Episode 124: Talk a Story to Death with Katie Barnes

July 2, 2020 Brian Moritz

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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Episode 123: Grammar Tingle with Jen Moritz

June 25, 2020 Brian Moritz

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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Episode 122: Canadian Rock Bands of the 1990s with Amber Healy

June 11, 2020 Brian Moritz

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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Episode 121: You Have to See Point Break with Joe Iconis

May 28, 2020 Brian Moritz

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 how he’s being inspired by art. But the real burning question: How would The Squip in Be More Chill have been different if Joe had seen Point Break before now?

Joe and Brian talk about the collaborative process of writing a musical, how Joe can’t write musical theater in a vacuum, what first drew him to the story of Be More Chill and his obsession with names.

Joe also describes his songwriting process, how he never starts with music. And he gives advice to aspiring writers and performers and answers an incredibly nerdy Be More Chill question.

Mr. Know-It-All by John Waters

The Colossus of New York by Colson Whitehead

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Episode 120: Accidental Academic with Leander Schaerlaeckens

May 21, 2020 Brian Moritz

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 classes.

Leander, who refers to himself as an “accidental academic,” traces his career path from a growing up as a sports fan in Europe to being the first full-time soccer writer ESPN hired to his current gigs. He discusses how being an active columnist makes him a better teacher and how being a teacher has made him a better columnist. He also discusses the piece he wrote for Slate about Donald Trump’s claims that he was a pro baseball prospect (spoiler alert, no), and how pursuing the truth no matter what and having the receipts can limit any potential backlash. There’s also discussion of The Last Dance and how Michael Jordan epitomizes toxic masculinity.

Leander Schaerlaeckens

Leander on Twitter

Leander at Yahoo

Was Donald Trump Good at Baseball?

Michael Jordan reminds us who he really is with 'The Last Dance' — and it's not someone you want to be like

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Episode 119: Emotional Support Radish with Katie Cook

May 14, 2020 Brian Moritz

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 she’s ever done. Katie talks about how writing digital comics is different, and what it’s like to write for a world of your own.

Katie and Brian (and Brian’s wife) also bond over life in quarantine and trying to keep their kids from making complete disasters of their Animal Crossing islands.

Episode 33: Apple Jack Would Never Say This with Katie Cook

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Small Town Murder

The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallach Johnson

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Episode 118: No-Inch-Count Environment with Michael Sharp

May 7, 2020 Brian Moritz

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 sports journalists. What happens when you realize the only job you’ve ever wanted isn’t for you anymore? What made the 2000s such a weird time to be a sports writer, and what was it like to be the last generation that dreamed of being a “newspaper guy”?

Take the 2020 Census

Michael Sharp

The Stranger in the Woods

The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis

Working by Robert Caro

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Episode 117: Tell Your Story with Melissa Isaacson

April 30, 2020 Brian Moritz

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 teach students to do better phone interviews and how this time can be an opportunity for students.

Melissa then discusses her excellent book State and what it was like, as a journalist, to write such an incredibly personal work and the advice that S.L. Price gave her that jumpstarted her work.

Then, of course, Brian and Melissa discuss The Last Dance. Melissa, who was the Bulls’ beat writer for the Chicago Tribune for their first three championships, describes what it was like to cover Michael Jordan and those great Bulls teams. She and Brian also discuss the biggest ways journalism has changed since the mid-1990s. Hint — it’s not all Twitter’s fault.

Melissa Isaacson

Melissa on Twitter

The Prologue to State

Some Things I Remember

State: A Team, a Triumph, a Transformation

Little Fires Everywhere

Fear: Trump in the White House

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Episode 116: Where's Upstate NY with Jon Campbell

April 23, 2020 Brian Moritz

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 that national writers fall into when writing about upstate. That moves into a deeper conversation about how Jon’s journalism is influenced by being a lifelong upstate resident (go Lockport Lions).

Jon discusses how he resisted being known as “The Fracking Guy” but also how owning that one specific beat involving state government helped him develop sources to cover the entire government.

Jon then talks about covering Covid-19. He recalls the moment he realized just how major a story it was going to be, what it’s like to cover Andrew Cuomo’s press conferences, what it’s like when Cuomo and President Trump start bickering with each other in real time, and the Covid-19 story he wants to tell.

Jon Campbell at USA Today Network-NY

Jon Cambell on Twitter

Truth in our Times by David McGraw

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Episode 115: Frankenstein's Monstering with Jared Diamond

April 16, 2020 Brian Moritz

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 writing and reporting of Swing Kings in depth. Jared talks about the unlikely role that Marlon Byrd played in his career, turning a good news paper story into a bool, and what a book proposal looks like and why it was so critical to his process, and why you always take the meeting. Jared talked about how he thought of the book like a movie, the difference between thinking of his sources and characters, and his oddly inspirational dedication to the book.

