The Monthly Mailbag With Ryan Brown

Hello Dispatch members,

First, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and are ready for 2025. Personally, I’m hoping for a little less chaos than we all got in 2024, but by the looks of it that probably won’t happen. Don’t worry though, whatever happens in the world next year, The Dispatch has you covered with in-depth reporting and thoughtful analysis.

Now that I’ve “toed the company line” a little bit, I can get to your questions. Thank you to all who left questions and comments! I’ve been at The Dispatch for nearly four years now, and I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know some of you a little bit (Hi, John Daly!) in my different roles at the company. I consider it a privilege to work here and to interact with members like you as much as I do. Let’s get to the mailbag.

JohnM. asked where I’m from and how I ended up in D.C.

I was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the hometown of my favorite president, Gerald Ford. I love Grand Rapids and still think Michigan is the most beautiful state in the country. Just don’t tell anyone else, because northern Michigan gets enough tourists as it is. 

After high school, I attended John Carroll University (go Blue Streaks!), a small, Jesuit school in Cleveland, Ohio. JCU just so happens to be the alma mater of longtime Meet the Press moderator Tim Russert who, as many of you probably know, died suddenly in 2008. To honor his legacy as one of the most influential journalists in recent history, a fellowship was set up in his name. Only two people were chosen for the role every year—one from applications nationwide, and one from John Carroll University.

When I applied to JCU and took a tour of the campus, I remember hearing about the fellowship and thinking to myself, “Wow, there’s no way I would ever get that—but whoever does is one lucky graduate.” Well, four years after thinking that to myself, I decided to apply—and became that lucky graduate! The Tim Russert Fellowship changed the course of not only my career, but my entire life.

I moved to Washington, D.C., after graduation and have been here ever since. The fellowship provided me a foot in the door at NBC News, where I spent two years with Meet the Press, “the longest-running show in television history.” All of my colleagues were incredibly kind and helpful, and the job offered me a crash course in political journalism and media.

I really enjoyed my time at the show and wouldn’t trade it for anything, but I was ready for a new challenge after two-and-a-half years—and had my heart set on The Dispatch. I very much remembered hearing about Steve Hayes and Jonah Goldberg working on a “special project,” and my high school buddy Connor had turned me on to The Remnant podcast long before that.

I had heard Chuck Todd, then the host of Meet the Press, mention The Dispatch and Steve Hayes in conversation several times, and figured that was my “in.” I asked Chuck if he’d put in a good word, and being the good man that he is, he did! 

Keep in mind, I had just asked a start-up media company for a job more or less in the middle of the pandemic. I figured my odds were low, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask. I soon found out, The Dispatch was hiring for one very specific role. My skills must have matched up, because a few months later I was hired as a reporter and podcast producer. 

Angie asked why I switched to the business side of The Dispatch and a few others asked if I’m the one that helped with a membership issue they had.

The answer to the latter question is most likely yes: I am indeed the “Young Ryan” often mentioned in the comment section. That said, my colleague Valerie Smith (who herself wrote a mailbag a few months ago) is often helping members—and we recently hired some more assistance on the customer service side of things as well. (Shoutout to Hannah, who has been fantastic and made all of our lives on the “biz side” much easier.) So you’ve probably heard from them, as well.

The truth is that I’ve worn a lot of different hats here at The Dispatch, from podcast editing, to reporting, to customer service. For a while, Jonah referred to me as a “roaming free safety” at the company. One of the advantages of working at a startup like The Dispatch is that there are lots of opportunities to raise your hand to try different things: all sorts of work has to get done, and there aren’t a lot of people around to do it. 

I quickly found myself raising my hand many times. Before long, I was a Hill reporter, spending hours on end roaming the halls of the U.S. Capitol. As much fun as that is, I quickly realized that to get really good at that job I was going to have to spend a lot more time up there than I was willing to give. 

Luckily, The Dispatch was also looking to hire more people on the business side of the operation around that time—specifically a “community manager” to help with customer service and regional events. Again, my hand shot up at the opportunity. So I took off my proverbial press hat, put on my nicest suit and tie, and joined the business side. (Who am I kidding? We don’t wear suits and ties here—have you seen what Steve and Jonah have on for Dispatch Live?)

More recently, my role has shifted to focus on revenue generation at The Dispatch. Now, I spend most of my time securing advertisers for our podcasts and newsletters and implementing those advertising campaigns. We’re also looking to host many more events like The Dispatch Summit we held in November, and I’ll be plenty involved in that effort as well. Stay tuned for more exciting news on that front!

Thank you, DJElmore, Richard Kennedy, and Angie, for taking the (dare I call it) “clickbait” and asking what Sen. Mitt Romney had to do with me meeting my wife. That prompt was really just an excuse to put our “meet cute” story into the official record. Here it goes!

As mentioned above, I was originally a Capitol Hill reporter for The Dispatch, focusing primarily on the negotiations that eventually led to the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Like any young reporter, I was on the prowl for scoops and sources—not necessarily a wife. I knew Romney was one of the senators working on the infrastructure bill, so I decided to email a few people in his office to see if anyone would get coffee with me to discuss the ongoing negotiations. 

