Sep 29, 2026 · 1 hr 3 min · 13 segments
Adam Delehanty is the founder of Ghost, a ghostwriting agency that helps business leaders find the language their ideas deserve. He started his career in politics…
Kyle TiermanHost
Adam DelehantyGuestMm-hmm.
i happen to come from a family of a lot of a lot of writers on one side a lot of irish creatives on one side and then um some therapists and doctors on the other side and so i i think it's a it's a nice combo yeah
uh did the the writers uh what did you learn growing up in households of writers
I'll tell you, the defining characteristic for me with my writing and growing up was that I grew up with two much older brothers, a lot of talkative older brothers, and my dad, who was a lawyer.
And so what I remember especially like in middle school and high school, writing was a place for me where I was uninterrupted, where I could win the argument.
I could win the argument because no one can fight back when they're reading a piece of yours, you know? You have the mic uninterrupted.
And so a really like verbally dexterous, talkative family, but I was so much younger.
I was seven and 10 years younger than my brothers, so... uh couldn't really compete you know
yeah same here my next brother up is seven years older than me and i'm the youngest of five
there we go so you know yeah i didn't know that we were both youngest yeah that's cool uh and so was writing for you like was it a refuge uh does that resonate what i said about
I don't think that my older brothers were interrupting me in arguments so much as that I really wanted to be able to think through This is really weird.
I used to have a reoccurring nightmare when I was a little kid that I had forgotten how to talk.
And I remember feeling so frustrated that I couldn't say what I actually meant.
So there was something about the ability to think a thought, put it on paper, and then really stare down that idea to say it exactly like I meant it that was just immensely satisfying to me.
Mm-hmm.
i happen to come from a family of a lot of a lot of writers on one side a lot of irish creatives on one side and then um some therapists and doctors on the other side and so i i think it's a it's a nice combo yeah
uh did the the writers uh what did you learn growing up in households of writers
I'll tell you, the defining characteristic for me with my writing and growing up was that I grew up with two much older brothers, a lot of talkative older brothers, and my dad, who was a lawyer.
And so what I remember especially like in middle school and high school, writing was a place for me where I was uninterrupted, where I could win the argument.
I could win the argument because no one can fight back when they're reading a piece of yours, you know? You have the mic uninterrupted.
And so a really like verbally dexterous, talkative family, but I was so much younger.
I was seven and 10 years younger than my brothers, so... uh couldn't really compete you know
yeah same here my next brother up is seven years older than me and i'm the youngest of five
there we go so you know yeah i didn't know that we were both youngest yeah that's cool uh and so was writing for you like was it a refuge uh does that resonate what i said about
I don't think that my older brothers were interrupting me in arguments so much as that I really wanted to be able to think through This is really weird.
I used to have a reoccurring nightmare when I was a little kid that I had forgotten how to talk.
And I remember feeling so frustrated that I couldn't say what I actually meant.
So there was something about the ability to think a thought, put it on paper, and then really stare down that idea to say it exactly like I meant it that was just immensely satisfying to me.
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