Episode 56: Coming Out with Cyd Zeigler

Seahawks’ Marshawn Lynch at Super Bowl XLIX Media Day: ‘I’m just here so I won’t get fined’

Episode 55: It's A Lot with Stephen Cohen

February 1, 2018 Brian Moritz

What’s it really like to cover the Super Bowl?

Stephen Cohen go first hand experience in 2015 as a sports writer for the Seattle Post Intelligencer. At the time, he was the paper’s Seahawks beat writer and he covered the team’s loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 49.

With this year’s Super Bowl between the Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles just a few days a way, Cohen — now a general assignment reporter for the paper — joins Brian this week to talk about his Super Bowl experience. Stephen talks about what it was like to be at media day and on the Marshawn Lynch “I’m just here so I won’t get fined” beat, how the Super Bowl is really all about formal logistics, and what makes the event so overwhelming. He also talks about the actual game, how the reporters in the normally staid press box lost their minds at the end of that game, and how the Seahawks locker room provided some real human moments at the end of a surreal week.

Brian and Stephen also trade craft beer recommendations.

We asked readers how they learned about consent

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper

Subscribe:

The Undefeated on Twitter

Episode 54: Question Everything with Lisa Wilson

January 25, 2018 Brian Moritz

In the summer of 1998, Brian was a summer copy editing intern at the Buffalo News. During that summer, Lisa Wilson came on these copy desk for a tryout and eventually a job.

Since then, Lisa became the sports editor for The News and is now the senior editor, sports, at The Undefeated.

Lisa joins Brian this week, and they Share memories of that summer. Lisa talks about working with Milt Joffee, Milt Northrup and Bill Wolcott and what she learned from working with old-school veterans like them. Lisa describes what diversity means to her, why it is so important and how sports journalists can get better at it. She also tells us what makes as good story two her, why descriptive writing is so moving, and why trust between writers and editors is so important.

Lisa also gives advice for young writers and editors, and reminds them that you never know who’s watching you.

Lisa Wilson

The Undefeated

The Undefeated on Facebook

The State of the Black Athlete

Courtroom erupts in applause after Aly Raisman unloads on Larry Nassar and calls out USA Gymnastics

Subscribe:

Jesse Dougherty on Twitter

Episode 53: I Remember Getting an F with Jesse Dougherty

January 11, 2018 Brian Moritz

Jesse Dougherty was Brian’s student back in 2014, when he was a sophomore at Syracuse University and Brian was a doctoral student.

The student has become the master. Now, Jesse’s a sports writer for the Washington Post, and he joins Brian for a fun and wide-ranging conversation. Jesse talks about how the first hockey game he ever saw in person was the first one he covered for the L.A. Times, and how Hall-of-Famer Helene Elliott gave him a crash course in the sport. Jesse also talks about what it’s like to work at the Washington Post at this point in journalism history.

Jesse and Brian do a deep dive into Jesse’s recent feature story on Mya Fourstar, a star high school basketball player living on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Frazer, Montana. Jesse describes about how he found out about the story, how he spent his four days on the ground in Montana reporting it, and how he wrote it very quickly. Jesse talks about picking the right details for the story, how the reporting he did before he got to Montana informed his story and the challenges he faced as an outsider trying to report on this world.

They also share their best Jim Boeheim stories.

Jesse at the Washington Post

‘Anywhere but here’

For high-scoring Frazer freshman Mya Fourstar, hoops are ticket to her dreams, by Jeff Welsch

Subscribe:

Episode 52: Hating Kylo Ren with Alysa Auriemma

January 4, 2018 Brian Moritz

In what may be the back-door pilot for an upcoming podcast about nerd and comic culture, University of Connecticut professor Alysa Auriemma returns to The Other 51. She and Brian do a deep dive into The Last Jedi (if you haven’t seen the movie, it will be spoiled for you) and what the Star Wars fanboys dislike about the movie. Alysa talks about how much she loved the story of Rey’s parentage, how great Mark Hamil was in this movie, and how much she hates Kylo Ren.

This leads to a greater discussion about diversity in comic culture. Why is it so hard for a certain population of fans to accept women or people of color as superheroes?

Also, how it is that the guy who plays Bill Weasley is also General Hux?

Annihilation: A Novel (The Southern Reach Trilogy)

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

Subscribe:

The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton

The Best of 2017: Songwriting and St. Jude with Bob Crawford

December 28, 2017 Brian Moritz

Bob and Hallie Crawford. Photo by Leon Goodwin from Press On Fund.

This episode originally aired on Sept. 21, 2017 and was by far the most popular episode of The Other 51 this year.

Bob Crawford, bass player for The Avett Brothers, joins Brian to talk about his family’s connection to St. Jude, the work he's doing through the Press On Fund, and his quest to cure child cancer.

