Explore every episode of the podcast The Other 51
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Kings with Seth Wickersham | 14 Aug 2025 | 00:33:41 | |
“I kept thinking, is there a single quarterback I can write about that I can tell this story through? And no matter who it was … everything felt too small. And so what I wanted to do was write about all of them, in a way, at every level.” It’s our 200th episode, and we’re celebrating by talking to one of our favorite writers. Seth Wickersham joins Brian to talk about the writing and reporting of his new book, “American Kings: A Biography of The Quarterback.” Seth discusses what that word “biography” means to him in this context, and talks about how came to write a book about the quarterback position. He talks about how the writing, reporting, and promotion of this book is different than his first book and the lessons he learned from writing about the New England Patriots that applied here. Seth describes the different reporting methods he used in writing the book, how he landed on this particular structure and how he chose his anchor characters. He tells us how something being interesting to him was his north star, and the moment his repertorial antenna went up. He also talks about how conversations with his friend Wright Thompson and an ESPN editor helped him crack book’s structure. “Having my friends be brilliant writers has just been like, what a blessing. Because it’s like, everyone’s supportive and a teeny bit competitive … You want to have a story that’s worthy of the text thread.” Links American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback (Bookshop.org link) American Kings (Amazon link) Feds probing NFLPA actions that ‘may be criminal,’ doc says by Don Van Natta and Kalyn Kahler (the best thing Seth’s read lately) Untold by Tom Junod and Paula Lavigne Support Support the show at Buy Me a Coffee Follow us on Instagram. Subscribe at: | |||
| Editing Anthologies with Danielle Sarver Coombs and Molly Yanity | 31 Jul 2025 | 00:37:30 | |
“That’s why I do this. That’s why I’m involved in this. I was one of those young people who was endlessly inspired by female athletes and by women’s sport” Danielle Sarver Coombs and Molly Yanity join Brian to talk about the two scholarly anthologies they co-edited about the 2023 Women’s World Cup. We’ve interviewed writers of all sorts throughout our nine years hosting this show, but this is the first time we’ve ever talked to the editors of an anthology! Danielle and Molly talk about that process, how they decided against writing a book of their own and instead landed on editing an anthology. They talk about how their anthology on the 2019 World Cup influenced these books, what about these events make them so ripe for scholarship, and how important it was for them to include voices from outside of the Global North. The three of us also get deeply nerdy talking about the books we’ve read lately. “We have a responsibility as senior scholars who are also women to help lift the voices of people who have a bigger challenge getting published.” Links Politics, Social Issues and the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Media, Communication and the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup: Media, Fandom, and Soccer’s Biggest Stage The best books we’ve read lately Great Big Beautiful Summer by Emily Henry The Creativity Code by Marcus du Sautoy Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon Support Support the show at Buy Me a Coffee Follow us on Instagram. Subscribe at: | |||
| Episode 190: Solving That Puzzle with Joe Posnanski | 13 Sep 2024 | 00:34:59 | |
“I feel like my place as a writer is sort of that place between what happened and the mythology of what’s happening.” Joe Posnanski joins Brian for a deep dive into his new book, Why We Love Football: A History in 100 Moments. Joe also talks about how we was able to write a collection of essays while maintaining a central theme, how the Don Beebe-Leon Lett play is the perfect example of why we love football, and what kind of athlete “Brian Moritz” would be. “For me as a writer, the moment where the book came alive for me was when I started to think of it as a football game … every play is its own little universe in football.” Links Why We Love Football: A History in 100 Moments Destiny of the Republic: A Tale Of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard (the best thing Joe’s read lately.) Support The Other 51 is and will always be free, but if you like my work (and the stuff I do at Sports Media Guy) and want to kick me a few dollars, you can do so here. I really appreciate your support. Follow us on Instagram and Threads. We’re on the decaying corpse of Twitter, but only because for some reason sports media won’t abandon the site. Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 102: Reverse Outlining with Dr. Jennifer Harker | 19 Sep 2019 | 00:29:22 | |
In another episode that recorded at the AEJMC conference in Toronto last month (thanks Apple), Dr. Jennifer Harker from West Virginia University joins Brian to talk about her award-winning paper. First off, she learns that Brian does not mess around when it comes to Canadian snack food. Then, Jennifer and Brian do a deep diver into her study on the Alliance of American Football and their use of hashtags before, during, and after the league’s launch in 2019. This presented researchers with a unique opportunity to study a league’s social media use and fan interaction as the league itself was being born. Jennifer discusses her findings and their implications for sports media. Jennifer also discusses her writing process, the value in being in constant contact with your data, how she reverse outlines her manuscripts, and how she keeps moving while writing — literalliy. A reminder that you can support Sports Media Guy and The Other 51 here. AEJMC Sport Communication paper abstracts The Alliance of American Football Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 101: Writing Defensively with Dr. Mark Coddington | 30 Aug 2019 | 00:35:15 | |
This episode was supposed to be recorded at the AEJMC conference earlier this month in Toronto. But Dr. Mark Coddington was busy doing conference stuff, and Brian forgot his Mac dongle, so consider this a makeup in a way. Mark is an assistant professor at Washington and Lee University and the author of the new book, “Aggregating the News: Secondhand Knowledge and the Erosion of Journalistic Authority,” and he joins Brian for a deep dive into the writing process. Mark describes he got interested in news aggregation in the first place, how he picked it for his dissertation topic and then how he turned that dissertation into a book. Mark and Brian talk a lot about the idea of writing defensively, why that may be one of the reasons why academic writing is often so bad and how hard it was for Mark to switch modalities for the book. They also talk about what aggregation is in news, why it matters, and why the myth of Woodward and Bernstein is so persistent among journalists. The MVP Machine: How Baseball’s New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 100: The Amazing and the Impossible with Joe Posnanski | 22 Aug 2019 | 00:46:35 | |
