Introducing the Mightier Than the Sword podcast

I’ve been thinking about this idea for awhile. Maybe six months or so. I’ve turned it over in my head. I’ve talked to trusted friends and colleagues. I’ve had to go through airport security with a phallic-looking Snowball microphone in my luggage. I’ve thought about what kind of podcast I’d want to hear every week.

Hopefully, I’m starting one that you’d like to ingest as well – thus, the mighty Mightier Than the Sword podcast has been born.

I’m a sports writer, but this isn’t necessarily going to be a sports writing podcast. In fact, chop off the first part of the phrase. It will be a podcast about writing. And about writers, about their backgrounds and about the charcoal-to-bark, pen-to-paper, digits-to-keyboard, fingers-to-smartphone-screen world in which I love to live.

I didn’t care about creating another podcast that broke down the latest big game or previewed the next one upcoming.

I’m more interested in the type of podcast that involve conversations about why we love to do what we love to do. In my case, that’s writing and journalism. So, let’s discuss the craft of writing – why we put this paragraph here instead of two grafs lower, why we thought that line was more effective as a lede rather than the kicker, why you ask the questions you do.

Let’s pontificate on the state of journalism and how we can all do it better. Let’s showcase the journey a top writer took to get where she is or daydream with the recent college grad about where he wants to go.

A couple things you can expect out of the Mightier Than the Sword podcast.

1) I’m a journalist. The story isn’t usually about me. That’s why I’ll mostly refrain from monologues before I introduce my weekly guest. We’ll fade out the sweet intro sounds of my favorite Athens, Ga., band, Asa Nisi Masa, and go right into the conversation with the guest.

2) We’re going to be as timeless as possible. I don’t want somebody who discovers this podcast two years from now having to wade through analysis of games that are 750-days old. The goal is to talk about topics that will matter in a month. Or a year. Or five years. That, to me, leaves a weighty imprint on this podcast that won’t ever dissolve.

3) I want listeners involved. I want to hear your questions, and I want to hear about your suggestions for interesting guests. This won’t be a democracy, but I promise to be a benevolent king.

So, that’s that. If you want even more of an introduction or to listen to more details about my background and about my goals for the podcast, take a listen. And, in the months ahead, keep listening and listening and listening to those stories behind the storytellers.

This week’s guest (7-24): C. Trent Rosecrans, Cincinnati Enquirer, Reds beat writer