Bob talks about the day his then 22-month-old daughter, Hallie, was diagnosed with brain cancer and how St. Jude gave him and his family hope. He also discusses how his daughter’s diagnosis changed songwriting for him, and how he wrote part of The Avett Brothers' song “Good to You.” He and Brian also discuss their favorite Founding Fathers (Bob goes way off the board for his pick) and the theology of Thomas Merton.

Anyone who knows Brian knows he and his family are big fans of The Avett Brothers. They also raised $2,000 for St. Jude as part of an Avett Nation team.

(Our Skype connection faded a few times, so apologies for a few inconsistencies).

Subscribe:

Impro: Improvisation and the Theater by Keith Johnstone)

BEST OF 2017: Making a ruckus with Seth Godin

December 21, 2017 Brian Moritz

This episode originally aired on April 4. It's been slightly re-edited.

Best-selling author and noted ruckus maker Seth Godin joins Brian this week. They talk about the importance of not only writing every day but publishing every day, what school should teach students, and why work is always the answer. Seth explains to Brian why the recording of Kind of Blue can be compared to writing, why he benefits from writing every day, and why books are the perfect technology.

Seth is one of Brian’s favorite people on the internet. This was a fun episode to do.

Seth Godin

Seth’s Blog

Replay by Ken Grimwood

The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World

Breslin: Digging JFK grave was his honor

Subscribe:

The Miracle of St. Anthony: A Season with Coach Bob Hurley and Basketball's Most Improbable Dynasty

Episode 51: Meme Wars with Dr. Nick Koberstein

December 15, 2017 Brian Moritz

Episode 51: Meme Wars with Nick Koberstein

If you’ve been following Brian on Twitter the past few weeks, your timeline was flooded with his student posts to the #MoritzMemeWar.

The inspiration for that joins the podcast this week. Dr. Nick Koberstein, an assistant professor at Keuka College, created the original meme war (#kcmemewar). He joins Brian this week at Eddie O’Brien’s in Farmington, N.Y. to talk digital pedagogy in higher ed. Nick talks about the ways he tries to challenge his students in an environment that is still a bit relaxed and supportive, and how he gets students to make work that surprises him. He and Brian also talk about the importance of revisions in writing, and how to teach students to become risk takers.

It’s a UConn guy and a Syracuse guy together, and there is no fighting and it is not a 6 overtime podcast.

Subscribe:

Episode 50: The Golden Age with Adrian Wojnarowski

December 7, 2017 Brian Moritz

Episode 50: The Golden Age with Adrian Wojnarowski

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is the best reporter in sports journalism. You already know this. Everyone knows this. He’s also been a friend and mentor of Brian’s for nearly two decades.

Woj joins Brian this week and describes why he feels this is a golden age of sports journalism. Woj describes how the mobile phone did more to revolutionize reporting than almost anything else. He describes his reporting process, why it’s important to connect with sources when you’re not quoting them. Sometimes, it’s the 53rd time you talk to a source that yields the important piece of information. Woj also talks about how he works with his ESPN colleagues, how he stays in front of stories, and how he had to make a choice between waiting for Bill Parcels and taking out his garbage.

And, since Woj is a Bona guy, there’s the requisite 10 minutes about St. Bonaventure.

Woj on Twitter

Woj on Facebook

Weinstein’s complicity machine

Subscribe:

I Thought You’d Be Faster: The Quest to Become An Athlete

Episode 49: Dude, You Wrote A Book! with Amy Moritz

November 30, 2017 Brian Moritz

The last time Amy Moritz joined Brian on the podcast, she said that she was working on her first book. Good little brother that he is, Brian said he’d have her back when the book was out.

Hey, guess what? The book is out! And it’s outstanding!

Amy joins us to talk about the writing of “I Though You’d Be Faster.” She talks about where the idea for the book came from, what her writing process was like, and why she self-published. Amy and Brian talk about how newspaper writing is different than book writing and the challenges it presents, why doing just a little bit each day means so much, and why when something keeps calling you (whether it’s a book project or grad school), you’ve just got to be fierce and go after it. They also talk about why Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird is one of the best books you could ever read. Amy also drops a spoiler alert on Book No. 2.

And hey, did you know that Ernest Hemingway is a good writer?

Our new theme music this week is by Ellie Moritz.

Amy Moritz

Amy on Twitter

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

All Quiet on the Western Front by Ernest Hemingway

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Andrew Anglin: The Making of an American Nazi by Luke O’Brien

Subscribe:

Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries

Episode 48: Introductory Lexicography with Kory Stamper

November 16, 2017 Brian Moritz

Kory Stamper has the best job title of any guest in the history of The Other 51.