Jared Diamond on Twitter

Swing Kings on Amazon

Swing Kings at Indiebound

The Women on the Bridge by Sarah Weinman

Buzz Saw

The Wax Pack

Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

How Kobe Bryant’s death brought Bobby McIlvaine — an athlete, a scholar, the friend I should’ve known better — back to life

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Episode 114: Deadline Junkies with Jesse Dougherty

April 9, 2020 Brian Moritz

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 was like to write a 90,000-word book in just seven weeks, and why coffee shops are so important to getting his work done and overcoming his natural tendencies toward procrastination.

Jesse also talks about what makes the book’s cover so special, and what it’s like to release a book during the middle of a global pandemic.

Jesse Dougherty

Jesse on Twitter

Buzz Saw

Buzz Saw at Indiebound

Buzz Saw at Bookshop.org

Comfort from a 102-year-old who has lived through a flu pandemic, the Depression and WWII

Death Without Ritual by Stephanie McCrummen

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

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Episode 113: Intoxicated by the Language with Dr. Rick Simpson

March 26, 2020 Brian Moritz

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 influenced him as much as the English authors and poets he later taught. Simpson and Brian discuss how modern sports writing can be thought of as poetry, as well as the best lessons that Doc taught again and again. Always think about your audience. Grammar doesn’t matter but it does. Did he mention audience?

And of course, there are jazz recommendations.

If you had Doc Simpson as a professor at St. Bonaventure, this is like going back in time to one of his classes.

Dr. Rick Simpson at St. Bonaventure

The Complete Aubrey/Maturin Novels by Patrick O’Brien

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Episode 112: Listening to the Ghosts with Mike Vaccaro

March 19, 2020 Brian Moritz

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 videos on YouTube and the singular value of persistence.

Mike Vaccaro on Twitter

Mike Vaccaro

How YouTube can be salvation in coronavirus sports desert

Bond with ‘first recruit’ shows the Rick Pitino Iona is hoping for

Mets prospect finds baseball heaven in coronavirus escape

1941 -- The Greatest Year In Sports

The First Fall Classic

Emperors and Idiots

New York Magazine

The Back Roads to March by John Feinstein

The Legends Club by John Feinstein

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Episode 111: The Cat's Very Excited with Nicole Schuman

March 14, 2020 Brian Moritz

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 aspect of this story, and how she tries to maintain her own mental health after thinking about the virus all day every day. Her cat plays a prominent role here.

Nicole also traces the arc of her career, from her childhood dream of writing for the Buffalo News to her current gig as a reporter and content producer at PRNEWS. She talks about her work on This Built America, how David Carr influenced her, and how she approaches storytelling. It’s all about people.

Nicole Schuman

Nicole on Twitter

And on LinkedIn

When Uncertainty Kicks Anxiety, Self-Doubt into Overdrive by Amber Naslund

Real Artists Have Day Jobs: (And Other Awesome Things They Don't Teach You in School) by Sara Benincasa

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Episode 110: Best to Bon Jovi with Troy Smith

March 5, 2020 Brian Moritz

At 26 years old, Troy Smith found himself laid off from his job as a reporter at the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester.

He was shocked. But he did what he had done his whole career. He got back to work. He had started a music magazine at St. Bonaventure University. He and a partner started a tattoo magazine in Rochester, and that got him noticed by Cleveland.com, where he now works as an entertainment reporter.

Troy joins Brian this week to talk about his career in journalism, how his desire to be a sports writer was curtailed by a stint covering cross country, and what it’s like to be an entertainment reporter both in Rochester and Cleveland. Troy discusses how he ranked every member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, how St. Bonaventure prepared him for his career, and shares his rules for writing good online headlines.

Troy Smith at Cleveland.com

Troy on Twitter

Don’t think Whitney and Biggie belong in the Rock Hall? OK Boomer

Every Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee ranked from best to Bon Jovi

LIVE FROM NEW YORK, IT’S MICHAEL CHE’S WEIRD FIXATION WITH ME by Jack Allison

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Episode 109: Vitameatavegamin with Cameron Hurst

February 7, 2020 Brian Moritz

This episode was supposed to be an interview with a recent college graduate about what it’s like to be entering journalism in 2020.

Instead, Cameron Hurst — a recent St. Bonaventure graduate and current part-time sports writer in his hometown of Jamestown, N.Y. - just regales Brian with story after story. Among them:

How members of his family were in cahoots both with Lucille Ball and gangsters during prohibition.
How Cameron found himself performing Lucy’s “vitameatavegamin” bit for Lucie Arnez, Lucy and Desi’s daughter.
How he started his own sports blog in high school and how that led to his interest in journalism.
How a family friend predicted he would end up at St. Bonaventure.
How he covered the Buffalo Diocese’s sexual abuse scandal, including translating push notifications from the Vatican.