Back when this podcast started, Joe Posnanski joined Brian for Episode 4 to talk about Hamilton, Buffalo sports, and writing. This week, for our 100th episode, Joe joins Brian again to talk about … Hamilton, Buffalo sports, and writing. After nerding out about their favorite moments in Hamilton, Brian and Joe get to the main topic — Joe’s upcoming book on Harry Houdini. Joe talks in depth about his writing and research process on this book, particularly how he balanced writing a biography of Houdini and a book about magic and wonder itself. Joe discusses how he reconciled those two ideas and found the center of the book. Joe and Brian also talk about the importance of finding that thing that your piece of writing is about, and about how being honest with what you don’t know can build your credibility with sources. There is a brief Harry Potter detour, and reporting is compared to roller coasters (one of which, Brian and Joe love). Joe also discusses how he defines wonder and why that is so important to the book and our lives. Also noteworthy, after this podcast was reported, someone did in fact hit two home runs in a game that day. | |||
| Episode 99: Knowing the Story's Done with Rion Amilcar Scott | 12 Jul 2019 | 00:31:17 | |
Brian is joined once again by his favorite local* author, Rion Amilcar Scott. Rion has a new collection of short stories due out on Aug,. 20, “The World Doesn’t Require You.” It’s a followup to his previous collection, Insurrections. Brian and Rion talk about how the new collection came together, and how both the world it’s set in and Rion’s writing have changed since President Trump’s election. Rion talks about the value of sitting with an idea for a long time until you know it’s ready and how he stretched himself as a writer with this book. How does Rion hope to influence how people see the world with this book? It’s a big question. They also geek out hard core over SpiderMan. Rion Amilcar Scott on Twitter Episode 22: James Baldwin’s Head with Rion Amilcar Scott A Lucky Man by Jamele Brinkley Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 98: What'd Brigadoon Ever Do To You? with Anthony King | 03 Jul 2019 | 00:31:33 | |
Anthony King, the Tony nominated co-writer of the book of Beetlejuice The Musical, joins Brian this week. Brian and Anthony do a deep dive into the creative process of a Broadway show, as Anthony describes what a book of a musical is and why it is so important. Anthony discusses the process he and Scott Brown had in writing the show, how Lydia became the main character, how they changed the conception of the Netheworld, and how the Beetlejuice cartoon influences the show. Anthony talks about how they decided what iconic parts from the movie made the musical, and he shares what he wish he could have brought from screen top stage. Anthony also talks about the rewriting process that the show underwent after previews in Washington, D.C. In addition, he answers an incredibly specific question about Gutenberg, the Musical! The Complete Works of Dashiell Hamett Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 97: Wired to Talk to Everyone with Baxter Holmes | 27 Jun 2019 | 00:40:37 | |
Baxter Holmes had one of the best months for a sports features writer in a very long time earlier this year. He published two fantastic stories at ESPN - one on the fancy dinners that San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich hosts, the other detailing the dysfunction of the Los Angeles Lakers. On the face of it, they are two very different stories. But in his return visit to The Other 51, Baxter tells Brian how the reporting for those stories had a lot in common. Baxter describes how he first heard about Popovich’s wine dinners and how the Lakers’ dysfunction first got on his radar. He talks about the value of talking to everybody, how writing scenes is a key part of his process, how Robert Caro’s notions of concentric circles help him report, and what it was like the day the Lakers story broke. There was a lot of coffee that day. Baxter and Brian also discuss how writers are a lot like chefs. Episode 57: Untold Stories with Baxter Holmes Lakers 2.0: The failed reboot of the NBA’s crown jewel Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 96: A Little Kelly Tripucka with Tyler Dunne | 20 Jun 2019 | 00:35:39 | |
One of our very first guests on The Other 51 (Episode 3), Tyler Dunne from Bleacher Report returns to kick off our summer season. Tyler and Brian spend the first several minutes reminiscing about early 1990s NBA basketball, including Brian’s home-economics class gamesmanship involving Chuck Person and Tyler’s origin story as a Charlotte Hornets fan. Then they get around to the business at hand. What does this time of year look like for an NFL features writer like Tyler? Tyler talks about how this time of year is important to him, helping him lay the foundation for the stories he’ll work on in the fall. Tyler talks about how to approach players as people, not as sources, and how many players appreciate having to think in an interview and having someone really listen to them. Brian and Tyler then do a deep dive into that fantastic story about the Packers that Tyler wrote in April. What’s it like when Aaron Rogers calls you out? How do you report and write a story like this? INSIDE GANG TERRITORY IN HONDURAS: ‘Either They Kill Us or We Kill Them’ Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 95: Marvel Nitpick Podcast with Travis Clark | 23 May 2019 | 00:38:31 | |
Travis Clark was never actually Brian’s student at SUNY Oswego. But he was, in his own words, “student adjace.” Travis, a SUNY Oswego graduate and now a media and entertainment reporter for Business Insider, joins Brian this week. They start with the requisite Oswego talk, and Travis talks about how much working for the student paper helped prepare him for his career. Travis talks about his journey from kid writing movie reviews in his high-school paper to covering the media and entertainment industries for Business Insider. He and Brian discuss the juggling of being a fan of these properties vs. covering them, how entertainment writing has some analogies to sports writing, and how covering the business side of entertainment influences how you watch movies and TV shows. About 20 minutes in, they get super nerdy in their breakdown of Avengers: Endgame. If you haven’t seen the movie and don’t want it spoiled, bail then. Also, Travis breaks some exciting Hawkeye news to Brian. Travis Clark at Business Insider Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 94: Thinking About Your Audience with Dr. Kathy Roberts Forde | 16 May 2019 | 00:36:48 | |
In the summer of 2018, Brian heard Dr. Kathy Roberts Forde from UMass speak on a panel at the annual AEJMC conference. The panel’s title: “So You Wanna Write A Book” This week, Kathy joins Brian to demystify the book-writing process. Kathy discusses her research into literary journalism and her first book. What is literary journalism, what’s interesting about that field, and how do we read older pieces when we know a lot of what was presented as fact was more fiction? Kathy and Brian also talk about the book writing process itself. How do you turn a dissertation into a book? How do you find the narrative thread? Why is thinking about your audience so important? Kathy recommends a book that all would-be authors should read, and she also talks about how one of her upcoming projects is the most important book she’ll ever be a part of. Literary Journalism on Trial: Masson v. New Yorker and the First Amendment Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David Blight Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 93: Move Through the World Differently with Quinn Rose | 02 May 2019 | 00:32:25 | |
