Hang Up and Listen

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin discuss Tiger Woods’ Masters win with Slate’s Jim Newell. The New Yorker’s Vinson Cunningham joins to talk about Kyle Korver’s essay on white privilege. Finally, ESPN’s Jeff Passan explains the logic behind Ozzie Albies’ awful contract. Tiger Woods (1:55): His win at the Masters was an all-time great sports moment. Here’s how we’ll remember it. Kyle Korver (24:32) : Wh...

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin discuss the women’s NCAA tournament with Lindsay Gibbs of ThinkProgress. Sports Illustrated’s Chris Ballard also joins to talk about Giannis Antetokounmpo. Finally, Slate’s Jim Newell assesses Donald Trump’s cheating on the golf course. NCAA tournament (2:01): How did Baylor beat defending champ Notre Dame? And what should we make of Baylor coach Kim Mulkey and Notre D...

Stefan Fatsis and Mike Pesca break down the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four and are joined by Lindsay Gibbs of ThinkProgress to discuss the women’s tournament. Ben Lindbergh of the Ringer talks about the new Major League Baseball season. And author Wayne Coffey comes on to discuss his new book, They Said It Couldn’t Be Done , about the miracle New York Mets of 1969. Basketball (2:40): Despite one...

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin discuss Duke’s crazy NCAA Tournament win over UCF. They also talk about Michigan State coach Tom Izzo’s sideline behavior, and Ian Eagle joins the show to explain how play-by-play announcers call buzzer-beaters. Duke-UCF (1:14): How the Blue Devils pulled it out, and how Zion vs. Tacko lived up to its advance billing. Tom Izzo (14:20) : Assessing the national conversat...

Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Ben Mathis-Lilley talk about the field for this year’s NCAA tournament and Zion Williamson’s return to the court. They also discuss the college admissions scandal and the Giants’ move to trade Odell Beckham Jr. to the Browns. March Madness (1:55): Did the selection committee get it right? Will Zion dominate the tournament? Should you root for LSU or Yale? College adm...

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin talk about the basketball recruiting scandal at LSU. The New York Times’ Joe Drape also joins to discuss the deaths of 21 horses at Santa Anita Park. Finally, the Ringer’s Bryan Curtis assesses the sportswriter Dan Jenkins, who died last week at age 90. LSU (1:48): Should webe outraged about what we heard basketball coach Will Wade say on an FBI wiretap? Is Wade a vill...

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by Jemele Hill of the Atlantic to discuss what’s gone wrong with LeBron James and the Lakers. They also talk about Bryce Harper’s $330 million deal with the Phillies and Jason Witten’s return to football after a year in the broadcast booth. LeBron (1:18): We knew the Lakers star would have a tough road in the Western Conference. We didn’t know it would be th...

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by Damon Young to discuss Zion Williamson and the NCAA. ESPN’s Scott Eden also joins to talk about disgraced NBA ref Tim Donaghy and Deadspin’s Dvora Meyers assesses whether breaking should be an Olympic sport.  Zion Williamson (1:24): In the aftermath of his shoe explosion and knee injury, should the 18-year-old superstar leave college basketball for good? ...

Josh Levin is joined by Robert Lipsyte to discuss the settlement between the NFL and ex-49ers Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid. Sean Forman also joins to explain how he built Sports Reference and Tom Junod talks about his article on his father and sports gambling. Colin Kaepernick (3:10): Robert Lipsyte opines on whether Kaepernick or the league emerged victorious and what the next step is for the q...

Josh Levin, NPR’s Gene Demby, and the New Yorker’s Vinson Cunninham discuss the big moves and non-moves at the NBA trade deadline. They also talk about Steven Soderbergh’s new NBA lockout movie High Flying Bird and the nascent Alliance of American Football. NBA trades (1:25): Anthony Davis isn’t going to the Lakers (yet) and Markelle Fultz is leaving Philly. How does that shift the league’s balanc...

Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Slate’s Ben Mathis-Lilley discuss the Patriots’ putrid Super Bowl win over the Rams. The Ringer’s Bryan Curtis also joins to assess Tony Romo’s performance. Finally, they critique the Knicks’ Kristaps Porzingis trade. Super Bowl (1:32): It was a bad game. Very bad. How did the defenses muck things up in such an offense-dominated season? Tony Romo (21:21): The CBS sta...

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by Courtney Nguyen to talk about Naomi Osaka’s Australian Open win. The Wall Street Journal’s Louise Radnofsky also joins to assess the U.S. figure skating championships, and the Washington Post’s Candace Buckner discusses NBA players’ feet. Naomi Osaka (6:22): The 21-year-old backed up her U.S. Open victory with a second grand slam title. Has Osaka matured...

