He is a Writer at Large for Esquire magazine, known for the What I've Learned column, where he interviews leaders in various fields,[1][2] which have included Mikhail Gorbachev, Jimmy Carter, Ted Kennedy, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Jack Welch, Robert De Niro, Clint Eastwood, Al Pacino, George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Bruce Springsteen, Dr. Dre, Quincy Jones, Woody Allen, Barbara Walters, Pelé, Yao Ming, Serena Williams, John Wooden, and Muhammad Ali.

He grew up on Long Island[3] and earned a bachelor's degree at The University of Missouri School of Journalism.

[3] He learned how to interview on trains and buses, when he travelled around the world for 10 years and was constantly in conversation with people from all cultures and walks of life.

[4] Fussman has a chapter giving advice in Tim Ferriss' book Tools of Titans.

Fussman's story about his experience at Windows on the World won a James Beard Foundation Award for best personal essay in 2011.