On the glory days of Sports Illustrated. On the rise and legacy of Grant Wahl. On when he began to see the magazine business change for the worse. On running a college media program and giving students hope.

On fighting back even after the heartbreak of 2024. On why local politicians fear him. On the highs and lows of being confrontational. On running a long-shot campaign for congress.

On enduring a full season of unfathomably bad basketball played by an organization aspiring to lose. On the nightmarish hell of covering Ben Simmons, the sadness of watching a young Markelle Fultz and the joy of speaking with Lauri Markkanen. On never cowering from confrontation.

On how to know what works on stage vs. what might bomb. On writing a full stand-up routine and having it flow. On the process of creating material and feeling confident in the content. On bombing.

On discovering his voice via the beauty of poetry. On how the end of a football career brought him to a splendid turning point. On how the words enter his mind, then land on paper. On looking back at the sports machine.

On hanging out far, far away with Rick Pitino; on coming up as a print guy and watching the paper and ink fade away; on life at a union-antagonistic The Ringer and a not-what-was-promised Sports Illustrated; on being part of a two-sports-journalist marriage.

On trying to make it in the music biz in 2025. On driving 2 1/2 hours to play a gig in front of 10 people. On how a song goes from idea to reality. On the difference between good songwriting and epic songwriting.

On the glorious days and nights of old-school Philadelphia basketball. On whether money has killed the joy of covering the game. On Villanova and Georgetown and Temple and St. John's and ... Delaware.

On the audacious attempt by a group of female adventurers to climb Denali. On why the topic moved an author. On why ones covers those who climb, dive, scale, crawl, attack the elements.

On throwing yourself into a subject and refusing to let go. On whether living biblically resulted in biblical living. On the high of a TV show made from your book and the low of it sucking. On surviving the magazine apocalypse.