Writer and podcast Quinn Rose joins Brian this week. First off .. .there is a TON of musical theater nerdery this week. Brian finally saw Hamilton, Quinn has seen it twice, so they talk A LOT about the show, about what it’s like to see it after listening to the cast recording so much. They also talk about the shows they’re going to see soon. Quinn’s got Be More Chill coming up. Brian’s talking his 8-year-old to see Book of Mormon. It’ll be fine. That segues into talk about Quinn’s podcasting and writing career. She talks about her excellent four-part series, Setting the Stage, about a community theater in rural Maine. Quinn talks about where the idea for the story came from, how the story evolved as she was reporting it, and why transcribing all of the interviews proved to be such a necessary step. That leads into a bigger discussion on storytelling and podcasting, and what the future holds for the medium. Quinn’s blog on the 2019 Tony nominations Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 189: Take it Deeper with Tyler dunne | 22 Aug 2024 | 00:38:48 | |
“I think those fans deserve the truth. They don't need to be pandered to, they don't need to be misled.” Tyler Dunne, the man behind Go Long and the best NFL feature writer working today, joins Brian to talk about Sean McDermott, Zay Jones and so much more. Ty talks about the aftermath of his Sean McDermott series, how the coach and the team responded to that explosive series and reached out to him and how he’s now credentialed by the Bills. Tyler talks about the conversation he had with McDermott at the NFL Combine and what it felt like to walk into that meeting. We then do a deep dive into his feature on Zay Jones that won him a first place award in the APSE National Writing Contest. Tyler talks about his tools for gently steering a conversation in an interview, how to handle the elephant in the room, and the value of doing extra reporting beyond the main interview. He also discusses how he protects his own mental health when writing and reporting heavy features, and how these stories make him want to be a better person. “It's a people business, it's a human business, and you just want to have conversations and you just want to treat people like human beings.” Links I’m Still Alive: The Zay Jones story Buffalo Bills Memory Lane with Chuck Pollock The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek (The best thing Tyler’s read lately.) County Highway (The other best thing Tyler’s read lately.) Support The Other 51 is and will always be free, but if you like my work (and the stuff I do at Sports Media Guy and want to kick me a few dollars, you can do so here. I really appreciate your support. Follow us on Instagram. We’re on the decaying corpse of Twitter, but only because for some reason sports media won’t abandon the site. Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 92: Paying Close Attention with Steve Politi | 11 Apr 2019 | 00:36:21 | |
How did Arnold Palmer order an Arnold Palmer? Who dry cleans the green jackets for Augusta National members? What’s it like to play Augusta National when you are … not a very good golfer? Steve Politi, who was recently named the top sports columnist in the country by the Associated Press Sports Editors, joins Brian this week to talk about column writing. Steve traces his career path from the Nutley Sun to the Star Ledger, with a detour to cover hockey in North Carolina. Steve and Brian do deep dives into the four columns that won the APSE top honors, from his fun columns from the Masters, to taking Bob Hurley Sr. to a high school basketball game to spending 24 hours with Eric LeGrand. Steve talks about his reporting process, the importance of a good idea, the value of zigging when others zag, and why he thinks more reporters aren’t willing to break away from the pack. I played Augusta National and had my own Masters meltdown Masters 2018: The green jacket dry-cleaning secrets of Augusta National It takes $2 and a pizza to get Bob Hurley Sr. into a HS hoops game these days I found the saddest spot in N.J. sports at the state’s wrestling championships This will be my 17th Masters. Here are the stories I enjoyed writing the most The Day the Dinosaurs Died by Douglas Preston Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 91: It's My Job to Know with John Wawrow | 04 Apr 2019 | 00:39:50 | |
Of all the writers Brian has had on this podcast, you’ve probably read more words more often by John Wawrow than any other guest. You just didn’t realize it. John has spent nearly 20 years as the AP sports writer in Buffalo, covering primarily the Bills and the Sabres. He joins Brian this week in an episode recorded at the Village Bakery in Pittsford, N.Y. John talks about his long career path from journalism school in Toronto, to a pair of small-town weekly papers in Canada and eventually to Buffalo. He talks about how his time at those weekly papers showed him that he truly loved journalism. John discusses the unique challenges presented by writing for the AP, how unlike most of the people around him every day, he’s writing for an audience that is in, say, Alabama. John also talks about the favorite teams he’s covered, how he’s able to put informed perspective into his stories, and he breaks down just what happened the night he shot down a report that Antonio Brown was being traded from the Steelers to the Bills. Most importantly, John tells Brian where he should start listening to The Replacements. Jonn on the Antonio Brown deal Gore looks forward to sharing Bills backfield with McCoy Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 90: America's Best Cereal Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Littau | 28 Mar 2019 | 00:40:31 | |
Bob Costas served as a perfect opening act for this week’s guest. Dr. Jeremy Littau. Jeremy, an associate professor at Lehigh University, joins Brian this week to talk about his experience earlier this year when he legitimately went viral on Twitter. How did it happen, what was it like, and when did Jeremy’s notifications finally become manageable again. That yields into a discussion about public scholarships and why academia, as a whole, does not typically value it. They also swap stories about life in newsrooms in the early 2000s, and how woefully unprepared newspapers were for the digital age. But most importantly, they break down the travesty that was the SB Nation Breakfast Cereal Bracket. The SB Nation Breakfast Cereal Bracket The Guardians and the War on Truth Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 89: Unintended Consequences Might Ensue with Bob Costas | 21 Mar 2019 | 00:29:52 | |
