The Other 51

Author Jeff Bens joins Brian this week to talk about his wonderful new novel, The Mighty Oak. Jeff, a professor at Manhattanville College, discusses his writing and research process for the book, why place and work are so important to his writing, and why and how he teaches his students to write from the gut and the heart, not from their brain. The Mighty Oak The Color of Money The Hustler Mrs Bri...

Mike Freeman, a veteran NFL writer and author, joins Brian to talk about his new book, “Football’s Fearless Activists” and how the movement led by Collin Kaepernick changed the NFL and sports in America. Mike talks about how he knew he would write a book about this movement the moment he first saw Kaepernick’s protest in 2016, and how he knew he was done reporting and ready to write. Mike discusse...

Jeff Pearlman, the New York Times bestselling author, is back to talk about his new book, “Three-Ring Circus” about Shaq, Kobe and the 2000 Los Angeles Lakers. Jeff talks about where the idea for his latest book came from, what about these Lakers’ teams made them a natural subject for a book and, in the end, why the book was so challenging to write and report. Jeff details why this was the most ch...

A special little bonus episode for you about a girl and her dictionary. (Note: I refer to the Kory Stamper episode as Episode 47 when it was actually Episode 48. Whoops.) EPISODE 48: INTRODUCTORY LEXICOGRAPHY WITH KORY STAMPER Dord The Dog Eared Book Subscribe: Apple Podcasts Spotify Overcast Google Play RSS Support Support Me on Ko-fi

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...

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...

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...

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 h...

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 h...

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 u...

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 2...

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...

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...

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...

Joe Iconis, the Tony-nominated writer and composer of Be More Chill, joins Brian this week to talk about creativity in the time of COVID–19, his songwriting process, Keanu Reeves and more. Joe describes what it’s like living in New York City during quarantine, what it’s like to be in a dark theater district and a quiet Times Square, how he’s able to keep writing despite everything going on, and ho...

Leander Schaerlaeckens, a lecturer at Marist College and columnist at Yahoo Sports, joins Brian to talk about teaching, column writing, Donald Trump’s baseball career, and more. Leander and Brian compare notes from this crazy spring 2020 semester, and talk about what worked and didn’t work in teaching sports media classes during the pandemic. Leander talks about how he used Discord in one of his c...

Comic artist Katie Cook rejoins the podcast to talk about her delightful webcomic, “Nothing Special.” Katie and Brian (with help from Brian’s daughter) do a deep dive into the world of “Nothing Special,” which has just started its third book on Webtoon. Katie discusses where the idea for the comic came from, how it was inspired in part by a Neil Gaiman novel and how this is the most “her” project...

A decade ago, Michael Sharp and Brian had desks right next to each other. They were both sports writers at the Press & Sun-Bulletin in Binghamton (N.Y.). Michael covered minor-league hockey, Brian minor-league baseball and college sports. Now, they’re both former sports writers. Michael works in marketing in Virginia, Brian’s a professor. Michael and Brian reminisce about their careers as spor...

Sports journalist, author and professor Melissa Isaacson joins Brian this week to talk about teaching, writing, reporting and the 1990s Chicago Bulls. Melissa and Brian start out by talking about what it’s like to teach journalism — particularly sports journalism — during the cornavirus pandemic in 2020. Melissa talks about how being forced to teach online has made her a better professor, how to t...

Jon Campbell, who covers New York State government and Andrew Cuomo for USA Today Network-New York, joins Brian this to talk about being a government writer both in the BeforeTimes and the post-coronavirus world. The conversation starts with a lot of talk about where Upstate New York begins, why Jon loves trolling people about it, the differences between regions in New York State, and the trap tha...

Jared Diamond, a national baseball writer for the Wall Street Journal and the author of the new book “Swing Kings: The Inside Story of Baseball’s Home Run Revolution,” joins Brian this week. Jared talks about how being a baseball writer during the Covid-19 Pandemic is a lot busier than you’d expect and where he was supposed to be this week before the world stopped. Jared and Brian discuss the writ...

Less than five months ago, the last time Jesse Dougherty was a guest on the podcast, he had just started writing a book about the Washington Nationals World Series Championship. Now, the book is out, and Jesse makes the move from “guest star” to “regular cast member.” Jesse and Brian talk about the writing and reporting of “Buzz Saw.” Jesse describes how he got started with the project, what it wa...

Dr. Rick Simpson was … is … one of those teachers. Simpson, who was an English professor at St. Bonaventure University for 46 years, and Brian reconnect this week. Brian, who took three classes with Doc Simpson, gets to say thank you for teaching him some of the most valuable writing lessons of his life. Simpson talks about how the sportswriters he read as a kid in San Francisco in the 1950s influ...

So what’s it like to be a sports writer when there’s no sports? That’s the question all sports journalists are facing during the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020, and this week, we check in with New York Post columnist Mike Vaccaro to see how he’s still doing his job. Mike discusses how this time is bringing sports journalists back to their roots, the stories he’d most like to do, his favorite sports...

Nicole Schuman has worked professionally in digital media, in format or another, since 2006. Somehow, she’s never been a guest on a podcast before this. Nicole joins Brian this week, and they talk about living through the week that the Coronavirus pandemic became real in the U.S. Nicole talks about what it’s like to live in New York City during the pandemic, what it’s like to write the media aspec...