She’s a lexicographer at Merriam-Webster.

She writes the dictionary.

No, the dictionary doesn’t just appear, handed down by the grammar gods. It’s written by people. People like Kory.

Kory talks what it’s like to wield the power to decide what part of speech a word is. She describes her job, and she and Brian talk about how people who write the dictionary are much more open about language and usage then you might assume. There’s a difference between language and writing, and Kory describes that. Kory talks about her book Word by Word and how writing the dictionary has made her more attuned to the rhythm of her language and her writing.

Kory also gives Brian the perfect gift idea for his wife.

Harmless Drudgery

Kory Stamper on Twitter

Kory Stamper at SUNY Brockport

Dord

John Boehner Unchained by Tim Alberta

Masha Gessen: What Words Mean

Subscribe:

Scott Pitoniak on Twitter

Episode 47: Detective Work with Scott Pitoniak

November 9, 2017 Brian Moritz

Scott Pitoniak is one of the defining voices in sports writing in Upstate New York. He’s written about the Buffalo Bills, Syracuse University, and sports in and around Rochester for the better part of three decades.

Scott joins Brian at Spot Coffee in Rochester (excuse the ambient noise and fun 80s music in the background), which is appropriate for a couple of writers. Scott talks about what it was like to cover the Buffalo Bills during the late 1980s and in their Super Bowl run in the early 1990s and why Marv Levy is his favorite coach he ever covered. Scott, who spent much of his career writing for the Democrat and Chronicle, talks about what makes Rochester such a unique sports town and what makes upstate New York special.

Scott also describes what it was like to write a book with Lou Gramm of Foreigner and a book about Jim Boeheim. Scott also discloses what his dream book project is.

Scott Pitoniak on Amazon

Scott at the Rochester Business Journal

Spot Coffee

Casey Stengel: Baseball's Greatest Character by Marty Appel

Born to Run by Bruce Sprinsteen

Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper

Subscribe:

The Mysterious Montague by Leigh Montville

Episode 46: Fargo Auto Kings with Matt Vautour

November 2, 2017 Brian Moritz

The Atlantic 10 Media Association reunion tour continues, as long-time listener, first-time caller Matt Vautour joins Brian to talk about the life of a college sports beat writer.

Matt, who covers the University of Massachusetts for the Daily Hampshire Gazette, and Brian reminiscence about their days covering the A-10 in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with the requisite John Chaney stories (for every Phil Martelli, theres a Darelle Porter ). This leads to a larger discussion about how being a beat writer has changed over the past 20 years. Matt talks about how message boards were the original Twitter, what it was like to cover John Calipari as a student journalist, and how everything is a story these days.

They also talk about how blogging has changed. Matt used to say that his blog was like the deleted scenes part of a DVD, which now is two dated technological references. But he and Brian talk about how publishing news online and social media has totally changed what we considered “blogging.” Matt also discusses why he’d like to write three minutes of a stand-up comedy routine.

Matt also makes the best obscure West Wing reference you’ll hear on the internet all day.

Where the Bodies are Buried by Patrick Radden Keefe

All the President’s Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein

West Wing: The Butterball Hotline

Subscribe:

Episode 45: You Podcast? with Jen Moritz

October 26, 2017 Brian Moritz

Jen Moritz is the best editor Brian knows. And he’s not just saying that because he married her.

Really, she’s awesome.

And since Brian’s been talking to writers for more than a year, he figured it was time to get the scoop from an editor.

Jen, who is the senior copy editor at Dixon Schwabl advertising, talks about what makes a good editor and how editing should be like gardening. You know your Facebook friend who posts memes about its/it’s and how they love grammar? Jen tells us that just shows they don’t know what an editor does. She also gives writers advice on how to instantly improve their writing — use ALL the contractions, folks! End your sentence in for. It’s OK!

Jen also tells us what grammar tells us about the identity of The Last Jedi. She also reveals Brian’s biggest sin as a writer.

Jen Moritz

Jen Moritz on Twitter

The Language Gardener

#FindMORWeird

Dr. Mütter’s Marvels by Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz

Fellside by M.R. Carey

The Girl with all the Gifts by M.R. Carey

Word by Word by Kory Stamper

Dumplin by Julie Murphy

Subscribe:

Alysa Auriemma on Twitter

Episode 44: Generic Hot Actor Guy with Alysa Auriemma

October 19, 2017 Brian Moritz

Episode 44: Generic Hot Actor Guy with Alysa Auriemma

In the first return guest spot on The Other 51, author and professor Alysa Auriemma is back.

Brian promised Alysa the chance to talk about her love of Chris Evans, and so there is a lot of talk about Chris Evans. A lot of Chris Evans talk. Then there’s a super-deep dive into the state of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Things get super nerdy, folks.