When Brian was growing up, his dream was simple — move to New York City and be a broadcaster for NBC Sports. He wanted to be Bob Costas. That didn’t happen. But this week Brian gets to interview his boyhood idol, as Bob joins him to discuss writing, broadcasting and sports media. Bob and Brian talk about Bob’s memories of Syracuse University, and his mentor Stan Alten (1:35); the uneasy relationship between sports television and the leagues they cover, and how that has gotten harder to navigate over the past decade (5:45); how writing plays a role in his job, his process for writing commentaries, and how Bryant Gumbel was a master at writing to a specific time (11:00); the sports writers he looks up to (16:34); the newspapers he read growing up (all 5 of them) (21:05); Bob’s legendary story about Goldie Goldthorpe, the inspiration for Ogie Oglethorpe in Slapshot (22:15); and the best thing Bob’s read lately (27:02). K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches by Tyler Kepner You Gotta Play Hurt by Dan Jenkins Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 88: The Anti-Hype with Drew Montreuil | 24 Jan 2019 | 00:35:37 | |
There is no website Brian relies on more during the winter than Finger Lakes Weather. It’s the best weather forecasting site in upstate New York. This week, Drew Montreuil — the brains and the voice of the site - joins Brian to talk all things weather (and SUNY Oswego). Drew talks about his lifelong obsession with weather and how and why he turned that into a site about the Finger Lakes. He and Brian discuss the unique nature of the region, both from a meteorological and a media point of view. Drew discusses what goes into his weather forecasts, what frustrates him about mainstream media coverage and what he learned from his most recent storm forecast. Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 87: Nobody's Two Dimensional with Michael Rosenberg | 17 Jan 2019 | 00:37:07 | |
In our first episode of 2019, Michael Rosenberg of Sports Illustrated joins Brian for a deep dive into his excellent feature story on Todd Marinovich that appeared in the Jan. 14 edition of the magazine. Michael recounts how he first got interested in the story, how he reported the story and what it was like when the story turned out to be very different than the one he expected. He talks about when he knew he was done reporting the story, why he believes this story is accurate, and why structure is everything when it comes to writing. TODD MARINOVICH IS LEARNING TO BE HUMAN AGAIN Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 86: Hard Harbor to Find with Sam Fortier | 29 Nov 2018 | 00:34:58 | |
Six months ago, Sam Fortier was a college student at Syracuse University. Now, he is the Los Angeles Chargers beat writer for The Athletic. Sam joins Brian this week, to rub it in about the nice weather and talk about being an NFL beat reporter in 2018. Sam talks about what it’s like to start your career on a pro beat, the challenges he’s faced starting a new beat in a new city. What’s it like to work a locker room when you’re the same age (or younger) than the players? Sam talks about working for The Athletic and the opportunities and challenges that come from writing for an organization that stresses different kinds of coverage. He shares his best Jim Boeheim story, and tells Brian what he wish he had learned in journalism school. St. Anthony’s Unanswered Prayer Drew Brees is Hiding in Plain Sight Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 85: Get Out Of Your Seat Journalism with Mike Waters | 21 Nov 2018 | 00:41:53 | |
Mike Waters, who has covered the Syracuse University basketball program since 1989, who is the vice president of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and one of the best and most generous beat writers in our business, joins Brian this week. After the requisite talk about how Syracuse is doing this year (there’s a George Costanza theory involved), Mike traces his career path from the University of North Carolina to Nashville and to a loaded Syracuse team in 1989. How has the job changed over the past 30 years, and how has it not? Mike describes how he builds relationships with sources, why you have to put the notebook away sometimes, and why he doesn’t like to hang out around the media room. He also answers the big question: What’s Jim Boeheim like to cover? This is how the Maui Invitational became an institution Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 84: Director's Cut, plus The Secret Life of Words | 01 Nov 2018 | 00:25:01 | |
This week, Brian has collected bits and pieces that didn’t make it into previous episodes but are collected here in a kind of deleted scenes collection of The Other 51. Tanya Marsh of Wake Forest University (1:25) and Jeff Pearlman (4:23) offer their single best pieces of writing advice. Doug Schneider (7:40) talks about what he writes about when he’s not covering Making a Murderer, and how he learns the skills needed to do those projects. And, in the debut of a new segment, Jen Moritz (16:30) joins me for The Secret Life of Words. You know where the word “Halloween” comes from, right? Turns you, you probably don’t. Special music this week from Ellie Moritz & Andrea Peters. Episode 79: Live and Die with Tanya Marsh Episode 80: Labor of Love with Jeff Pearlman Episode 83: For Real — Did Steven Avery Do It? with Doug Schneider Episode 45: You Podcast? with Jen Moritz Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 83: Did Steven Avery do it? with Doug Schneider | 25 Oct 2018 | 00:39:51 | |
What’s it like when an actual phenomenon happens in your backyard? That’s the position Doug Schneider found himself in a few years ago. A projects reporter for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin, Doug found himself writing about Making a Murderer, the Netflix documentary that is set a county near his offices in Green Bay. Doug, who worked with Brian at the Press & Sun-Bulletin in Binghamton, joins Brian this week to talk about reporting and more. Topics include Why Binghamton was the best news town Doug has ever worked in (6:08); covering Making a Murderer (12:00); what it was like when the documentary became A Thing. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever been a part of.” (18:30); The biggest challenge in writing about a phenomenon like this (23:30); the history of #ScannerSquawk (27:00); the best things Doug and Brian have read lately (33:20). NY Times on Donald Trump’s wealth A Place, a people and their team Shots on the Bridge: Police Violence and Cover-up in the Wake of Katrina Chasing Phil: The Adventures of Two Undercover Agents with the World’s Most Charming Con Man All–22: Former UB quarterback Joe Licata breaks down Allen’s biggest flaws and Peterman’s pick-six Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 188: A Book on Ya Ya with Jenn Billinson | 10 May 2024 | 00:44:05 | |
“I think the role of the critic is to bring that nuanced understanding and historical context to explain the music.” Dr. Jenn Billinson from Nazareth University joins Brian for a deep, deep dive into Cowboy Carter, The Tortured Poets Department, and the role of music writing in today’s media world. Jenn talks about her recent research into gatekeeping in country music and specifically the reaction to Beyonce’s new album. What is it about country music that brings out such strong gatekeeping tendencies? Jenn talks about her role as a white woman writing about her reaction to Beyonce’s music. Jenn and Brian discuss the role of a journalist or an academic in writing about music in 2024, especially in a world where fans are doing incredible analyses and album breakdowns on TikTok. Rabbit holes include their favorite song on each album, the new Pearl Jam record, and staying up past midnight in your 40s.
