Episode 554 - Brett Martin

Ten years can be a lifetime (or two or three): Brett Martin returns to the show to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his book DIFFICULT MEN: Behind the Scenes of a Creative Revolution (Penguin), and we talk about how the TV landscape — prestige & otherwise — has changed in the past decade, how it felt to revisit the book 10 years later, and why this anniversary was more startling than his turning 50. We get into how Difficult Men was lauded for its criticism and analysis at the time but now shines for its reporting and character studies, how the explosion of prestige TV was unsustainable but led to amazing shows, how the #metoo movement intersected with male-dominated writers' rooms (and which show-creators in Difficult Men looked bad 10 years ago & worse now), and his feelings about the writers' and actors' strikes. We also discuss Brett's writing career, what food media really talks about, his reporting on the history (& racial complexities) of Preservation Hall, what he's learned about interviewing, why he's crushed by the retirement of Bartolo Colon, what our favorite eras of M*A*S*H are, why he's enjoying the heck out of Inkmaster and the new Night Court, and a lot more. Follow Brett on Twitter, Bluesky and Instagram • More info at our site • Support The Virtual Memories Show via Patreon or Paypal and via our Substack