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Episode 407: Alex Squadron Respects the Grind

Ever want to know the ins and outs, the hopes and dreams, of a minor league basketball player? Alex Squadron (@asquad510), a sports writer for Slam Magazine, brings that insight to his debut book Life in the G: Minor League Basketball and the Relentless Pursuit of the NBA. It’s published by University of Nebraska Press.

Alex follows a cohort of players for the Birmingham Squadron … total coincidence. He had tremendous access to this team and these players, something you categorically never see at the higher levels of sport.

Episode 404: Hanif Abdurraqib’s Nod to Witnessing in ‘There’s Always This Year’

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By Brendan O’Meara

Kinda crazy, right? That someone like Hanif Abdurraqib (@nifmuhammad) would agree to be on this little podcast, which just turned eleven on March 20.

Hanif needs next-to-no introduction, but here’s a little bit about him. His book A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance was a finalist for the National Book Award. He’s the author of the essay collection They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us and the poetry collections A Fortune for Your Disaster and The Crown Ain’t Worth Much. His latest book is There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension (Random House).

It’s a masterpiece; Hanif is a masterpiece.

In this conversation, we talk about productivity, envy, specificity, intentionality, and a nod to witnessing. It’s great stuff, great talk.

Episode 244: Jackie MacMullan on the Fear of Failure, Writing that Teaches You, and the Final Chapter of ‘Best American Sports Writing’

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By Brendan O’Meara

Jackie MacMullan, the legendary basketball writer, is on the podcast to talk about judging what we know to be the final installment of The Best American Sports Writing.

She’s chronicled the NBA (big ups to Louisa Thomas) since the early 1980s for The Boston Globe, Sports Illustrated and now ESPN.

Her five-part series on mental health in the NBA was widely lauded and a must-read.

Episode 231: Pete Croatto on Listening, Showing His Work, ‘From Hang Time to Prime Time,’ and Adding that Ding

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By Brendan O’Meara

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Pete Croatto (@petecroatto on Twitter) is here to talk about freelancing, writing, and his new book From Hang Time to Prime Time: Business, Entertainment, and the Birth of the Modern-Day NBA (Atria Books, 2020).

Where’s the juice? Where’s the juice in the enterprise?

The juice is in coming up with an idea and convincing an editor that the idea is worth pursuing, convincing a person, selling a person on that idea. When I get an idea for a story, it’s almost a giddy feeling. It’s a feeling that that you have a secret that no one else knows about, so you want to just tell as many people as you can about that. It’s like gossip, it’s a big piece of juicy gossip, and you want to share it and get it in the right hand.
Pete Croatto from Episode 231 of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast