The Other 51

Evan Drellich joins Brian to talk about his new book, Winning Fixes Everything, about the Houston Astros' cheating scandal.

Evan — who worked with Brian at the Press & Sun-Bulletin in Binghamton, N.Y. another lifetime ago — discusses how he and Ken Rosenthal broke the story of the Astros cheating scandal for The Athletic, what it's like when your reporting becomes the biggest sports story in the country, and how this is much more about players banging trash cans with bats.

Evan also talks about how this is much more than a sign-stealing scandal, how it's a book about corporate cut-throat culture that captures a lot of what was happening in industry in the 2010s, and how he developed those themes. He also talks about the writing lessons he drew from Bernard Malamud (and the late Charlie Jaworski) and his favorite Killers songs.

Winning Fixes Everything by Evan Drellich on Amazon

...and on IndieBound

Evan on Twitter

Evan at The Athletic

The original story on the Astros' scandal

The Complete Stories by Bernard Malamud

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Tyler Dunne of Go Long tells us all about Damar Hamlin, what it was like to be in Cincinnati on Monday night, and about watching and covering football going forward. 

Why Damar Hamlins is exactly what the Buffalo Bills need

The light in football’s most horrific hour

Podcast: Damar Hamlin, life, and football

The Chris Borland Effect

The Chasing MS Foundation Community Toy Drive

Axe ALS

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Jeremy Littau, a professor at Lehigh University, an expert in social media with some unfortunate opinions about candy, joins Brian to talk about the present and future of Twitter and new social platforms. 

Jeremy talks about where things stood with Twitter as of Dec. 7, when we recorded this. He talks about the migration to Mastodon, why it’s Why its really complicated for people to decide whether or not to leave or join a social network, and why those options are not the same thing. 

Jeremy also discusses his willingness to experiment with new digital media, and how he gets his students to think about the future with a bent toward curiosity

Jeremy Littau on Twitter

The Unraveling

Op-Ed: Thinking of leaving Twitter? Its experience is hard to replicate

Conversion via Twitter

Andrew Luck Reveals Why He Walked Away from the NFL

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Pablo Torre, host of ESPN Daily, joins Brian to talk about interviewing, curiosity in reporting, and how podcasting sits at the middle of his professional Venn Diagram. 

After a brief delay in starting this episode, Pablo talks about the career path that brought him to ESPN. He tells Brian how he brings a magazine-writer’s sensibility to a daily sports podcast, and why he is so wary about being a redundant voice. Pablo discusses the range of his interests and the show, whether it is taking time to discuss serious topics (mental health in sports, concussions) to approaching fun stories (was Jalen Rose really the first Jalen?) with the seriousness that Michael Caine brought to A Muppet Christmas Carol. 

Pablo and Brian talk about the importance of curiosity and how to cultivate it, how he tries to bring out the best in his guests, and whether or not you can create chemistry between two people. 

Alternate episode title: The science of butts

Pablo Torre on Twitter

ESPN Daily

JJ Redick on Mental Health vs. Mental Toughness

Inside the NFL’s Concussion Protocol with Alex Smith

Why NFL Scouts Love Big Butts

Is Jalen Rose the First Jalen? We Solve a Sports Mystery

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In our first-ever live event, Tyler Dunne returns to talk about his new book, “The Blood and Guts: How Tight Ends Save Football.”

Listen to this episode for your chance to WIN A SIGNED COPY OF TY’S BOOK.

Tyler tells Brian why he decided to write a whole book about tight ends. Because, let’s face it, that’s an oddly specific topic. If, as Tyler said he learned, that the position of tight end chooses people, how did he choose to write about tight ends.

Tyler describes what he calls “a cross-country trip about the soul of the sport,” how he reported the book, and why it was so important to interview these tight ends in their own environments. 

Tyler tells Brian how he approached writing the book like a series of long-form feature stories, how he balanced that and theme to turn those stories into a book, and how he balanced writing and reporting the book, running his own subscription newsletter AND raising a newborn and a toddler at the same time. 

Tyler’s sixth-grade teacher drops also drops by (with Tyler’s football card from 2000)

The episode was recorded on October 27, 2022, at the Jandoli School of Communication at St. Bonaventure. Thanks to Aaron Chimbel, the staff of the Jandoli School, and the Endowment for Excellence in Business Journalism for their support of the event. 

The Blood and the Guts by Tyler Dunne on Amazon

… and at your local indie bookstore. 

Tyler on Twitter

Go Long

The Last Folk Hero by Jeff Pearlman

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Jeff Pearlman is back for either his 83rd or 905th appearance, depending on who’s counting. Jeff is back to chat about “The Last Folk Hero,” his outstanding new biography of Bo Jackson that is out this week. 

