Dedicated with Doug Brunt

Grant Ginder: Negroni (1 ounce each of gin, sweet vermouth, Campari served with orange rind)

Grant tells the story of taking a fiction writing class with Colson Whitehead, describes his reaction to reading drafts of the screenplay for his novel The People We Hate at the Wedding that starred Kristen Bell and Allison Janney, reveals what you can expect from the writing course he teaches at NYU, talks about the process of writing speeches for John Podesta and others, offers a powerful piece of advice for aspiring writers. 

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Brad Meltzer: Asombroso tequila, neat  

Brad discusses the elusiveness of closure in life and how writing THE VIPER helped him come to terms with his own relationship with his father, reveals certain aspects of the top-secret Dover Air Force Base, shares the mysterious ways that witness protection has changed, gives the behind-the-scenes story of his wildly viral commencement speech at Michigan, and names his favorite podcast. 

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Doug Picks 4 books for 2026 with background noise provided by his dog Thunder who is romping in the snow

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Catherine Grace Katz: Gunner (equal parts ginger beer & ginger ale with fresh lime juice and dash bitters)

Catherine describes how Stalin made an emergency dash to the bathroom during the 1945 Yalta conference which was briefly mistaken for an American kidnapping plot, the treasures she found in personal letters of the Churchill and Harriman archives, the friendships and rivalries and sexual affairs that took place in the insular wartime diplomatic community, the key piece of advice she followed throughout the writing process to make the book a success, and which of the Big 3 had the most significant impact on the 20th century. 

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Rick Atkinson: Manhattan (2 1/2 ounces Michter’s rye, 1 ounce sweet vermouth, dash bitters served up with Luxardo cherry)  

Rick names the most intelligent of the Founding Fathers, shows the ways King George III has been misrepresented in history, explains his experiences visiting the battlefields he writes about and why the visits are important, talks through the ways to manage personal finances in the career of a writer, and suggests that a knowledge of history can help us to cope with life in the present day. 

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Tony Lyons: whiskey sour (2 1/2 ounces rye, 1/2 ounce lemon juice, sugar in shaker with ice, served up with cherry and dash bitters)

Tony tells the wild story of meeting in Woody Allen’s apartment in person to sign the deal to publish Woody’s ‘banned’ book, what it was like working with Melania Trump on her memoir, how he personally got the audio recording of Alan Dershowitz’s Epstein accuser that exonerated Dershowitz, the extensive fact checking involved with publishing RFK Jr.’s book, his mission for Skyhorse Publishing, and the type of employee at Meta/Facebook whose book he’d pay big money to publish.

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Marc Siegel: coffee

Dr. Marc Siegel talks about religion and faith in medicine, discusses the merits of MAHA, sounds the alarm that our defenses are down against a future pandemic, describes the ways fiction can advance our thinking on issues in the real world, tells about the early days of founding Doctor Radio and his work at Fox News Channel.

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Seth Wickersham: Johnny Walker Blue (pour over 3 ice cubes)

ESNP senior writer Seth Wickersham discusses the extreme difference in the way Belichick handles the media today compared to his days in New England, the different ways elite athletes sometimes struggle in retirement, Tom Brady’s evolving fashion as well as the reason and inspiration for it, recounts America’s first ever sports power couple - long before Swift/Kelce - that resulted in the Rams moving from Cleveland to L.A., and explains why the NFL is the most secretive of all professional sports leagues. 

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Jake Tapper: bourbon on ice

Jake discusses his stint working for Hooters Restaurant, names the US President with the best sense of humor, names his favorite Eagle football player and why, describes how politics is a day-job that he leaves behind when with friends and family, confesses to the aggressive note he sent to his mother-in-law who is a fan of the Dallas Cowboys, reveals some Frank Sinatra stories, and shares a piece of advice for aspiring writers.

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Michael Connelly: Old Fashioned (2 1/2 ounces rye, bitters and sugar over large ice cube with cherry and orange peel) 

Michael Connelly describes his first meeting with Clint Eastwood who was playing piano throughout their discussion of an upcoming movie project, reveals the biggest difference between working with Netflix and Amazon, remembers the strange and unsolved crime he witnessed when only 16 years-old that that helped inspire him to become a crime novelist, names the novels and movies that most influenced him, offers a terrific piece of advice.

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