Breaking In with Kevin Fishbain: A Sports Media Podcast

In episode 40, Kevin chats with Jeff Joniak, the play-by-play voice of the Chicago Bears on ESPN 1000. Joniak is in his 25th season behind the microphone for the Bears and approaching his first home playoff game on the call in seven years. He began his broadcasting career at Iowa State, and then in Chicago where he worked for "Sports Phone." You'll hear how Joniak would spend nights at the radio station, took any assignment he could, and moved his way up in the sports radio scene, including covering the 90's Chicago Bulls teams. And a chance to call a Northern Illinois football game proved significant in his career. Hear how Jeff Joniak broke in.

In episode 39, Kevin chats with Dan Rubenstein, co-host of "The Solid Verbal," the largest independent college football podcast. Rubenstein and Ty Hildenbrandt have hosted the podcast since 2008, and Rubenstein will tell that origin story, how they found each other at Sports Illustrated and how they got their podcast off the ground. He also discusses how driving scripts around Hollywood as an intern led him to start out on his own, filming videos at college football tailgates, and how that niche helped him get his start in sports media. Hear how Dan Rubenstein broke in. 

In episode 38, Kevin chats with Michael Silver, senior NFL writer at The Athletic. Silver has been covering the league since he was on the 49ers' beat in the early 90's. He wrote more than 70 cover stories for Sports Illustrated and also worked for NFL Network and Yahoo Sports. An author of five books, Silver's latest, "The Why Is Everything: A Story of Football, Rivalry and Revolution" is now out in paperback. Silver's origin story goes back to seeing "All the President's Men" as a child, a very intense college newspaper at Cal, and then finding his niche covering the 49ers. Known for his incredible access, Silver will tell many stories about how he earns the trust of the league's power brokers. Hear how Michael Silver broke in.

In episode 37, Kevin chats with Sheil Kapadia, podcast host at The Ringer. Kapadia hosts the Philly Special podcast and The Ringer NFL Show. Prior to his time at The Ringer, Kapadia covered the Philadelphia Eagles at The Athletic. He also was ESPN's Seahawks beat writer for a few seasons. Kapadia got his start working his way through different outlets in Philadelphia, finding ways to set himself apart in the blogging space and garner eyeballs for his Eagles analysis. Eventually it opened the door to an opportunity to be an Eagles beat writer, but that took a lot of grinding. Hear how Sheil Kapadia broke in. 

In episode 36, Kevin chats with Stacey Dales, senior national reporter for NFL Network. Dales has been with NFL Network since 2009, and prior to that, she was an analyst and reporter for ESPN and ABC. She also was an NCAA women's basketball analyst for CBS Westwood Radio. Before her broadcasting career, Dales was a two-time first-team All-American basketball player at Oklahoma. She got her start at ESPN while playing in the WNBA, after being the No. 3 pick in the draft. Dales will discuss her athletic career, and how it led her to broadcasting, the lessons she learned on the basketball court that have helped her as a reporter, and how she got comfortable covering football. Hear how Stacey Dales broke in.

In episode 35, Kevin chats with Jake Zivin, the play-by-play broadcaster for Apple TV's coverage of the MLS. Saturday afternoon, Zivin will be on the call for the MLS Cup on Apple TV alongside Taylor Twellman. How Zivin got to that seat began as a kid with sports broadcasting aspirations, and included an internship with the MLS 20 years ago where he worked in the truck working the score bug. Those connections came in handy later on in Zivin's career, while he worked local TV in Montana and then Eugene, Oregon before getting to be the voice of the Portland Timbers. Hear how Jake Zivin broke in.

In episode 34, Kevin chats with Kevin Clark, host of "This is Football" from ESPN and Omaha Productions, and former NFL writer at The Ringer and the Wall Street Journal. The first "Kevin" to appear as a guest, Clark recalls the first podcast he listened to — and how it influenced his own podcast — and his early days writing, from being an agate clerk at the Chicago Tribune to an internship in his home state of Florida. Clark offers valuable perspective on the industry and advice to those who are getting started. Hear how Kevin Clark broke in.

In episode 33, Kevin chats with Mark Lazerus, senior NHL writer at The Athletic and Chicago Blackhawks beat writer. "Laz," who's in his 14th season covering the Blackhawks, has been named one of the top three columnists in the country twice in the past three years by the Associated Press Sports Editors. Before Lazerus was chronicling the Hawks' Stanley Cup wins, or more recently, their rebuild, he was designing newspapers in Northwest Indiana and covering high school and Valparaiso sports. You'll hear about his internships, the first hockey game he covered in Pittsburgh, and what it was like to have high school players' parents yell at him. Hear how Mark Lazerus broke in.

In episode 32, Kevin chats with Judy Battista, NFL Network senior national columnist. Battista is on "The Insiders" on NFL Network Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 7 p.m. ET. She's been writing for NFL.com and discussing the league on NFL Network since 2013, and had previously been at the New York Times. Before Battista became an authority on the NFL, she was covering local news in her hometown of Miami. She got her start 35 years ago at the Miami Herald, and she'll discuss how she got into journalism, and what it was like jumping in to covering the Miami Hurricanes teams of the early 90's. Hear how Judy Battista broke in. 

In episode 31, Kevin chats with Sarah Kustok, Brooklyn Nets analyst on the YES Network. A two-time winner of the New York Emmy Award, Kustok was the first-ever solo female analyst for an NBA team. She also does NFL sidelines on Fox and is part of CBS Sports' "We Need To Talk." Before becoming a pioneer in the game analyst space, Kustok was a player herself, a star basketball player at DePaul University. She'll discuss how she transitioned into media, a field she hadn't previously considered, and the litany of early assignments she took on, from high school football to indoor lacrosse to late nights at the local Fox station, before getting her first break at Comcast Sports-Net Chicago. Sarah offers great advice to up-and-coming broadcasters in her origin story. Hear how Sarah Kustok broke in.