Daddy Lessons (Beyonce and The Chicks, 2016 performance.) A Complete Review of Beyonce’s New Album on The Right Time Raw Dog: The naked truth about hot dogs (The Best Thing Jenn’s read lately.) He turned his garage into a nightclub. Now the city wants to shut it down and kick him out (the best thing Brian’s read lately.) Support The Other 51 is and will always be free, but if you like my work (and the stuff I do at Sports Media Guy and want to kick me a few dollars, you can do so here. I really appreciate your support. Follow us on Instagram. We’re on the decaying corpse of Twitter, but only because for some reason sports media won’t abandon the site. Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 82: Not Those Kinds of Doctors with Dr. Shannon McCarthy | 18 Oct 2018 | 00:38:52 | |
Mental Illness Awareness Week was last week (Oct. 7–13, 2018), but in recognition of this, Brian’s good friend Dr. Shannon McCarthy joins him for a special episode. Shannon and Brian talk about their own mental health struggles and how it affects and impacts their writing (2:15). They also talk about knowing when you’re really struggling vs. when you’re just being lazy (9:40), how they deal with imposter syndrome (16:20), some of their strategies to beat back the demons and get stuff done (24:00), how they use humor to help (31:26) and the best thing they’ve read lately (34:26). National Suicide Prevention Hotline Call 1–800–273–8255 Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 81: Write What You See with Bucky Gleason | 27 Sep 2018 | 00:44:23 | |
Two weeks ago, Brian and Bucky Gleason recorded what might have been the perfect podcast. It was witty, insightful, entertaining, everything you’d want from this medium and more. And, then Brian went and messed up the recording but good. But Bucky, a former Buffalo News sports columnist and now the editor of Buffalo Maven, is a mensch. He joins Brian again this week. They talk a lot about the Buffalo Bills and what this team is like to cover. Bucky talks about how he writes columns about the team without having press credentials, and the challenges and opportunities that presents. Bucky details his career path from the Wellsville bureau of the Olean Times Herald to being a columnist at his hometown Buffalo News. He remembers the influence Jim Kelley had on his career (including the infamous Dominik Hasek incident) and discusses the challenges presented of writing what he calls “grossly unpopular” columns about bad teams for the past 10 years. Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 80: Labor of Love with Jeff Pearlman | 06 Sep 2018 | 00:32:34 | |
Nearly two years ago, Jeff Pearlman joined Brian in the early days of The Other 51. This was just after Jeff’s biography of Brett Favre came out, and Jeff was working on his next book - a history of the USFL. That book — Football for a Buck — is out this month. Jeff is back to talk about why he always wanted to write a book about the USFL and what makes that league so interesting to him. He talks about his reporting process — featuring 700 Word docs and his son, Emmett — as well as the challenges of structuring this book compared to his other works. Jeff also discusses the challenges of keeping this book from becoming all about Donald Trump. and how his reporting on the USFL helps him make sense of what’s happening in the world in 2018. Episode 14: Gunslingers with Jeff Pearlman Support The Other 51: Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 79: Live and Die with Tanya Marsh | 30 Aug 2018 | 00:34:19 | |
Tanya Marsh and Brian have been internet friends for a few years now, but this is the first time they’e actually spoken to each other. Tanya is a professor of law at the Wake Forest School of Law. She’s is also as much of an Avett Brothers fan as Brian (she’s seen them 53 times in concert, which puts Brian’s concert count to shame). Tanya and Brian talk a lot about their favorite band, how they discovered the Avett Brothers and what makes their lyrics so powerful and meaningful. Why did this band stick when the Mumford and Sons of the world did not? They also talk about Tanya’s writing, her career as a law professor and her fascinating research into cemetery law. They discuss the pressures that young academics can feel to study what’s popular instead of what they’re interested in, the importance of grounding yourself in research, and how you know you’re ready to stop research and start writing. Tanya also answers the question of who owns a grave and the body inside of it? | |||
| Episode 78: The Voice of my Anxiety with Dr. Jenn Billinson | 16 Aug 2018 | 00:40:16 | |
It’s (yet another) Syracuse University Ph.D. program reunion, and Brian’s good friend and classmate Dr. Jenn Billinson joins the podcast this week. Jenn, an assistant professor at Christopher Newport University, talks in detail about her research into the use of music and media as a coping mechanism for tragedy. Jen discusses how people used music in tribute videos following the Virginia Tech massacre and her fieldwork in New Orleans post-Katrina. What makes music such a unique media format? Is the way music has become so personal changed the way we collectively experience music? There’s also some old-school Hamiltalk (including a brutal hypothetical that Brian poses) and some Aretha Franklin memories. | |||
| Episode 77: So You Wanna Write a Book with Dr. Andy Billings | 09 Aug 2018 | 00:34:16 | |
Dr. Andy Billings had written or edited 18 books. He has two coming out this year. He’s published more than 130 journal articles and book chapters. The Director of the Alabama Program in Sports Communication and Ronald Reagan Chair of Broadcasting in the Department of Journalism and Creative Media, Andy was also a part of a wonderful panel discussion at the AEJMC conference in Washington this week, where he talked about what it takes to write a book. He joins Brian on the podcast to recap that discussion and talk about the book writing process. How do you go from “hey, I’d like to write a book some day?” to publishing? Andy talks about the importance of de-limiting your topic, making sure it’s not too big or too small. He discusses why the table of contents is such and important part of the process, why you have to think two years out when you’re writing a book, how he learned what writing schedule worked for him and how his background as a public speech coach informs his writing. | |||
| Episode 76: Going With My Gut with Kimberley A. Martin | 26 Jul 2018 | 00:41:07 | |
Kimberley A. Martin began her career working in finance in New York City. Even when she started looking at a career in journalism, she never wanted to work for a newspaper. Many twists and turns later, she now covers Washington and the NFL for the Washington Post. Kimberley joins Brian to talk about her convoluted career path, how her study of psychology at Wesleyan University influences her reporting to this day, and how she went from New Jersey to New York to Buffalo and finally to the Post. Kimberley talks about the balancing act between day-to-day news and longer form features that she must navigate as a beat reporter, what it’s like to jump onto the Washington beat in the middle of the season, and how Syracuse University helped shape her as a writer. Near the end, she also casually drops in the fact that she knew Lin-Manuel Miranda in college. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison Support The Other 51 Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 75: A Mental Shower with Dr. Gina Masullo Chen | 05 Jul 2018 | 00:35:57 | |
