Dedicated with Doug Brunt

Julian Sancton: dry martini (3 ounces gin, 2 drops dry vermouth, lemon twist)
Julian shares the greatest sunken treasure story of all time (and it’s real) that makes the treasure of the Outer Banks tv series look puny, warns of the harm that Bob Iger and Disney’s move into OpenAI could do, discusses the impact that podcasts will have on the media landscape, reveals the pros and cons of growing up with a father and grandfather who are published authors.

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Grant Ginder: Negroni (1 ounce each of gin, sweet vermouth, Campari served with orange rind)
Grant tells the story of taking a fiction writing class with Colson Whitehead, describes his reaction to reading drafts of the screenplay for his novel The People We Hate at the Wedding that starred Kristen Bell and Allison Janney, reveals what you can expect from the writing course he teaches at NYU, talks about the process of writing speeches for John Podesta and others, offers a powerful piece of advice for aspiring writers. 

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Brad Meltzer: Asombroso tequila, neat  
Brad discusses the elusiveness of closure in life and how writing THE VIPER helped him come to terms with his own relationship with his father, reveals certain aspects of the top-secret Dover Air Force Base, shares the mysterious ways that witness protection has changed, gives the behind-the-scenes story of his wildly viral commencement speech at Michigan, and names his favorite podcast. 

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Doug Picks 4 books for 2026 with background noise provided by his dog Thunder who is romping in the snow

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Catherine Grace Katz: Gunner (equal parts ginger beer & ginger ale with fresh lime juice and dash bitters)
Catherine describes how Stalin made an emergency dash to the bathroom during the 1945 Yalta conference which was briefly mistaken for an American kidnapping plot, the treasures she found in personal letters of the Churchill and Harriman archives, the friendships and rivalries and sexual affairs that took place in the insular wartime diplomatic community, the key piece of advice she followed throughout the writing process to make the book a success, and which of the Big 3 had the most significant impact on the 20th century. 

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