The Joy Series: Superstation WTBS

On Ted Turner, the 1983 Braves, and the wonder of watching Atlanta baseball on a superstation in the middle of the night.

We are a little more than a week away from the release of Mike’s and my book, BIG FAN. The book is now showing up in the wild … which is thrilling. It has been a long wait for us; the longest wait I’ve ever had between finishing a book and its release date. Mike and I have been so eager to talk about the book, our adventures, the Easter Eggs, etc. Well, we’ve made it. We’re doing a whole bunch of interviews next week. We’ll do a special PosCast. We’ll probably have a BIG FAN exclusive conversation here where we’ll answer your questions.

And then we hit the road.

Sunday, May 17: Barnes & Noble at the Arboretum in Charlotte at 2 p.m. (Tickets)

Monday, May 18: The Strand, New York, 8 p.m. with Seth Meyers (Sold Out)

Tuesday, May 19: The Brattle Theater, Cambridge, 6 p.m., with Howard Bryant (Tickets)

Wednesday, May 20: St. Louis County Library, St. Louis, 7 p.m., with Gerald Early (Tickets)

Thursday, May 21: Unity Temple on the Plaza, Kansas City, 7 p.m., with Jason Kander (Tickets)

Friday, May 22: Hermosa Beach Community Center with our great pal, the brilliant Justin Halpern (Colin Hanks had a family obligation come up), 5 p,.m. (Tickets).

You can preorder the book — including signed copies — from your favorite book-filling station here.

Today’s Joy Series is about Ted Turner, who died on Wednesday at age 87. He was weird and one-of-a-kind and a different kind of billionaire, I think. I get into a little of that. But the essay is even more about the joy of the old Superstation, WTBS, and includes a little rundown of the 1983 Braves as I remember them from my high school years. Clubhouse members, come on down! If you’d like to be a part of the Clubhouse, not for more exactly but to be a bigger part of what we do here, we’d love to have you.