Cameron Hurst

Cameron on Twitter

The Rowdy Raider

DePerro's Call for Malone's Resignation Is Justified

Vitameatavegamin

Buzzers, burner accounts and conspiracies: Inside baseball's day of epic chaos by Jeff Passan

Fifty years later, untold stories from St. Bonaventure’s unforgettable run to the Final Four by Tim Graham

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Episode 108: The Right Column with Bruce Arthur

January 16, 2020 Brian Moritz

In the first episode of 2020, Brian’s joined by Bruce Arthur, sports columnist for the Toronto Star.

Being a good son of a border town, Brian asks Bruce what it was like to watch The Tragically Hip’s final concert with members of the Canadian Olympic Team on the final night of the Rio Olympics. Many Hip memories are shared.

Bruce discusses his unconventional career path in journalism, what makes college newsrooms so special, and what he learned as an intern at the National Post, and how a writer can improve as by reading great (and bad) sports writing and internalizing what you see.

Bruce and Brian talk about the role of a sports columnist at a major metro newspaper, what it was like to cover the Toronto Raptors’ championship, and how the best writing can fundamentally change your worldview.

Bruce Arthur

Bruce on Twitter

Love-in for the Hip at Rio’s Canada House

The Raptors are the champs. And it’s because of Masai Ujiri

Episode 19: The Fine Art of Hanging Out with Chris Jones

Epsiode 106: The Uncool Kid in the Lunch Room with Jesse Doughterty

This Tom Hanks Story Will Help You Feel Less Bad by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

God’s Away on Business by Spencer Hall.

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Episode 107: People Doing Good with Marnie Eisenstadt

December 5, 2019 Brian Moritz

Marnie Eisenstadt, a reporter for Syracuse.com and The Post-Standard who was named the 2018 Journalist of the Year by the New York State Associated Press Association, joins Brian this week.

Marnie talks about what it has been like to report on stories in Syracuse lately, whether it was a shooting at the Destiny USA mall or the on-going instances of racism at Syracuse University. Marnie and Brian discuss why stories about real people doing things that matter still resonate within a community, and how Marnie uses social media to find stories and connect with sources.

Marnie also does a deep dive into the reporting and writing of the series she did with a colleague on a rogue AA group in Syracuse. How do you report on something where there are no public documents? Marnie talks about the importance of reporting and of viewing sources as real people, not just pegs on a board.

She and Brian also bond over their mutual love of Mo Willems.

Marnie Eisenstadt

Marnie on Twitter

Drunk with Power: Syracuse’s rogue AA group

Syracuse University janitor who cleaned racist graffiti replaces it with kindness

Small Fry by Lisa Brennan-Jobs

Kate DiCamillo

The Story of Diva and Flea

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Episode 98: What'd Brigadoon Ever Do To You with Anthony King (rebroadcast)

November 27, 2019 Brian Moritz

(This episode originally aired July 3, 2019 and has been updated.)

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!

Anthony King

Anthony on Twitter

Beetlejuice the Musical

The Complete Works of Dashiell Hamett

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Episode 106: The Uncool Kid in the Lunchroom with Jesse Dougherty

November 21, 2019 Brian Moritz

Fresh off covering the Washington Nationals’ World Series title for the Washington Post, Jesse Dougherty talks about what it’s really like to be a major-league beat writer.

Jesse discusses what makes the baseball beat so unique, how it can totally warp your life, the advice he received from Barry Svrugla and Ben Shpigel and how transparency helps him to build relationships with his sources. He also walks through what it was like to cover the Nats’ come-from-behind win in the wild-card round, the insanity of Game 6 of the World Series, the pressure of writing Game 7 and why the off-season is in some ways more stressful.

Also this week, we remember Bill Lyon, the former Philadelphia Inquirer columnist who died this past weekend at age 81, with a clip from Mike Sielski’s interview in 2016.

Jesse Dougherty

Jesse on Twitter

MLB players never know what day it is

Nationals storm back late in wild-card game to stun Brewers, 4-3, advance to NLDS

Nationals win Game 6 with dominant Stephen Strasburg performance

This Nationals team will be forever bound by World Series glory built on defying odds

Episode 53: I Remember Getting an F with Jesse Dougherty

Episode 18: Saran Wrap Octopus with Mike Sielski

The most remote emergency room: Life and death in rural America

This Tom Hanks Story Will Help You Feel Less Bad

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

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