Dr. Gina Masullo Chen, a grad-school classmate of Brian’s at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, joins The Other 51 this week to talk about writing for both newspapers and academics. Gina talks about her 20-plus year career at the Post-Standard in Syracuse and why she decided to leave journalism in 2009 to get a Ph.D. Gina and Brian trade theories on why newspapers were so weird in the mid-to-late 2000s and why they were so bad at adopting new technology. Gina also talks about her writing process, how she uses deadlines and her own personality to work to her advantage, the difference between disagreement and incivility, and about civility in online discourse. Which means yes, she read the comments. And yes, Gina tells us that Austin really is that cool. Online Incivility and Public Debate: Nasty Talk The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai Does incivility hurt democracy? Here’s what political science can tell us by Emily Sydnor Support The Other 51 Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 74: Roundtable with Drs. Lauren Smith and Shannon McCarthy | 28 Jun 2018 | 00:38:48 | |
In the first roundtable discussion on The Other 51, Drs. Lauren Smith and Shannon McCarthy join Brian this week. It’s like the IACS Summit on Communication and Sport, only in podcast form (and without bacon and beer). Lauren and Shannon talk about the paths they took to their current teaching jobs at Indiana University and the University of Central Missouri. Along with their research agendas, they both discuss how their experiences as college athletes influence their academic and professional work. They talk about what is interesting about social media in sports in 2018 and the challenges they face as women studying sports. There’s also a discussion about human tacos. For real. It’s a thing they all talk about. The Curious Case of Bryan Colangelo and the Secret Twitter Account This Man Made Tacos From His Amputated Foot And Then Fed Them To His Friends Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 73: Metro Community News with Richard Deitsch | 21 Jun 2018 | 00:35:12 | |
Fun fact: Richard Deitsch and Brian Moritz are professionally connected. No, not just because they both write about sports media — Richard for The Athletic, Brian for whomever will let him. But because Richard’s first job in journalism was covering Buffalo sports for the Metro Community News — a free weekly paper that Brian delivered as his first job in middle school. Richard joins Brian this week to talk about his time in Buffalo as a college student and as a reporter. They talk about what makes Buffalo such a great sports town, how Richard is still influenced by his time in the city, and what’s happening to The Buffalo News’ sports department. Beyond Buffalo, Richard discusses his career path and how he ended up covering sports media, first for Sports Illustrated and now for The Athletic. He talks about the process that goes into writing his regular media columns, what his perfect sports media world would look like, and entertains Brian’s theory about The Athletic and Sports Illustrated. Richard Deitsch at The Athletic Sports Media with Richard Deitsch Support The Other 51 Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 187: Caution is Kindness with Jen Moritz | 18 Apr 2024 | 00:33:57 | |
“When in doubt, choose not to harm somebody.” Jen Moritz, senior editor and inclusive language specialist (and Brian’s wife) joins us to talk about inclusive language. What is inclusive language? So glad you asked! Jen defines the term for us, and also describes how she got interested and involved in this area of editing. She tells us how the pandemic influenced her interest in inclusive language, how editing for inclusive language is an extension of her “Grammar Tingle” and what she does when that is activated by word or phrase, and how inclusive editing can help connect us back to our humanity in an increasingly digital world. We also go down a rabbit hole about the phrase “rule of thumb” and what to do when people think you’re wrong but you’re actually right. Other rabbit holes include dragon smut, fairy smut, banned books and Maintenance Phase. Also, as far as we can tell, “flying by the seat of your pants” is not problematic. As a phrase, at least. “You will always be learning. You will never have perfect language and perfect representation. You’re just doing your best.” Links The Conscious Language Newsletter Flamer (the best thing Jen’s read lately.) Other Words For Home (the best thing Jen’s read lately.) Rebecca Yarros Empyrean Series (the best thing Jen has read lately.) Sarah J. Mass books (the best thing Brian has read lately.) Support The Other 51 is and will always be free, but if you like my work (and the stuff I do at Sports Media Guy and want to kick me a few dollars, you can do so here. I really appreciate your support. Follow us on Instagram. We’re on the decaying corpse of Twitter, but only because for some reason sports media won’t abandon the site. Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 72: Jack of All Trades with Jeff DiVeronica | 14 Jun 2018 | 00:41:40 | |
Jeff Di Veronica, who has covered sports in Rochester for nearly two decades, joins Brian this week. Jeff talks about the challenges that covering high-school sports present reporters. How do you balance accurately reporting what happens in a game with being sensitive to the fact that you’re covering high school kids? How do you critically cover the behavior of some parents when they make up your core audience? How has the job over his nearly two decades in Rochester? Jeff also discusses how some parents have “email muscles” with both reporters and coaches, and what makes Rochester such a unique sports market. Powered by their rabid fan base, Knighthawks lacrosse keeps flying high Angry parents cost this Honeoye coach his job and reputation so he sued them and won $50K Ruling on Red Creek basketball parent’s appeal against Section V expected June 22 Epsiode 47: Detective Work with Scott Pitoniak Jamal Lewis Making Most of Post-NFL Life—but Preparing for Darker Days to Come Support The Other 51 Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 71: Podcast Inception with Dr. Galen Clavio | 07 Jun 2018 | 00:36:27 | |
