Two Writers Slinging Yang

On how every cliche about aging is painfully true; on the brilliance of David Stern and the joy of the 1984 men's U.S. Olympic basketball trials; on the bliss of book PR

On going from anonymity to one of America's biggest authors; on finding a literary agent via Twitter; on writing in the voice of others and uncovering inspiration via real-life experiences.

On writing and reporting the saga of Drew Robinson, the Giants outfielder who attempted suicide—and lived; on knowing when to include details and when to leave details out; on having the world's sweetest first name.

On spending days and days in Schenectady, N.Y. to follow around a frustrated landlord and a frustrated tenant; on the keys to embedding and observing; on having reluctant subjects open up; on the trials of writing a screenplay based upon an article.

On taking someone else's thoughts and converting them into his written voice; on submitting (yikes) 229,000 words to a publisher; on 1970s ballplayers and the desire to be remembered.

On running a student newspaper via Zoom during a yearlong pandemic; on leaving the house to cover a white lives matter protest; on the Trump-beholden professor who made life weird.

On convincing people to talk when they have no desire to talk; on the ethical dilemma of feeling sorry for those who committed terrible acts; on how to investigate a podcast

On leaving his true love, journalism; on reporting during a pandemic; on the mystifying saga of the stranded donkey.

On whether it's OK to savage a restaurant; on discovering the best pizza crust and steak; on feuding (and making peace) with Anthony Bourdain and on the great baseball hepatitis scare.

On what it's like to have Tucker Carlson and his douche legions attack; on why we keep writing mean things about neighbors; on the rare journalist who actually (gasp) loves Twitter