I did not hear back for more than a month and a half. I thought it was a dead end. But Sen. Romney’s press secretary, Arielle Mueller, eventually emailed me and let me know she could meet the following week.

Now, before you get the wrong idea—I was not asking her out on a date: introductory coffees like this happen all the time on the Hill. They are typically pretty short and consist pretty much exclusively of work-related questions. The goal is more or less to put a face to a name you’re emailing with. I didn’t even know what this Arielle person looked like when I showed up at the coffee shop. (For all you Hill people reading this, we met at Cups on the Senate side.)

Anyway, we ended up talking for more than an hour. The conversation quickly shifted away from work when we realized we were both from the Midwest (Arielle is from Minnesota, and I’m from Michigan). I left the coffee thinking, “I’m not sure she’s going to help my reporting, but I really want to talk to her again…” She, on the other hand, had much more pressing things on her mind and didn’t exactly leave thinking the same thing. But, nevertheless, I persisted.

To make a long story short, I asked for more and more coffee meetings. Eventually, she did start to take a liking to me and said, “I can’t keep taking time out of my work day to have coffee with you, but how about we meet for drinks?” I got the hint after that. I like to (somewhat) jokingly say she made the first move by asking me for drinks, but to be honest, she just cracked the door open enough for me to realize that she was indeed not going to be a source for my reporting, but a source for a lifetime of love and happiness. (Editor’s Note: Awwwwww 🥹.)

We got married at St. Joseph’s on Capitol Hill a year and a half after our first coffee, and we have one daughter and another baby (boy!) on the way. Who would have thought that coffee at Cups would lead to so much?

Next topic: the Detroit Lions. Thank you EricRemcon and Kwasi_Broni for indulging me and asking about the Brand New Lions. 

I have been a Lions fan from the moment I was born. We watched the Lions every Sunday growing up in Michigan—even when they were the worst team in the league and, eventually, in the history of the NFL. 

My mom always made a heaping mound of popcorn and we’d all sit back, watch the game, and listen to my dad point out all of the things the coaches were doing wrong. (He was usually right, by the way.) When the team wasn’t good, my mom would sneak M&M’s into the bottom of the popcorn bowls, I think in an effort to make sure we had something to look forward to.

To see the team doing so well now is almost unbelievable. Eric asked what I think the downfall of the Lions will be this year and to that I say, get that negative energy out of here and let’s stay positive! Sure, the team is a little banged up, but with Dan Campbell at the helm, I think anything is possible. It has been a thrill to see them play like a Super Bowl-worthy team—especially when they beat the Packers and Bears (sorry, Steve and Declan!). Safe to say, my dad has much less advice for Coach Campbell than he had for his predecessors.

I loved all the golf questions from Denise Cote, TAGSFan, Dsev53, John Matthew IV, and my colleague Victoria. There were a lot of different questions, so I’ll try to get to them all in a lightning round.

Favorite YouTube Golfer: Bob Does Sports has to be my favorite YouTube golf channel (TMD’s Grayson Logue and I have that in common). They are just three normal guys who are able to make playing golf and having fun immensely entertaining—in part because they show the bad shots along with the good ones. If I wanted to see perfect rounds, I’d watch the PGA Tour.

Tiger or Jack?: Glaring personal issues aside, I think Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer to ever play the game. In his prime, he didn’t just win a lot—he dominated the sport. He may never beat Jack’s all-time majors record, but he’s got plenty of other accolades that prove his greatness. He’s also a big reason why people my age even like golf at all. If not for Tiger, I’m not sure golf would be as big of a deal as it is now.

My favorite current golfer: Scottie Scheffler. Now, before the real golf fans start accusing me of being a bandwagon fan, I have to say I was a fan of Scottie’s before his record-setting run last year. Why? Because he often reminds his fans and the media that golf is just a game and that there’s more important things in life, like faith and family. Oh, and he didn’t leave for LIV. That helps. 

Golf courses: As much as I love to watch golf, I am not as skilled at playing the game as I’d like to be. So, although I’d love to some day, I generally don’t play the fancy courses some of you mentioned. Right now, most of my rounds are at the various municipal courses around D.C.—although there is a cool course in Maryland called Renditions that is really fun to play. Each hole is a replica of a famous hole in golf history.

Finally, eagle-eyed Matt.Wavro, John Matthew IV, and Reachstew noticed the picture I used taken in Ireland …

Impressive geolocating, you three! You are correct, that is the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare, Ireland. My wife and I took a trip there last year. (Thanks for babysitting our daughter, Mom!) I’m more of a homebody and don’t love to travel all that much, but when I do, I love going to Ireland. In fact, I’ve told my wife that, as long as we go to Ireland every now and then, we probably don’t need to explore the rest of the world very much.

Give me a crowded pub, a pint of Guinness, and a session of Irish music in the corner and I’m a happy man.