Episode 49: Tom Junod
Tom Junod is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com. He joined ESPN after spending nearly 20 years at Esquire Magazine, which he left after former editor-in-chief David Granger was fired earlier this year.\nJunod is one of the most decorated magazine writers of his generation. He has been a finalist for the National Magazine Award 11 times, and has won twice. His story, \u201cThe Death of Patient Zero,\u201d won the June L. Biedler Prize for cancer writing earlier this year. He\u2019s been anthologized in The Best American Magazine Writing, Best American Sports Writing, Best American Political Writing, Best American Crime Writing and even Best American Food Writing. \nFor Esquire\u2019s 75th anniversary issue, editors at the magazine selected his 9-11 story \u201cThe Falling Man\u201d as one of the top seven stories in the magazine\u2019s history.\nIn this episode, Junod talks about the first story he reported for ESPN (his second story overall), a piece titled \u201cEugene Monroe Has A Football Problem.\u201d The story is about the retired NFL lineman who spoke out earlier this year about the NFL needing to change its policy toward marijuana. \nHe also talks about a piece that just went live on ESPN.com, titled \u201cIn Defense of Participation Trophies.\u201d