It’s a weird flip of the podcast world this week. Normally, Brian co-hosts The Flip Side, a podcast about sports, media and other stuff with Dr. Galen Clavio. But this week, Galen joins Brian to talk about sports media and writing. Galen, the director of the National Sports Journalism Center and a professor at Indiana University’s media school, discusses his career path from minor-league hockey play-by-play guy to academia. He talks about how writing helped him in his play-by-play and broadcasting career, and how the job is often about figuring out how words go together. Galen and Brian also talk about the challenges of teaching sports media in an ever-changing marketplace, and their research and writing processes. Galen talks about why the literature review is so important and why he always does the introduction last. He also remembers what it was like covering Bobby Knight’s firing from Indiana as a member of the student media. There is also news about The Flip Side. And talk about Vlade Divac’s hypothetical burner Twitter accounts. National Sports Journalism Center The Curious Case of Bryan Colangelo and the Secret Twitter Account Support The Other 51 Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 70: Draft Nerds with Matthew Fairburn | 24 May 2018 | 00:40:10 | |
Matthew Fairburn, who covers the Buffalo Bills for NYUpstate.com (or Syracuse.com, or The Post-Standard, depending on which generation you belong to), joins Brian this week for a deep dive into life on an NFL beat. Matthew discusses how he got the job as a Bills beat writer on a one-season trial, and what it was like for him to not only start a new beat at a paper, but to be dropped onto an NFL beat fresh out of college. Matthew and Brian talk about what it means to cover an NFL team with a digital-first mentality and also how to balance doing something different with your coverage while also giving readers the news they’re looking for. Matthew also breaks down Josh Allen and gives Brian reasons to be optimistic about the Bills in the future. As a bonus, Matthew reveals what he was supposed to be doing the New Year’s Eve when Doug Marrone quit as Bills coach. Matthew Fairburn at NYUpsate.com The Power of Media Narratives and the Bills’ Playoff Drought You Gotta Play Hurt by Dan Jenkins Matt Millen Fights For His Life: ‘It’s Getting Late. We Need a Big Stop’ Support The Other 51 Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 69: That's Good Thinking There, Cool Breeze | 17 May 2018 | 00:33:01 | |
Tom Wolfe, the iconic American journalist and novelist, died on May 15 at the age of 88. In lieu of the usual interview, Brian talks to several previous guests of The Other 51 about their memories of Wolfe. Mike Sielski of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Baxter Holmes of ESPN (with a quick Twitter appearance from novelist Rebecca Makkai) discuss how they discovered Tom Wolfe and what he meant to them, their careers and journalism. EPISODE 18: SARAN WRAP OCTOPUS WITH MIKE SIELSKI Episode 62: The Stream of Time with Rebecca Makkai Epsiode 57: Untold Stories with Baxter Holmes Support The Other 51 Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 68: Watergate Baby with Kevin Blackistone | 10 May 2018 | 00:34:12 | |
You probably know Kevin Blackistone best from his regular appearances on ESPN’s “Around the Horn.” But he’s also a professor of practice at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, a longtime sports columnist (at both the Washington Post, the Dallas Morning-News and more), an author, a contributor to NPR and much more. As he said at the Summit on Communication and Sport, he’s like a NASCAR driver — he has a lot of labels. Kevin joins Brian to talk about his career in journalism, his origin story growing up in Washington, D.C. and who he read growing up that influenced him to become a journalist. Kevin and Brian discuss how all journalism is advocacy in one form or another as well as what is and is not changing in the sports media landscape. Kevin describes life as a sports columnist in the 1990s, including his story about the night of Mike Tyson bit off Evander Holyfield’s ear. Special thanks to Dr. Galen Clavio and The Media School at Indiana University for hosting this week’s episode. THE STATE OF THE BLACK MANAGER IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL WOULD DISGUST JACKIE ROBINSON Support The Other 51 Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 67: Neutral Site with Bryan Curtis | 03 May 2018 | 00:31:46 | |
It’s a podcast bowl game, of sorts, and Bryan Curtis from The Ringer joins Brian this week at the IACS 11th Summit on Communication and Sport. Bryan, who is The Ringer’s editor-at-large and media critic, compares the conference to the Final Four or the Combine and talks about some of the interesting research he saw this past weekend. Bryan and Brian (it’s not confusing) talk about the state of sports journalism and sports media. What do you do when the villain in the story is just the march of history? Bryan discusses how reading the Dallas Morning News as a kid influenced him, what his perfect sports media world would look like, the value he sees in reading print newspapers every day, and why people seem to care so much about media news. Brian also tries to defend his love of Jurassic World, much to Bryan’s dismay. Special thanks to Dr. Galen Clavio and The Media School at Indiana University for hosting this week’s episode. IACS 2018: 11th Summit on Communication and Sport After Each Attack He Carried the Wounded. Then He Became a Victim The Brilliant Chaos Behind America’s Best Radio Show Support The Other 51 Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 66: Curating the curators with Kendall Baker | 26 Apr 2018 | 00:16:22 | |
Kendall Baker is the curator and creator of Sports Internet, which is one of the best daily sports newsletters available on the internet. But what makes a daily sports newsletter interesting and worth it? Kendall joins Brian this week to talk about his daily process in creating the newsletter and breaks down the skills that are needed to create a newsletter. What makes a newsletter good, and why are newsletters so popular in this media age? He discusses how he iterated many different versions of the Sports Internet and how living on the West Coast is the ultimate competitive advantage. He also gives Brian advice on how he could teach newsletters in his online journalism class. What the Arlee Warriors Were Playing For Support The Other 51 Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 65: In the Training Room with Evan Drellich | 19 Apr 2018 | 00:42:15 | |
Another lifetime ago, Brian and Evan Drellich spent summers together at NYSEG Stadium in Binghamton. Brian was the Binghamton Mets beat reporter for the Press & Sun-Bulletin, and Evan (an intern at the paper) was covering the team for Scout.com. This week, Brian and Evan — who now covers the Red Sox for NBC Sports Boston and who’s been a big-league baseball beat reporter for 10 years — reminisce about those days watching Jose Coronado and Fernando Martinez. They remember their late editor, Charlie Jaworski, and how they still hear Jaws’ voice in their heads. Evan, a graduate of Binghamton University, discusses how keeping covering a high-school football game is the hardest thing to do in sports journalism. He talks about his career path from New York to Boston to Houston and back to Boston and what it’s like to cover the Red Sox. Evan and Brian talk about why the sports media world is so fascinated with Boston sports media, which leads into a bigger discussion about the role of analysis in beat writing and how all news judgment is editorializing. The Big 50: Boston Red Sox: The Men and Moments that Made the Boston Red Sox Jose Coronado on Baseball Reference How Russia could steal the midterms Support The Other 51 Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 64: Beyond 24/7 with Jen McCaffrey | 12 Apr 2018 | 00:35:55 | |
