191 episodes

Writing advice? We've got that. A podcast that gets your favorite writers to spill their secrets. Every episode is a new writer: comic artists to Broadway scribes, sports reporters to authors.

The Other 51 Brian Moritz

    • Society & Culture
    • 5.0 • 13 Ratings

Writing advice? We've got that. A podcast that gets your favorite writers to spill their secrets. Every episode is a new writer: comic artists to Broadway scribes, sports reporters to authors.

    Slime Time with Alex Brightman

    Slime Time with Alex Brightman

    “Come in for the show, stay for the tears.”

    Alex Brightman joins Brian to talk about Broadway and writing, including a deep dive into his play “The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers.”

    A two-time Tony Nominee (for School of Rock and Beetlejuice), Alex tells Brian how a YouTube series, a production of Grease, and a shared affinity for Old Hollywood led to him writing a one-man show for Marc Summers based on the Double Dare host’s life. What exactly is a “part interactive game show, part memoir?”

    Alex describes the process of writing the show, including the ah-ha moment that made him realize there was something special here.

    Alex also tells the story of how he and Drew Gasparini met, became fast friends and writing partners, and how they work together. Alex also discusses how he fits writing into an already busy acting schedule and some of the projects he’s working on now.

    Rabbit holes include our shared reverence for calendars, and how Simon’s mom reacted to his message (IYKYK).

    • 32 min
    Very Sparkly Writers with Joe Iconis

    Very Sparkly Writers with Joe Iconis

    “Oh, I wrote a musical about me. I really did. This is just me.”

    Joe Iconis, one of the best writers on Broadway and one of Brian’s favorite people, joins us on The Other 51 to talk all about The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical. 

    Yep, that’s the name of Joe’s most recent show, which debuted at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego in 2023. 

    Joe tells the story of the name and why it’s so appropriate for a show about Hunter S. Thompson. Joe also discusses why the show is unauthorized, what that meant for him trying to write a show without being able to use a famous writers’ words, and why it was scary but ultimately rewarding. 

    Joe and Brian also discuss the show’s multivolume coffee table book trip from an idea in 2007 to the stage 16 years later, what’s next for the show, and the difference for Joe between writing music and writing a script.  

    Rabbit holes include the coming Broadway Thinkpieces and Huey Lewis and the News. We also get a Diane Kitten update. 

    “Let there be things that are weird and strange. And good and true.”

    • 36 min
    Show Up with Liz Robbins

    Show Up with Liz Robbins

    “Do the work. Show Up. Show you care by listening.”

    Liz Robbins joins Brian to talk about her remarkable career as a journalist, covering everything from the NBA to U.S. immigration policy. 

    Liz tells stories about what it was like to cover sports in Cleveland in the late 1990s, including how she broke the news that the WNBA would be forming and traveled on a private jet with Tim Couch. This was the last golden age of traditional newspaper sports journalism, and Liz describes what that was like. 

    Liz also details how broke a story for The Times that led to the U.S. government literally changing one of its immigration policies. Writing topics include how Liz knows she’s done reporting and ready to write, how to build a network of sources, and how to protect your mental health while covering tough stories. 

    Rabbit holes include the only time in Liz’s career that she was star struck, Susan Sarandon in Rocky Horror Picture Show, Larry Brown yelling at her, and the St. Bonaventure-Kentucky NCAA Tournament game in 2000. 

    • 34 min
    Feel Like a Writer with Dave Karpf

    Feel Like a Writer with Dave Karpf

    “I ended up throughout the midst of the pandemic feeling like I couldn’t write anything anymore.”

    Dave Karpf, author of the must-read “The Future, Now and Then” on Substack, joins Brian to talk about writing, the internet, and more.

    Dave and Brian discuss this week’s news about Bluesky opening itself to the public, and why the years where there wasn't a lot of money in it was when the internet was the best.

    Dave, a political science professor at George Washington University, talks about how he built a weekly writing practice on Substack, and how it helped him unstick as a writer. He talks about his writing about the intersection of technology and society, what we can learn about the present and the future by the stories tech evangelists told us in the past, and the most bonkers thing he’s read in the Wired Magazine archives.

    “This is what happens when you give a guy like me tenure”

    • 32 min
    Working with Words with Wendell Barnhouse

    Working with Words with Wendell Barnhouse

    Wendell Barnhouse joins Brian to talk about his long and storied career as a sports journalist.

    Wendell talks about what it was like to cover Duke-Kentucky in the 1992 NCAA men’s  Tournament (the Christian Laettner shot), how doing layout and editing stories for 13 years helped him be a better writer, and why he views himself as more of a craftsman than an artist. 

    Rabbit holes include the old SportsJournalists.com message boards, and the eternal question of how do you castrate an orange?

    • 35 min
    Get It On the Page with Joe Posnanski

    Get It On the Page with Joe Posnanski

    Joe Posnanski joins Brian this week to talk all about his new book, “Why We Love Baseball.” 

    In the introduction to this book, Joe writes that "This is the book I always hoped would be on the shelf” of his library when he was a kid. In this episode, he tells Brian why this would have been the perfect book for him when he was 10 years old. 

    Joe discusses how he had the title of the book before anything else, how he developed the book’s structure, and how he came up with the structures for all 108(ish) essays in the book.

    Joe also talks about what he has learned about himself as a writer over the yearsl, and the importance of discipline in writing.

    Rabbit holes include our current Taylor Swift eras, Ozzie Smith YouTube, and the dump ballparks of our youth. 

    • 33 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
13 Ratings

13 Ratings

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