Breaking In with Kevin Fishbain: A Sports Media Podcast

In episode 40, Kevin chats with Jeff Joniak, the play-by-play voice of the Chicago Bears on ESPN 1000. Joniak is in his 25th season behind the microphone for the Bears and approaching his first home playoff game on the call in seven years. He began his broadcasting career at Iowa State, and then in Chicago where he worked for "Sports Phone." You'll hear how Joniak would spend nights at the radio station, took any assignment he could, and moved his way up in the sports radio scene, including covering the 90's Chicago Bulls teams. And a chance to call a Northern Illinois football game proved significant in his career. Hear how Jeff Joniak broke in.

In episode 39, Kevin chats with Dan Rubenstein, co-host of "The Solid Verbal," the largest independent college football podcast. Rubenstein and Ty Hildenbrandt have hosted the podcast since 2008, and Rubenstein will tell that origin story, how they found each other at Sports Illustrated and how they got their podcast off the ground. He also discusses how driving scripts around Hollywood as an intern led him to start out on his own, filming videos at college football tailgates, and how that niche helped him get his start in sports media. Hear how Dan Rubenstein broke in. 

In episode 38, Kevin chats with Michael Silver, senior NFL writer at The Athletic. Silver has been covering the league since he was on the 49ers' beat in the early 90's. He wrote more than 70 cover stories for Sports Illustrated and also worked for NFL Network and Yahoo Sports. An author of five books, Silver's latest, "The Why Is Everything: A Story of Football, Rivalry and Revolution" is now out in paperback. Silver's origin story goes back to seeing "All the President's Men" as a child, a very intense college newspaper at Cal, and then finding his niche covering the 49ers. Known for his incredible access, Silver will tell many stories about how he earns the trust of the league's power brokers. Hear how Michael Silver broke in.

In episode 37, Kevin chats with Sheil Kapadia, podcast host at The Ringer. Kapadia hosts the Philly Special podcast and The Ringer NFL Show. Prior to his time at The Ringer, Kapadia covered the Philadelphia Eagles at The Athletic. He also was ESPN's Seahawks beat writer for a few seasons. Kapadia got his start working his way through different outlets in Philadelphia, finding ways to set himself apart in the blogging space and garner eyeballs for his Eagles analysis. Eventually it opened the door to an opportunity to be an Eagles beat writer, but that took a lot of grinding. Hear how Sheil Kapadia broke in. 

In episode 36, Kevin chats with Stacey Dales, senior national reporter for NFL Network. Dales has been with NFL Network since 2009, and prior to that, she was an analyst and reporter for ESPN and ABC. She also was an NCAA women's basketball analyst for CBS Westwood Radio. Before her broadcasting career, Dales was a two-time first-team All-American basketball player at Oklahoma. She got her start at ESPN while playing in the WNBA, after being the No. 3 pick in the draft. Dales will discuss her athletic career, and how it led her to broadcasting, the lessons she learned on the basketball court that have helped her as a reporter, and how she got comfortable covering football. Hear how Stacey Dales broke in.