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by The Gist’s Mike Pesca to discuss the NFL’s conference championship games. ESPN’s Steve Fainaru also joins to talk about the collapsing football insurance market, and Ben Lindbergh of the Ringer assesses baseball’s ice-cold free agent market. NFL playoffs (3:51): The Saints got robbed. Does that mean the NFL should institute instant replay for pass interfe...

Josh Levin is here to introduce you to What Next, Slate's new daily news podcast. UCLA’s Katelyn Ohashi wowed the internet this week with a viral video of her college gymnastics floor routine. As Ohashi’s star rises, the U.S. women’s gymnastics program is imploding. Fans of the sport wonder: What is the price of being world-class? Slate contributor Rebecca Schumann joins What Next host Mary Harris...

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by The Football Girl’s Melissa Jacobs to discuss the NFL playoffs. They also talk about the state of black coaches in the NFL and Racquet’s Caitlin Thompson helps assess the career of the (possibly) retiring Andy Murray. NFL playoffs (1:16): What we saw in the divisional round—Pats! Chiefs! Rams! Saints!—and what to expect in the conference championship game...

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by Slate’s Nick Greene to discuss the NFL’s wild card weekend. Jonathan Tjarks of the Ringer also joins to talk about James Harden and Roger Bennett of Men in Blazers assesses Chelsea’s acquisition of Christian Pulisic. NFL playoffs (1:56): Lamar Jackson was bad, Cody Parkey doinked another field goal, and more happening from the opening weekend of the pro f...

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin take listener questions in a special year-end call-in show. Topics include which sports movies are the most realistic, what sports story would make for a great season of Slow Burn, and what would happen if women’s sports were the only ones broadcast on television. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by Shirley Wang to talk about her dad’s friendship with Charles Barkley. Jane Leavy also joins to discuss her Babe Ruth biography The Big Fella, and ESPN’s Joel Anderson helps assess the Mike Tyson-Buster Douglas documentary 42 to 1. Lin Wang and Charles Barkley (1:50): Why Shirley Wang’s story about their unlikely friendship had such a profound effect on so...

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by the New Yorker’s Vinson Cunningham. They discuss Raheem Sterling and racism in English soccer, the 25th anniversary of the FOX-NFL alliance (with the Ringer’s Bryan Curtis), and Stephen Curry’s comments about the moon landing being a hoax. Raheem Sterling (2:26): How an Instagram post started a much-needed conversation about race, society, and soccer. Fox...

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by NPR’s Gene Demby to discuss Heisman winner Kyler Murray’s impending choice between pro baseball and pro football, the Philadelphia 76ers’ chemistry issues with Jimmy Butler in the mix, and the NFL’s request for new punting proposals. Kyler Murray (2:30): Can the Oklahoma star play both football and baseball at the professional level? Should he try? Sixers...

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by ThinkProgress’ Lindsay Gibbs to discuss the Kansas City Chiefs’ decision to cut Kareem Hunt. The New York Times’ Marc Tracy also joins to talk about Alabama’s comeback win in the SEC title game and Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl helps assess Gregg Berhalter, the new head coach of the U.S. men’s soccer team. Kareem Hunt (3:19): The NFL clearly screwed up...

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by SB Nation’s Spencer Hall to discuss Texas A&M’s seven-overtime win over LSU. Joshua Robinson of the Wall Street Journal also joins to talk about the chaos in Argentina surrounding a soccer match between Boca Juniors and River Plate. And Jim Newell assesses The Match between Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods. College overtime (1:23): Football players are...

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by the Athletic’s Ethan Sherwood Strauss to discuss Draymond Green’s beef with Kevin Durant. Oliver Roeder of FiveThirtyEight also joins to talk about the World Chess Championship and the Atlantic’s Derek Thompson talks about income inequality in youth sports. Draymond vs. KD (2:40): Will interpersonal strife tear the Golden State Warriors apart, or is this...

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by the Wall Street Journal’s Ben Cohen to discuss Duke freshman Zion Williamson and the video game–like NBA and NFL. Baseball writer Rob Neyer also joins to discuss Bill James’ claim that baseball players are replaceable. Zion Williamson (4:09): After two games, the Duke star looks like the greatest athlete in the history of basketball. Where can he possibly...

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by the Washington Post’s Rick Maese to talk about the state of the Maryland football program after DJ Durkin’s firing. Slate’s Nick Greene also joins to discuss Buffalo Bills quarterback Nathan Peterman and Bleacher Report’s Mirin Fader explains why WNBA players opted out of their collective bargaining agreement. Maryland (1:07): Maryland suspended D.J. Durk...