For the second time on the MTTS podcast, we’re presenting our “How’d You Write That?” segment. The first time was with ESPN The Magazine’s Kevin Van Valkenburg on Episode 40, and it should be fairly obvious what this is all about. Before you listen to my interview with Tommy Tomlinson, make sure to read the this ESPN The Mag feature on former Kentucky star/NFL backup quarterback Jared Lorenzen, “You Can’t Quit Cold Turkey.”

In our chat, Tomlinson and I talk about how he crafted his lede and why he circled back to it a few times later in the feature, how Tomlinson established his tone for the story and why he wanted to write simply, and how he structured the entire article (this last portion really fascinated me, by the way). Plus, Tomlinson talks in detail about how he reported the piece and how he handled all the interviews around it.

Interviewed on 8-24-14