The Other 51

Joe Posnanski joins Brian this week to talk all about his new book, “Why We Love Baseball.” 

In the introduction to this book, Joe writes that "This is the book I always hoped would be on the shelf” of his library when he was a kid. In this episode, he tells Brian why this would have been the perfect book for him when he was 10 years old. 

Joe discusses how he had the title of the book before anything else, how he developed the book’s structure, and how he came up with the structures for all 108(ish) essays in the book.

Joe also talks about what he has learned about himself as a writer over the yearsl, and the importance of discipline in writing.

Rabbit holes include our current Taylor Swift eras, Ozzie Smith YouTube, and the dump ballparks of our youth. 

Why We Love Baseball by Joe Posnanski

All of Joe’s books

JoeBlog

The Poscast

Walking with Sam by Andrew McCarthy

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Sam Borden of ESPN joins Brian this week to talk about reporting, interviewing, and life as a foreign correspondent. 

Sam has probably the best job title of anyone we’ve had as a guest on the podcast — Global Sports Correspondent for ESPN. Sam talks about how he got that job, how he built a successful career as a sports journalist despite not being a sports fan, and how he finds stories to write. 

Sam and Brian also talk about what life is really like as a foreign correspondent. It’s not all Hemingway and lunches on the Seine. Sam talks about finding fixers who can help you report in foreign languages, and how he tracked down Darko Milicic at an apple orchard in Serbia. 

Sam also talks about the biggest difference between interviewing for broadcast and interviewing for a print piece, how the concept of the North Star can help any journalist. 

Sam Borden on Twitter

Finding Darko

The Most Dangerous Game

Eternal Champions

Open by Andre Agassi

More Myself: A Journey by Alicia Keys

Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead

Percy Jackson and the Olympians boxed set

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Dr. Jenn Billinson from Nazareth University joins us to talk about the state of social media, and what the heck is going on with Twitter and Twitter replacements. 

Short answer: It’s a mess

Jenn and Brian talk about their reactions to Threads, why that seemed to fizzle out, and what’s next for space. Twitter/BlueSky/Threads. Jenn tells us how social media has changed in the decade she’s been teaching it, what research tells us about why people use Twitter (and twitter-like platforms), and how she teachers social media in a world like this. 

In addition, we break down the potential fight between Elon and Zuckerberg. There is some Barbenheimer talk, of course. 

Also, in what might become a new regular feature on the show, Jenn gives us the best TikTok Rabbit Hole she has gone down lately. 

Jenn on Twitter

And on Threads

And on Bluesky because why not?

Arabian Perfume TikTok

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How did a guy who started his career in radio become one of the most influential newspaper sports journalists in the history of Western New York?

Chuck Pollock, Brian’s former boss and the longtime sports editor and columnist for The Times Herald in Olean, N.Y., joins Brian to talk about column writing, journalism, and his 50-year career. 

Chuck traces his career from the Vietnam War, through radio in Pennsylvania, and to the newsroom on Norton Drive in Olean where he worked for 50 years. He talks about working for Mike Abdo and Bob Davies and why they were so influential on him. He talks about what it was like covering Buffalo sports in the 1970s writing for a family-owned newspaper, the changes in the industry, why he left the OTH and what’s next for him. 

We talk about the single-best definition of news either one of us has ever heard, and why having a column every day is so vital for newspapers. And where did Chuck’s unique typing style come from?

A heartfelt goodbye to TH readers

The Best Newspaper Man I Ever Worked With

Chuck Pollock: Ending the Absence of Writing

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

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Bob Crawford, podcaster, history buff, and the bass player for The Avett Brothers (Brian’s favorite band), joins Brian this week to talk his new podcast series, Founding Son: John Quincy’s America.

Bob and Brian talk about what made John Quincy Adams stand out as a story worth telling, how Adams is the bridge between Washington and Lincoln, a vessel to tell the story of America between the revolution and the Civil War, and a good, good man. What stories about Adams did Bob most want to tell but had to cut?

Bob discusses how his story editor helped him focus not on the trees that were so fascinating but on the forest as a whole, how he developed his pitch for the show (and even forgot about it at one point), how he used Miro as an organizational tool, and the writing tip that he learned from Twitter.

