The Other 51

Latest Episodes:

Episode 91: It's My Job to Know with John Wawrow Apr 04, 2019

Show notes

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.

John Wawrow

Jonn on the Antonio Brown deal

Gore looks forward to sharing Bills backfield with McCoy

Tim by The Replacements

‘Touch with the past’: Inside the homes of Harry Jacobs and Al Bemiller, Buffalo Bills champions living with dementia

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Episode 90: America's Best Cereal Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Littau Mar 28, 2019

Show notes

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.

Jeremy Littau

Jeremy on Twitter

Jeremy’s vial thread

The SB Nation Breakfast Cereal Bracket

The Guardians and the War on Truth

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Episode 89: Unintended Consequences Might Ensue with Bob Costas Mar 21, 2019

Show notes

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).

I Wanted to be Bob Costas

K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches by Tyler Kepner

You Gotta Play Hurt by Dan Jenkins

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Episode 88: The Anti-Hype with Drew Montreuil Jan 24, 2019

Show notes

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.

Finger Lakes Weather

FLX Weather on Facebook

Scott Steiger at SUNY-Oswego

Fantasy Life: The Outrageous, Uplifting, and Heartbreaking World of Fantasy Sports from the Guy Who’s Lived It

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Episode 87: Nobody's Two Dimensional with Michael Rosenberg Jan 17, 2019

Show notes

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

War as They Knew it

The Nix by Nathan Hill

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Episode 86: Hard Harbor to Find with Sam Fortier Nov 29, 2018

Show notes

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.

Sam Fortier on Twitter

Sam Fortier at The Athletic

St. Anthony’s Unanswered Prayer

Drew Brees is Hiding in Plain Sight

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Episode 85: Get Out Of Your Seat Journalism with Mike Waters Nov 21, 2018

Show notes

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?

Mike Waters on Twitter

Mike on Syracuse.com

Nothing on this page is real

This is how the Maui Invitational became an institution

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Episode 84: Director's Cut, plus The Secret Life of Words Nov 01, 2018

Show notes

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

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Episode 83: Did Steven Avery do it? with Doug Schneider Oct 25, 2018

Show notes

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).

Doug Schneider

Doug on Twitter

Making a Mania

NY Times on Donald Trump’s wealth

Unintended Consequences

A Place, a people and their team

Football for a Buck

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

Grant

Teachers in America

All–22: Former UB quarterback Joe Licata breaks down Allen’s biggest flaws and Peterman’s pick-six

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Episode 82: Not Those Kinds of Doctors with Dr. Shannon McCarthy Oct 18, 2018

Show notes

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

Shannon McCarthy on Twitter

Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?: And Other Questions You Should Have Answers to When You Work in the White House by Alyssa Mastromonaco

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