Talking Smack

Honest, intimate conversations with some of Australia's best musicians, including Paul Kelly, Gotye, Tina Arena, Phil Jamieson, Steve Kilbey, Mick Harvey and Holly Throsby. Of all the creative industries, the starkest and most distinct link between drug use and creativity lies within music. The two elements seem to be intertwined, inseparable; that mythical phrase 'sex, drugs and rock and roll' has been bandied about with a wink and a grin for decades. But is it all smoke and mirrors, or does that cliché ring true for some of our best - known artists? In this fascinating new book, journalist Andrew McMillen talks with Australian musicians about their thoughts on - and experiences with - illicit, prescription and legal drugs. Through a series of in - depth and intimate interviews, he tells the stories of musicians who, like Paul Kelly, bit into the forbidden fruit and avoided choking. This isn't to say that stories of ruin and redemption are avoided - they're not. But, by having conversations about a subject that's rarely discussed in public, and much less often dealt with honestly, McMillen explores the truths of a contentious topic that isn't going away. Talking Smack is a timely and thought - provoking must - read, and includes interviews with some of our most successful and creative musicians: Paul Kelly Wally de Backer (Gotye) Steve Kilbey (The Church) Phil Jamieson (Grinspoon) Tina Arena Spencer P. Jones (Beasts of Bourbon) Mick Harvey (ex Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) Lindy Morrison (The Go - Betweens) Ian Haug (Powderfinger) Bertie Blackman Tim Levinson (Urthboy) Holly Throsby Jon Toogood (Shihad) Jake Stone (Bluejuice)

Who’s Talking to Your Kids about Drugs and Alcohol, If You’re Not? Report: Parents “Clueless” About Teen Substance Abuse - FOXNEWS.com • It is easier for teenagers to obtain prescription drugs than beer • Forty-two percent of teenagers said they can buy marijuana in one day or less • One-quarter of teenagers said they know a parent of a classmate or a friend who uses marijuana. The survey also says that parents are not setting good examples for their kids. Of all the things a parent worries about when their child is approaching the teen years, ruining their life and their friendships because of substance abuse is at the top. This fear is very real and many parents don’t have a clue where to start. Talking Smack is full of practical tips and stories that will provide great encouragement to parents and show them why earlier rather than later is the time for them to take an active role on this vital issue.

The sports world according to Michael Rapaport—actor, Top 50 podcaster, award-winning film maker, and sports fanatic—from the greatest and downright worst athletes, players, teams, and jerseys, but minus statistics, analytics, or anything else that isn’t pure hustle in this “hell of a book” (Shaquille O'Neal). In 1979, nine-year-old Michael Rapaport decided he was going to do whatever it took to be a pro baller. He practiced and practiced, but by the time he was fifteen, he realized there was no place for a slow, white Jewish kid in the NBA. So, he found another way to channel his obsession with sports: talking trash. In the “crazy, passionate, funny and intense” (Colin Cowherd) This Book Has Balls, Rapaport uses his signature smack-talk style and in-your-face humor to discuss everything from why LeBron will never be like Mike, that Tiger needs the ladies to get his golf game back, and how he once thought Mary Lou Retton was his true love. And, of course, why next year will be the year the New York Knicks win the championship. This book is a series of rants—some controversial, some affectionate, but all incredibly hilarious. “Something is wrong with Michael Rapaport but that’s what makes him right,” (Charlamagne tha God).

11 days. 13 clues. And one kid who won't give up. Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe is "part treasure hunt, part wilderness adventure, and all heart" (Alan Gratz, New York Times bestselling author of Refugee). How far would you go to find something that might not even exist? All her life, Cricket's mama has told her stories about a secret room painted by a mysterious artist. Now Mama's run off, and Cricket thinks the room might be the answer to getting her to come back. If it exists. And if she can find it. Cricket's first clue is a coin from a grown-over ghost town in the woods. So with her daddy's old guidebook and a coat full of snacks stolen from the Cash 'n' Carry, Cricket runs away to find the room. Surviving in the woods isn't easy. While Cricket camps out in an old tree house and looks for clues, she meets the last resident of the ghost town, encounters a poetry-loving dog (who just might hold a key to part of the puzzle), and discovers that sometimes you have to get a little lost . . . to really find your way. 2020 Mississippi Library Association Children's Author Award 2019 Southern Book Award Winner--Children's Category "A tale of adventure, full of mystery." --Robert Beatty, New York Times bestselling author of Serafina and the Black Cloak "An unforgettable story about a gutsy girl who will steal your heart." --Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces "Lyrical and endearing, this debut is a genuine adventure tale." --Kirkus Reviews, Starred