But buried in all of this is an important question for writers — what is the role of fandom in our work? Is it like sports writing, where fandom is traditionally a very separate thing? Or can fandom play a role in how we conceptualize and write stories?

The Curious Ally Cat

Support Alysa’s writing

Episode 27: Always Writing with Alysa Auriemma

Carly Lane

Chris Evans

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman

Lincoln and the Bardo by George Sauners

The First White President by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Subscribe:

What Made Maddy Run: The Secret Struggles and Tragic Death of an All-American Teen

Episode 43: Live at Oswego with Kate Fagan

October 12, 2017 Brian Moritz

Can a podcast be live? Sort of? Maybe? Brian gives it a try this week with Kate Fagan from ESPN, the author of one of the best books he’s read all year.

Fagan is the author of “What Made Maddy Run,” a poignant look at college, college athletics, social media, mental illness and more told through the lens of Madison Halloran. During her visit this week to SUNY Oswego (where Brian teaches), she sat down with Brian to talk about the book and about writing.

Kate and Brian talk about how she first heard about Madison’s story and walks through the reporting and writing process of both an ESPN The Magazine article and later, the book. Kate answers a question she expected to hear more frequently than she did, how writing Madison’s story has changed how she uses social media and how she took care of herself while writing such an emotional topic.

Along with the heavy issues, Kate and Brian also talk about what she learned from being on the 538 Hot Takedown podcast, how she found out about Hamilton before basically anyone else and also discusses why she hates Aaron Burr (the song. Not the guy.)

Special thanks to Jeff Bradbury and SUNY Oswego for the production help and to Dan Roberts for helping set this up.

Kate Fagan

Kate on Twitter

Split Image

The Reappearing Act: Coming Out as Gay on a College Basketball Team Led by Born-Again Christians

Alt White: How the Breitbart machine launders racist hate by Joseph Bernstein

A Requiem for Florida, the Paradise That Should Never Have Been by MICHAEL GRUNWALD

Subscribe:

Kevin Van Valkenburg on Twitter

Episode 42: The Right Details with Kevin Van Valkenburg

October 5, 2017 Brian Moritz

Hamilton. Jason Isbell. Sports writing.

Kevin Van Valkenburg is pretty much the perfect guest for The Other 51.

Kevin, a feature writer for ESPN The Magazine, joins Brian to talk about seeing the original cast of Hamilton (apparently, it was worth it). He and Brian talk a lot about their admiration for Jason Isbell and what makes him such a gifted lyricist and songwriter. They also talk about how to develop the instinct to find the right details, how Kevin connected with Eddy Lacy before writing a recent feature story, and why reading is so, so important to being a writer. Kevin, who taught for a semester at the University of Montana, also describes how teaching writing improved his own work, and how he showed his students that you are never too busy to do a great piece of writing.

‘You Just Can’t Shake It’

The Audacity of Peyton Manning

Storytelling 101: A Reading List

Beyond the Breach

And the fighter still remains

Death at a Penn State Fraternity

The Mind of John McPhee

Subscribe:

The Making Of “Homer At The Bat,” The Episode That Conquered Prime Time 20 Years Ago Tonight

The Best of The Other 51: Call Mr. Plow with Erik Malinowski

October 3, 2017 Brian Moritz

This episode originally came out in February. Erik's book on the Golden State Warriors is out today. You can buy it here

Erik Malinowski of Bleacher Report talks about writing a book about the Golden State Warriors, our favorite Simpsons episodes (including which one to best introduce Brian’s daughter to the show), and why you should never Tweet. We also get super nerdy talking about Scrivener.

Erik Malinowski

1. Never Tweet

Nate Silver Tells Tone-Deaf Burrito Arrest Story Amid Ferguson Protests, Gets Epically Burned

A 15-year-old (sorta, maybe) basketball phenomenon

Synderella: How Noah Syndergaard went from awkward kid to Mets ace

I Helped Create the Milo Trolling Playbook. You Should Stop Playing Right Into It

Episode 41: Song writing and St. Jude with Bob Crawford

September 21, 2017 Brian Moritz

Bob Crawford, bass player for The Avett Brothers, joins Brian to talk about his family’s connection to St. Jude, the work he's doing through the Press On Fund, and his quest to cure child cancer.

Anyone who knows Brian knows he and his family are big fans of The Avett Brothers. They're also in the middle of a month-long Avett Nation fundraiser for St. Jude in Hallie Crawford's honor. So this is a special episode.

(Our Skype connection faded a few times, so apologies for a few inconsistencies).

To donate to the Moritz family’s team for the St. Jude Walk/Run to End Childhood Cancer, click here

The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton

Subscribe: