvel and DC, consulted on blockbuster films, helped script the World Cup opening ceremony, and still manages to release a novel a year—each one tightly plotted, psychologically rich, and wildly addictive.
We talk about everything from how he turned a teenage obsession with storytelling into a life’s work, to what thrillers can teach us about morality, masculinity, and the “strange language of intimacy.” He opens up about creative discipline, the reality of Hollywood deal-making, the evolution of the Orphan X character across ten novels—and why, if you’re writing fiction, it better be the story you have to tell.
This conversation spans from fifth-grade mystery novels to Shakespeare, from childhood dictionaries to stunt-plane research trips—and somewhere in the middle, we even manage to touch on Bond, Measure for Measure, and what it takes to write something truly timeless.
Here’s Gregg Hurwitz.
Today's episode sponsor is Happy Mammoth. Head to www.happymammoth.com with code SMARTER for 15% off.
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