Jeff describes what makes Bo Jackson so iconic and interesting, and why the first thing he did when he decided to write about Bo was to visit eBay. 

Jeff did 720 interviews for this book, and he tells Brian who he wishes had been 721. Jeff walks through how he organized all this information with printouts and folders — “It’s a frickin’ nightmare.” 

Jeff talks about what makes Bo’s story so intriguing as a writer, how he separated fact from myth, and if it was a bummer to learn the truth behind those myths. He discusses how he developed his writing style, the importance of making the extra call, and how you never stop being afraid but you learn to do what you have to do.

Alternate episode title: Life’s a Crapper

The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson

Jeff Pearlman’s Amazon Page. 

Jeff on Twitter. 

Afeni Skaur: Evolution of a Revolutionary by Jasmine Guy 

Barkley: A Biography by Timothy Bella

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Denny Wilkins' story is that of a geology major from Massachusetts turned into a journalism professor at St. Bonaventure.

It’s also the story of a professor who taught a generation of St. Boanventure journalism graduates — Brian included — to omit needless words.

Denny and Brian, now colleagues at the Jandoli School of Communication, bring faculty meeting energy to this week’s episode. Denny discusses the challenges of teaching college students how to write, the importance of curiosity, and how he teaches it. Denny talks about his own journalism experiences, why he views himself as a coach, and what he learned from former St. Bonaventure women’s basketball coach (and current coach at Providence) Jim Crowley about teaching.

Can you make each sentence one word shorter? If so, you’re halfway to a better story.

Yep. He also talks about what Brian was like as a student. I immediately regret this decision.

Denny Wilkins

St. Bonaventure University Writing Style Guide

Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash by Elizabeth Royte

The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future by Gretchen Bakke

Concrete Planet: The Strange and Fascinating Story of the World’s Most Common Man-Made Material by Robert Courland

The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance by Hentry Petroski

The Road Taken: The History and Future of America’s Infrastructure by Henry Petroski

Rust: The Longest War by Jonathan Waldman

John McPhee’s books

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Dr. Catherine Pearlman joins Brian to talk about her new book, “First Phone: A child’s guide to digital responsibility, safety and etiquette.”

Catherine discusses her career as a social worker, parenting coach and writer, how she got a syndicated column, and the writing lessons she learned from writing two columns a week for several years. She talks about how and why she decided to write a book specifically for kids, what it was like to write for kids, and what kids really think about smartphones. Digital education is a life-long process. Your kids will make mistakes in their digital life, but theyre part of life and what you can learn of life.

And sleep. Good lord, sleep is so important.

Catherine also talks about how she puts together a book proposal, why she likes to write at night, how she uses Notes to collect material and organize her work, and how she balanced writing a book about technology without it sounding dated.

The Family Coach

Catherine on Twitter

First Phone: A child’s guide to digital responsibility, safety and etiquette

Ignore It!: How Selectively Looking the Other Way Can Decrease Behavioral Problems and Increase Parenting Satisfaction

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keffe

Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker

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What’s it like to be at the Tony Awards?

How do you juggle being both a fan and a reporter?

How do you go from being a TV reporter in West Texas to creating your own site to cover Broadway?

What’s it like to spend an entire day wearing a fushsia ballgown around New York City?

Shoshana from BWaySho joins Brian to answer those questions and more. Shoshana and Brian talk about how TV taglines never leave you, why she doesn’t see herself as a critic, and the importance of just showing up.

This episode also features our first CONTEST. Check @TheOther51Pod for details.

BWay Sho

Twitter

BWay Sho Patreon

… & Juliet

Legally Blonde at The Muny

The Kite Runner Musical

Into the Woods

A Strange Loop

POTUS

Casey McQuiston’s books

Grace Aki, a playwright and performer, joins Brian to talk about her one-woman show, To Free A Mockingbird.

Here’s the secret. Grace didn’t actually “write” her one-woman show. Well she did. She talks about how she incrementally developed her show over a number of years, and how she used voice memos as her main tool to get material down.

Grace and Brian talk about the lessons she learned from Rick Crom and Seth Barrish, how important the ending and the climax of a show (or a story, or a beat) is, the through line in all of Grace’s work, and what the word storyteller means to her. Grace also gives fantastic advice on how to motivate yourself to do your own creative work.

They also talk ice cream. Let’s normalize meeting up for dessert the way people meet up for drinks!

Grace Aki’s website

To Free a Mockingbird tickets

Noona’s Ice Cream

Perry’s Ice Cream

Oh Rick!

Seth Barrish

Tell Me on a Sunday

My Neighbor Totoro

Which Way to the Stage

A Strange Loop

Crying in H Mart

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