“When I was a kid, phone calls were a premium commodity; only the very coolest kids had a phone line of their own, and long-distance phone calls were made after eleven, when the rates went down, unless you were flamboyant with your spending. Then phone calls became as cheap as dirt and as constant as rain, and I was on the phone all the time.”

American journalist, television writer, and author

Susan Orlean is an American journalist, television writer, and bestselling author. She has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1992 and is known for books such as The Orchid Thief and The Library Book. Her work has also appeared in magazines including Vogue, Rolling Stone, Esquire, and Outside. In 2021, she joined the writing team of the HBO comedy series How To with John Wilson, adding television to a career built on reporting and long-form nonfiction.