What being a lawyer taught John Grisham about writing novels

14 Oct 2025 • 34 min • EN
34 min
00:00
34:15
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John Grisham is the author of over 50 #1 bestselling novels, including A Time To Kill and The Pelican Brief—but before he became the preeminent writer of legal thrillers, he had a tumultuous career as a lawyer. Adam and John discuss how John’s experience in the courtroom inspires his fiction, and how it has continued to shape his perspective on storytelling and criminal justice. They also dig into John’s writing process, unpack his feelings of doubt that still linger after success, and reflect on the moment that changed his mind about the death penalty. Follow Host: Adam Grant (Instagram: @adamgrant | LinkedIn: @adammgrant | Website: adamgrant.net/) Guest: John Grisham (Instagram: @johngrisham | Website: https://jgrisham.com/)  Links https://www.facebook.com/JohnGrisham/ https://jgrisham.com/books/ Subscribe to TED  Instagram: @ted YouTube: @TED TikTok: @tedtoks LinkedIn: @ted-conferences Website: ted.com Podcasts: ted.com/podcasts For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant-transcripts Interested in learning more about upcoming TED events? Follow these links: TEDNext: ted.com/futureyou ReThinking is produced by Cosmic Standard. Our Senior Producer is Jessica Glazer, our Engineer is Aja Simpson, our Technical Director is Jacob Winik, and our Executive Producer is Eliza Smith. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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