We Regret To Inform You: The Rejection Podcast

Willie O’Ree made history in 1958, when the Boston Bruin became the first Black player in the NHL. It is a heroic story of strength, courage and resilience. Hope you’ll join us.The major source for this episode is Willie: The Game-Changing Story of the NHL's First Black Player by Willie O’Ree and Michael McKinley. 

Welcome to another Minisode. This week, we travel to 30 Rock and take a look at courage through the eyes of hopeful [comma] sweaty young comedians.

On “The Beatlology Interviews,” Biographer David Sheff talks to Terry about the rejection and resilience of Yoko Ono.Listen to more Beatlology Interviews in the Under the Influence feed.

Welcome to another “Minisode” – where we zoom in on individual moments or facets of rejection we’ve come across in our research. This week, let us introduce you to Yankees superfan Gwen Goldman, as we reopen a rejection letter dated June 23, 1961.

The novel Slow Horses by Mick Herron tells the story of a team of disgraced MI5 agents assigned to a bureaucratic dumping ground known as Slough House. They’re, by all accounts, failures – demoted from top tier intelligence to basement busy work. That is, until a kidnapping case lands squarely on their dusty desks – thrusting the slow horses into fast paced espionage.The irony? That book was rejected. For seven years. Then it was pitched as a television series – and rejected by multiple networks. To quote Slough House loser-in-chief Jackson Lamb: “They’re losers. But they’re my losers.”Hope you’ll join us.

In Part Two of our Rejecting Dawn Staley episode, Staley is informed of her shortcomings, it’s play abroad or die trying – and a dusty VCR tape changes her life.

Dawn Staley graduated high school National Player of the Year. She went on to become a two-time National College Player of the Year. She is a five-time WNBA All-Star, a three-time Olympic gold medallist and was the United States flag bearer at the 2004 Games. As a coach, she has won three NCAA titles, four National Coach of the Year titles, and the hall-of-famer coached Team USA to Olympic gold in 2020. Yet, Dawn Staley was told basketball was for boys. Hope you’ll join us.The major source behind this episode is: "Uncommon Favor: Basketball, North Philly, My Mother, and the Life Lessons I Learned from All Three" by Dawn Staley.

For our first episode back, we bring you the stories of two bad guys. Breaking Bad guys – Bryan Cranston aka Walter White and Giancarlo Esposito aka Gus Fring. Both spent decades bouncing around Hollywood. Both faced major rejection. Both the least suspecting drug overlords of all time. ICYMI, Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan has a rejection story of his own. The pilot for Breaking Bad was rejected by Showtime, FX, TNT & HBO. Find our "Rejecting Breaking Bad" episode here.Hope you’ll join us.