Rabbit holes in this episode include Martin Van Buren, Abraham Lincoln, the Seward House in Auburn, N.Y., and spinning a stand-up bass.

Founding Son: John Quincy’s America

The Road to Now

Concerts of Change

The Avett Brothers

Miro

The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln

Newspaper Archive

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Scott Nover, a technology and media reporter for Quartz, joins Brian to talk about AI, media economics, and why it’s so interesting to write about media.

Scott takes a break from watching the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on artificial intelligence for this episode. For real, though … politicians can’t understand Facebook.

Scott discusses his career path, why he became fascinated in writing and reporting on media, and what is most interesting to him in the AI space right now.

Brian and Scott also talk about why understanding business is fundamental to any career in journalism, and stratagies for making complex business concepts understandable to readers.

And man, we miss David Carr.

Scott Nover at Quartz

Scott on Twitter

OpenAI’s Sam Altman got a warm welcome on Capitol Hill

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

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Arielle Beth Klein, a playwright and actor, joins Brian to talk about her newly published play, "My Shiksa Boyfriend," and all things writing and creative.

Arielle tells us what it's like seeing her play for sale in the Drama Book Shop, and what it's like signing copies of her play to sell in the famed NYC book store. We bond over the awesomeness of Grace Aki.

Arielle describes how improv exercise in a college class set her on the road to being a playwright. She tells us the lasting lessons she's learned from Seth Barrish's storytelling workshops, why she works in 10-page spurts, and her favorite deleted scene from the show and why she cut it.

She also discusses How her experience and work as an actor informs her writing, and how her career as a writer informs her acting, and and her best advice for a young or new playwright.

Arielle Beth Klein

Arielle's linktree

My Shiksa Boyfriend

Signing books at the Drama Book Shop

Just Start Podcast

The Red Shoe

Awakening to the Fifth Dimension

Will Leitch returns to the show to talk all about the writing of his excellent new novel, "The Time Has Come."

Will tells Brian how the writing of this book (“a feel-good book about a shooting!”) differed from his first novel, “How Lucky.” Will discusses how he structured the book, whether the plot or characters came first, and how he was able to make all of his main characters sound authentic to who they are. How do you write a Trump voter whom your readers will find likable - or at least able to empathize with? 

Will and Brian talk about why making something specific actually makes it universal, how the novel’s setting of Athens, Georgia ties to the book’s larger theme, and how this book reflects his overall world view.  

Pre-order The Time Has Come at IndieBound

Pre-order The Time Has Come at Amazon

All Will’s books on Amazon

Will’s Excellent Weekly Newsletter

The Rise and Fall of theThird Reich

Short Cuts 

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Dr. Jenn McClearen, an assistant professor at the University of Texas and author of the Substack newsletter Publish not Perish, joins Brian to talk about what makes academic writing so vexing, and some strategies to improve your writing and time management.

They talk about the crazy coincidence of the both being at the same, relatively small conference in Barcelona and not meeting there, and they discuss the research projects they brought to IACS and their respective interests in Naomi Osaka. The joys of eating in Barcelona and Spanish table wine.

The main topic is Jenn’s excellent newsletter, Publish Not Perish. Jenn tells the newsletter’s origin story and why she wants to make the academy more transparent. She discusses how to deal with the inherent structural challenges of academia, and the importance of reflecting on and trying different strategies and figuring out what works for you.

Publish not Perish

Jenn McClearen on Twitter

Micro Media Industries by Lori Kido Lopez

The Boys on the Bus by Timothy Crouse

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For the record seventh time, Alysa Auriemma joins Brian to talk about writing. This time, the main topics are social media, making space for creative work, her next novel, and (of course) so much more.

Alysa talks about the reaction her first novel, All Daughter’s Rise, received and what the self-publishing process was like on the back end. She also discusses her plans for the second book in that series and why she’s shifting her writing focus to a new project. We break some news on this episode, as Alysa discusses her next book.

The main topic for Alysa and Brian is social media. Alysa’s off Twitter and has been for a while. Why’d she leave? What’s it like? How does she fill all that time?

Alysa Auriemma’s Amazon Page

All Daughter’s Rise

Ally Marcie Writes

Skeleton Crew: Stories by Stephen King (includes The Jaunt)

Hail Mary by Kandi Steiner

I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai