The Other 51

Zach Roberts, an independent journalist who has been covering protests for more than 15 years, joins Brian this week to talk about covering the recent Black Lives Matter protests in Rochester, N.Y.

Zach, who was Brian’s student back in 2014, talks about how he got his start in freelance investigative journalism, how covering Occupy Wall Street changed the course of his career, and his experiences covering the protests of Daniel Prude’s death in Rochester. Zach discusses what he does when arrives in a city to cover a protest, his tips for staying safe while being on the ground, and what it’s like to have police officers shooting and targeting protests.

Zach Roberts on Twitter

Support Zach’s work on Patreon

Zach’s portfolio

Truth or Fiction

The Boys

Knowledge Fight

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A panel discussion from the AEJMC Conference, recorded virtually on Aug. 7, featuring Brian, Adam Hansmann (The Athletic), Dr. Molly Yanity (Quinnipiac), Ronen Shay (Fordham) and Anthony Palomba (University of Virginia).

Are digital subscriptions the way forward for online journalism? This panel examines the emergence and the growth of the subscription model in digital journalism, with a focus on The Athletic’s impact on sports journalism. The theoretical and pragmatic implications of this business model are discussed. The Athletic’s success requires us as researchers and educators to examine its business model, and similar business models in online journalism, to determine what that success means for journalism writ large. In addition, their editorial focus (less digital churn, more longer stories) is worthy of discussion from both a media sociological point of view and a pragmatic, practitioner one.

Adam Hansmann

Molly Yanity

Ronen Shay

Anthony Palomba

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Julia Azari, a professor at Marquette University and contributor to Five Thirty Eight, joins Brian to talk about public scholarship, politics and more.

Julia and Brian talk about the challenges in teaching politics and journalism over the past four years, whether or not professor and journalists should openly talk about their politics, and how things have changed since the 2016 election.

The main topic is public scholarship. Julia, who won the American Political Science Association’s inaugural Best Public-Facing Scholarship Award, defines what public scholarship is, why it’s so useful, and why it’s not traditionally valued within the academic world. She gives advice to anyone looking to get into this world, but also provides some real talk about the risks involved.

Julia Azari on Twitter

Julia at Five Thirty Eight

Why Conventions Matter

Mischiefs of Faction

Delivering the People’s Message: The Changing Politics of the Presidential Mandate

Range by David Epstein

The Great Migration and the Democratic Party

The Primary Rules

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Dr. Galen Clavio, the director of the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana University, joins Brian to talk about his new book, “Social Media and Sports.”

It’s The Flip Side reunion the world has been waiting for!

Galen and Brian - who’ve been podcasting together since the mid–2010s - discuss the challenges of writing a book on your own as opposed to being a co-author. Galen describes how he kept his target audience in mind throughout the writing process, the things he hated about textbooks that he tried to avoid, and how his focus on this project was specifically writing an eBook.

Galen talks about how social media use in the sports world has evolved over the past decade, and he says that his most exciting moment in the book-writing process was unique.

Galen Clavio on Twtter

Social Media and Sports with web resources

The Flip Side

Undaunted Courage by Stephen E. Ambrose

The Caregiver by Samuel Park

The History of Rome

Stardew Valley

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Shea Serrano, three-time New York Times best-selling author and columnist for The Ringer, returns to The Other 51 to talk about movies, writing and his new short story.

Take a spoiler-free deep dive into Shea’s short story, Post: What’s the biggest difference between writing fiction and nonfiction? What scared him most about the process? Why is the big idea the most important thing in everything he writes? And how does a great editor make all the difference? There’s a great lesson to be found in knowing when to throw away an idea. And Shea drops some real talk about self-publishing.

Plus, we obviously talk about Calvin & Hobbes and Short Circuit.

Shea on Twitter

Halfway Books - Buy POST here

Shea at The Ringer

Buy all of Shea Serrano’s books

Episode 60: That’s How Jobs Work with Shea Serrano

The Connect

Dear Mr. Watterson

I Got a Monster

Calvin

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Alysa Auriemma, a writer and teacher, makes her record-setting fifth appearance on The Other 51.