Learn the stories, history, and strategy of the sport's greatest champions—in their own words! Mixed martial arts (MMA) has become one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. With Dana White helping bring Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to prominence and respectability, as well as Conor McGregor becoming one of the sport’s biggest stars, fans are skipping the squared circle for the Octagon. In Champions of the Octagon, writer Fiaz Rafiq interviews many of the greatest MMA and UFC champions of all-time, including Georges St-Pierre, Holly Holm, Daniel Cormier, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Randy Couture, and many others. Readers will learn of their upbringings, their introductions to the sport, and how they worked their way to be the best ever. Spending decades covering the sport and building relationships with those who have fought in the Octagon, Rafiq shares never-before-seen interviews and intimate stories from these greats. Learn from Royce Gracie how his family helped bring Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to America, Anderson Silva on challenging boxing champion Roy Jones Jr., BJ Penn on how he got introduced to MMA, Brock Lesnar on using his skills from WWE and bringing them to UFC, Alexander Volkanovski on a quest to dominate his division, Holly Holm on dethroning Ronda Rousey, and so much more. From the early days of the sport and its rich history to today’s stars and the future of MMA, Champions of the Octagon pulls back the curtain on their lives and careers. Including interviews from thirty-six UFC champions (seventeen Hall of Famers), hear never-before-told stories from the fighters who helped build the sport to what it is today.

Sports-Talk Radio in America looks at major-, medium-, and small-market stations across the United States that feature an all-sports format, with a focus on the unique personalities and programming strategies that make each station successful. Broadcasters, journalists, and academics provide insight on how and why this media phenomenon has become an important influence of American culture, examining the guy talk broadcasting approach, the traditional sports-emphasis approach, HSOs (hot sports opinions), localism in broadcasting, how sports talk radio builds communities of listeners, and how reckless, on-air comments can actually build ratings.

An inside look at the hosts, hot spots, and history of sports-talk radio Sports-Talk Radio in America looks at major-, medium-, and small-market stations across the United States that feature an all-sports format, with a focus on the unique personalities and programming strategies that make each station successful. Broadcasters, journalists, and academics provide insight on how and why this media phenomenon has become an important influence of American culture, examining the “guy talk” broadcasting approach, the traditional sports-emphasis approach, “HSOs” (hot sports opinions), localism in broadcasting, how sports talk radio builds “communities” of listeners, and how reckless, on-air comments can actually build ratings. For better of worse, millions of (mostly) male listeners indulge their obsession with sports to the exclusion of virtually everything else available on the radio dial-music, news, and political talk. This unique book examines how this “niche of the niche” has formed a bond between its hosts and their rabid, passionate, and loyal audiences, spinning the dial from the largest, best-known stations in big-league markets to smaller stations in Collegetown, USA, including Philadelphia’s WIP, “The Ticket,” KTCK in Dallas, WEEI in Boston, “The Team,” WQTM in Orlando, KJR in Seattle, KOZN “The Zone” Omaha, Nebraska, WGR and WNSA in Buffalo, Kansas City’s WHB, and “The Fan,” WFAN in New York, the first all-sports radio station and the blueprint for the format. Sports-Talk Radio in America puts you in the studio with Mike and the Mad Dog, Angelo Cataldi, Howard Eskin, “The Musers” (“Junior” Miller and George Dunham), Norm Hitges, John Dennis and Gerry Callahan, Dan Sileo, Howard Simon, and Art Wander. Sports-Talk Radio in America examines: how stations create an environment in which listeners become part of a social group (social-identity and self-categorization theories) personality-driven programming the station’s commitment to local teams and their fans how exploring controversial topics beyond sports broadens station’s appeal and attracts upscale, affluent audience how an abundance of live, play-by-play broadcasting, creating plenty of available content college sports in a town without a major professional sports team how local sports is framed by hosts and callers the conflicted relationship between sports-talk radio and the print media and much more! Sports-Talk Radio in America is a must-read for academics and professionals working in radio-television and popular culture.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The NBA according to The Sports Guy—now updated with fresh takes on LeBron, the Celtics, and more! Foreword by Malcom Gladwell • “The work of a true fan . . . it might just represent the next phase of sports commentary.”—The Atlantic Bill Simmons, the wildly opinionated and thoroughly entertaining basketball addict known to millions as ESPN’s The Sports Guy, has written the definitive book on the past, present, and future of the NBA. From the age-old question of who actually won the rivalry between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain to the one about which team was truly the best of all time, Simmons opens—and then closes, once and for all—every major pro basketball debate. Then he takes it further by completely reevaluating not only how NBA Hall of Fame inductees should be chosen but how the institution must be reshaped from the ground up, the result being the Pyramid: Simmons’s one-of-a-kind five-level shrine to the ninety-six greatest players in the history of pro basketball. And ultimately he takes fans to the heart of it all, as he uses a conversation with one NBA great to uncover that coveted thing: The Secret of Basketball. Comprehensive, authoritative, controversial, hilarious, and impossible to put down (even for Celtic-haters), The Book of Basketball offers every hardwood fan a courtside seat beside the game’s finest, funniest, and fiercest chronicler.