GeraldBrennan

First off, I’m a big fan—Apollo 13 in particular is a favorite of mine, and something that’s inspired some of my own work as a space author.

You’ve obviously made a few movies based on real events, and characters both living (Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, John Forbes Nash, Niki Lauda) and dead (Jack Swigert, James Hunt, James Braddock). And some of your works have become the most-remembered telling of those lives and stories. Obviously you have to take a certain amount of artistic license to tell their stories…how much latitude do you give yourself for the sake of a good story? And is it easier or harder to write about people who are still alive, and who may to take issue with their portrayal?

Very cool answer, and thanks for the AMA! I like to think in terms of "respect, not reverence" with historical characters--staying generally true to who they were and what made them tick, but treating them as a real person to be understood, rather than a statue on a pedestal.

I know, right? I should have just pulled a Costanza. "That's it! I'm out!"

What music are you listening to these days?

It’s been said that the internet is moving us away from a “broadcast” society and towards a “narrowcast” one, where everyone’s news is tailored to them, and audiences are smaller but more passionate. What do you dislike (or like) about this? Do you think we’ll ever get back to a broad national consensus on what’s important and newsworthy? Should we try?