The conversation begins with a discussion of Alysa’s forthcoming book, All Daughter’s Rise, which has been accepted for publication. Alysa discusses the editing process and the joys of working with a good editor. Alysa also talks about her new podcast, Brides of Frankenstein.

Then, J.K. Rowling comes up and, well, things go from there.

Alysa on Twitter

All Daughter’s Rise

Brides of Frankenstein

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

KJ Charles books

The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. DuBois

How to Be Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi

Inside WNBA legend Maya Moore’s extraordinary quest for justice by Katie Barnes

Episode 105: Genre is Dead with Alysa Auriemma

Episode 52: Hating Kylo Ren with Alysa Auriemma

Episode 44: Generic Hot Actor Guy with Alysa Auriemma

Episode 27: Always Writing with Alysa Auriemma

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Michelle Garcia, the newly hired editor of NBCBLK and a veteran journalist, joins Brian to talk about professional reinvention, how journalists should be covering protest movements like Black Lives Matter, scrapbooking and more.

You read that last part right. There’s a whole racial reckoning happening in the scrapbooking world, and Michelle spills all the tea.

Michelle, who first joined Brian in 2016 (remember when that was the worst year ever?), talks about the challenges of starting a new job while still working from home, what it was like to get laid off from Vice in May, and how that happening during the pandemic may have been for the best. Michelle discusses the importance of building a wide professional network before you need it as well as the importance of writers approaching stories with curiosity.

And yeah. Scrapbooking.

Michelle Garcia on Twitter

NBCBLK

Episode 11: You May Know Her From the Library with Michelle Garcia

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

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Katie Barnes, a feature writer for ESPN, joins Brian this week to talk about writing, reporting, Title IX, activism in journalism, transgender athletes, Maya Moore and more.

Katie talks about their career path to ESPN, and how their experience as an activist in the LGBTQ community helped their reporting. Katie and Brian do a deep dive into the three incredible stories Katie wrote for ESPN in June - about Maya Moore’s quest for justice; the rights of transgender athletes the future of women’s sports; and an interview with Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe. How did Katie juggle reporting and writing all three stories at the same time? How did a proposed story about Maya Moore’s faith turn into something so much bigger?

Katie discusses their writing process, how being an external processor and talking through stories helps them figure out a story’s big theme and structure.

Also, Brian learns about the feud between St. Olaf and Carlton. It’s a thing.

Katie Barnes

Katie on Twitter

Inside WNBA legend Maya Moore’s extraordinary quest for justice

The battle over Title IX and who gets to be a woman in sports: inside the raging national debate

ESPYS co-hosts Megan Rapinoe, Sue Bird plot their course as athlete activists, white allies

The Maddening Promise of Diamond DeShields

A Murder Foretold by David Grann

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Jen Moritz, Brian’s wife and the best editor he’s ever met, joins us this week to talk about the importance of editing, language, and word choice in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.

Jen talks about the conversations she is having with writers about the words they choose, what those words mean and how they can be interpreted. She discusses the Associated Press’ decision to start capitalizing Black when referring to people, common phrases that have racist, classist or hateful origin stories, and how writers and editors can do better now and going forward. It’s about reading the room, dude.

Jen Moritz

Jen Moritz on Twitter

AP changes writing style to capitalize ″b″ in Black

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker

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Amber Healy, a writer and journalist, joins Brian to talk about her writing career, her career path, and her love of Canadian Rock bands of the 1990s and early 2000s.

OK, let’s be real. Amber and Brian talk A LOT about their love of Canadian Rock bands of the 1990s.

Amber and Brian talk about their respective paths to their shared love of Canadian alternative rock, how Toronto radio stations were to Buffalo kids what Buffalo TV stations were to Toronto kids, and what was so special about those bands? Sure, there’s nostalgia. But what is it about The Tragically Hip, The Lowest of the Low, and the Odds that persists?

Amber also talks about her work with Alan Cross (the legendary Toronto DJ), writing for several podcasts and what it was like to work for NASA.

Note: This episode was recorded two weeks ago, before the start of protests against police brutality

Amber Healy on Twitter

A Journal of Musical Things

Geeks & Beats

Gord Downie dead at 53

The True North - A Spotify Playlist

How to be a Person in the World by Heather Havrilesky

Any Night of the Week by Jonny Dovercourt

Donate

Campaign Zero

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