528. Kate Fagan, Best-Selling Author, Sports Reporter, & Commentator

Ali on the Run Show

Ali Feller

Fitness, Sports, Running, Health & Fitness

4.9 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 June 2022

⏱️ 101 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"I have to trust that I have something I want to say, and just double down on that."

Kate Fagan is one of today's most important voices in women's sports. She is the best-selling author of three books — and is best-known in the running community as the author of What Made Maddy Run, about University of Pennsylvania runner Madison Holleran. Kate spent seven years as a columnist and feature writer for ESPN, she was a regular panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn, and she was host of Outside the Lines. Today, she writes for Sports Illustrated, and is co-host of the Off the Looking Glass podcast. In this conversation, we talk about Kate's road to writing greatness, including why she never really wanted to be on TV, the compromises she made to herself along the way, and her time as a Division-1 basketball player struggling with her sexuality and identity while at the University of Colorado Boulder. She talks about the process of writing Split Image, and later writing What Made Maddy Run, and the emotions involved in both. Plus: all about Kate's recent TEDxBoston talk, her take on why we watch sports, and her wishes for the future of women's sports.

SPONSOR: UCAN — Go to ucan.co/ali and use code ALI for 20% off your next UCAN order.

What you'll get on this episode:

What Kate's watching right now, and what's making her happy (4:30)
All about Kate's writing process (8:00)
On caring — or not — about what people think, why Kate never wanted to be on TV, and her dreams for a women-centric sports show (9:30)
Kate's efforts to get women's sports covered by ESPN (24:30)
Kate's TEDxBoston experience (28:45)
"Stakes & Storylines" (35:20)
How Kate got involved in sports (47:00)
Kate's college dreams at University of Colorado at Boulder, and how she reflects now on her college experience (52:00)
How Kate became a magazine writer and book author (58:00)
Reflecting on Split Image and What Made Maddy Run (1:05:30)
Writing as a therapeutic process (1:19:40)
A day in the life of Kate Fagan (1:22:15)

For more, check out:

What Made Maddy Run by Kate Fagan

All the Colors Came Out by Kate Fagan

The Reappearing Act by Kate Fagan

Ali's TEDxBoston talk

Kate's TEDxBoston talk

Split Image by Kate Fagan for ESPN

Kara Goucher on Episode 525 of the Ali on the Run Show

Follow Kate:

Follow Ali:

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode of The Alley on the Run Show is brought to you by YouCan.
0:04.4	Go to youcan.co slash alley and use code alley to get 20% off your next YouCan order.
0:11.3	Welcome to The Alley on the Run Show.
0:18.1	I'm your host Alley Feller and every week I talk with people who are doing exciting things
0:23.6	on the run and beyond. We all share that love for running and that's what brings us all together.
0:29.0	But of course there's more to life than what happens on the run itself.
0:32.8	And this show is about those in-between. We are talking about the moments and decisions
0:37.8	that have shaped who we are today and the wise. Why do we do what we do?
0:42.5	And how does getting sweaty factor in? I am thrilled and I am honored to welcome one of my
0:49.5	favorite writers to The Alley on the Run Show today. Kate Fagan is here. Kate is a writer for
0:56.1	Sports Illustrated and before that she spent seven years as a columnist and feature writer
1:01.4	for espnwespn.com and espn the magazine. If you're a sports lover you've probably also seen her
1:08.4	on your TV. She was a regular panelist on espn's Around the Horn and host of Outside the Lines.
1:15.4	Kate has written three brilliant books and the running community probably knows her best for
1:20.7	writing the book What Made Maddie Run. This is such a powerful piece of work. It's an emotional
1:26.7	read but it's such an important one. It's about University of Pennsylvania runner Madison Halloran
1:32.5	who died by suicide in 2014. I had the privilege of meeting Kate last month at the TEDx Boston
1:38.6	event where we were both speakers and I immediately loved her energy. This woman is brilliant and she
1:44.4	is such an important voice in women's sports. We talked for an hour and a half here so this one's
1:50.2	nice and long. If you've got a long run on tap for the weekend then we could have easily kept going.
1:55.2	I think we need a part two. Please join me in welcoming best-selling author Kate Fagan to the Alley
2:00.8	on the Run Show. All right, longtime listeners of the Alley on the Run Show know that I am very
	...

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