Jen McCaffrey just started a new job. After covering the Boston Red Sox for several seasons for MassLive, she has recently started covering the team for The Athletic’s new site in Boston. Jen tells Brian why she made that move and details her career path from student at Syracuse University to her new gig, and how working on Cape Cod and in Philadelphia prepared her for her new gig. Jen talks about life on the Red Sox beat and what it’s really like to be a baseball beat reporter. She talks about bringing the laptop to the bar and writing stories while hanging out with friends, about how an interview with Dave Dombrowski interrupted her half-marathon training, and how that first year on the beat is just about keeping your head above water. Jen discusses what it’s like to cover the Red Sox, what makes that beat unique, and how she turns all of the waiting you do as a baseball writer into a positive. She also breaks Brian’s heart and admits that she doesn’t use the Comm Law he helped teach her at Syracuse very much — even though she did keep the textbook. Jennings: Red Sox aiming to make analytics-based positioning simple for infielders A father’s pride: Watching my daughter find her strength in a Southern California pool Support The Other 51 Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 63: Breaking News with Lindsay Boyle | 05 Apr 2018 | 00:39:29 | |
Lindsay Boyle has been a journalist in Ghana, and she has also reported on immigration and the option crisis in Southeastern Connecticut. She joins Brian this week to talk about her work and her career. Lindsay, a graduate of Ohio University, talks about her day-to-day life as a breaking news reporter for The Day. She describes the entire process of breaking news, from how she finds out about news to her reporting and writing process. Lindsay talks about how she tries to balance reporting on breaking news and reporting longer stories. She also talks about why she started writing about immigration issues and how she decompresses after writing about such heavy issues all day. Lindsay also tells Brian about the three months she spent as a journalist in Ghana, what reporting was like there, and how that experience informs her worldview to this day. There is also talk on Hamilton and Cleveland sports. Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison Don’t forget: Sister Jean is more than just a meme Support The Other 51 Subscribe: | |||
| BONUS EPISODE: AP Style and obesity | 11 Apr 2024 | 00:19:49 | |
Next week, our regularly scheduled episode with Jen Moritz will be out. We’ll be talking all about inclusive language. However. Early in April, the Associated Press announced updates to its style book. Including new guidance on writing about “obese, obesity and overweight” We, um, we have some thoughts. And so, a bonus episode. Enjoy! And be sure to listen to our non-bonus episode with Jen next week. This was largely inspired by the work of Maintenance Phase. Support The Other 51 is and will always be free, but if you like my work (and the stuff I do at Sports Media Guy and want to kick me a few dollars, you can do so here. I really appreciate your support. Follow us on Instagram. We’re on the decaying corpse of Twitter, but only because for some reason sports media won’t abandon the site. Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 62: The Stream of Time with Rebecca Makkai | 29 Mar 2018 | 00:41:37 | |
Before going on vacation last summer, Brian was looking for one more book to take with him and he found a collection of short stories that looked interesting. “Music for Wartime” by Rebecca Makkai. He picked it up. And well … three books later, he had a new favorite author. Rebecca joins Brian this week to talk about writing novels and short stories and the writing life. Rebecca talks about her new novel. The Great Believers, how she came up with the idea for the book and how important her research was to telling an authentic story. She also talks about how her teaching writing informs her own work, why you should never write about dreams, the difference between writing short stories and novels, and how one of her books was like a 300-page Sodoku Puzzle. She and Brian also talk about Montessori schools and why they are awesome. . Music for Wartime: Stories by Rebecca Makkai Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Dideon Support The Other 51 Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 61: My Parents' Pasture with Tim Bontemps | 26 Mar 2018 | 00:38:44 | |
Tim Bontemps got his first break in journalism while he was standing in his parent’s pasture. Tim tells that story, and more, as he and Brian catch up on writing, the NBA and all things St. Bonaventure. Tim describes his career path from St. Bonaventure University (where he and Brian met in 2004, when Brian was an adviser to the school newspaper’s sports department) to his current gig as the national NBA writer for the Washington Post. Tim talks about where he gets story ideas, the difference between covering a team vs. covering an entire league, and how LeBron James is so good in the media. Tim also talks about the differences between college and pro basketball. There is also a lot of Bonaventure talk. Tim describes what it was like to be at the Bonnies’ first-four victory over UCLA in this year’s NCAA tournament and why that game meant so much to us. Tim Bontemps at the Washington Post St. Bonaventure, scandal and snub in the past, can finally move on Tuesday night How LeBron James fixed his back and is on track to play all 82 games UMBC proved again that in sports, not even history goes undefeated Selection Sunday anything but a day of rest Support The Other 51 Subscribe: | |||
| Episode 60: That's How Jobs Work with Shea Serrano | 15 Mar 2018 | 00:33:23 | |
Shea Serrano, the author of the NY Times bestsellers “The Rap Yearbook” and “Basketball and Other Things” and a columnist for The Ringer, joins Brian this week. Shea talks about why writing books isn’t much fun, but why he does it anyway. Shea talks about how the way he writes is influenced by his time as a teacher, how researching books is a lot of fun but the actual writing of a book is a lot of work, and how he goes from column idea to execution. Shea and Brian talk about who would win in a one-on-one basketball game between Michael Jordan and LeBron James, why they love 1990s NBA basketball, and why Coco was such a great movie. Shea also discusses the many successes of the FOH Army. The Game When Kyrie Irving Scored Every Different Way A Whole Ocean of Oil Under Our Feet”: ‘There Will Be Blood’ at 10 by Sean Fennessey High Dive by Jonathan Lee Support The Other 51 Subscribe: | |||