A warning: This episode includes discussion about suicide, depression and anxiety. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide or is in emotional distress, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1–800–273- TALK(8255) or at suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

Jeff Passan, an ESPN MLB Insider, joins Brian to do a deep dive into the remarkable story on San Francisco Giants’ outfielder Drew Robinson. 

Jeff describes how he first learned about Robinson’s attempted suicide, how he connected with Robinson over FaceTime, and how his years breaking transactions as a baseball reporter made this story, Jeff walks through how he consulted with experts on suicide before even interviewing Robinson and why being a person before being a journalist mattered with this story. Jeff tells how his seven-hour interview with Drew was the hardest most emotionally taxing thing he’s ever done in journalism, describes what it was like to interview his family members, and the details that still stick with him. Jeff also talks about important figuring out the story’s structure was and what it was it like to sit down to write, knowing how important a story this was.

Jeff and Brian also talk about their experiences as Buffalo News sports interns, and why desk people are their favorite people.

Jeff Passan on Twitter

Drew Robinson’s Remarkable Second Act

Alive: The Drew Robinson Story

Reporting on Suicide

Reporting on Suicide Recommendations

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

Inside the dual legacies of NFL players’ union boss DeMaurice Smith

Facebook is a Doomsday Machine

I Am Not A Solider, but I’ve Been Trained to Kill

New York Times Columnist David Brooks Blogged For Facebook’s Corporate Site

Pappyland by Wright Thompson

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