Pablo Torre Finds Out

The Heisman? "An American classic." The World Cup? "Uncircumcised." A white-gloved Pablo welcomes back New York magazine's unfiltered, Pulitzer Prize-winning arbiter of taste to evaluate the history of competitive hardware as sculpture — with a curated tour of shiny balls, stolen chalices and one gigantic mystery box. • Previously on PTFO: Athlete Statues, Reviewed by Pulitzer-Winning Art Critic J...

Why were Taylor Swift's wedding guests and celebrity Knicks fans assigned "risk" scores inside Madison Square Garden's secret VIP database? Who was the karaoke MVP at the wedding afterparty? And would you rather test-drive the "most potent weed beverage known to man" ... or Bill Simmons' colonoscopy? Plus: Guy Fieri, Shaboozey, Polyp George, The Mike Vrabel Sliding Scale of Chivalry, The Blandino...

The reason for this re-air is dire: A wrongfully convicted football fan is running out of time — and legal avenues to pursue. When Pablo sat down with Cowboys superfan Charles Flores in January, Flores’ legal team was working on a Hail Mary: petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to review his case — and to consider whether the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals had violated his right to due process. On...

After months of rumors, journalist Alan Shipnuck investigates why Phil Mickelson has basically vanished from the LIV Golf Tour — and social media. Leading us down a rabbit hole of hidden misconduct claims and exits from three different golf clubs. Not to mention 19 sources, an off-shore oil pipeline and an ex-friend's ex-wife: Ashley Perez. Read Alan Shipnuck’s reporting at Skratch Golf: https://w...

Ex-ESPN president John Skipper was once the most important soccer fan in America. But then he lost the World Cup to FOX — and became a federal witness. So we wanted to know what it’s been like to watch America fall in love with the very tournament Skipper wasn’t allowed to win. And whether federal corruption trials, nine figures worth of commercials and a Trump Tower apartment full of cats can slo...

PTFO keeps winning awards. But what do we do for an encore? How do you make something special without losing our standards — or our minds? Do you guys even enjoy this? Pablo visits Miami to see his friend/boss, Dan Le Batard, and Dan’s producer, Chris Cote. They discuss balancing real life; perspective in the face of grief; Oprah; and figuring out how to serve an audience without missing the point...

He covered soccer before it was cool, promised to go WikiLeaks on FIFA, then got detained and mysteriously collapsed in Qatar. If there was ever someone we needed to hear from, as a global conduit during this corrupt World Cup on American soil, it's Grant Wahl. So his former co-host, Chris Wittyngham — along with his family and one of the many stars he inspired — helps Pablo listen back to Wahl's...

We are numb, as Americans, to the attention of the globe and the power structures of our sports leagues. But what if love of country could be simple again? And what if fans had more power than we thought? Pablo feels the football osmosis from the (banned) bestselling author and his old friend turned MacArthur Genius, as they offer a liberal-arts education in the beautiful game — from the fault in...

New York is palpably horny right now. And happy. So we invited the patron saint of sex and this town to chase euphoria, appreciate the romance of the American idea, advise these young Knicks, remember the halcyon days of HBO... and make the case for reading books in the crowd. • Previously on PTFO: Celebrating These Knicks Title Vibes, with Desus Nice • Subscribe to The Athletic Hosted on Acast. S...

He is the realest member of Team USA — an activist athlete, from Brooklyn and the African diaspora, choosing to represent a divisive nation as it tries bringing the globe a little closer together. In a rare sit-down ahead of the U.S. men's national team match against Australia, Timothy Weah explains the pressure of this moment, the power of soccer over politics... and why the Knicks' good-luck cha...

Did the Knicks owner's pump-up speech help them win it all? Did their players stop fornicating because of it? How much do billionaires matter to championships anyway? And should superstars sacrifice millions for the greater good? David Samson and Domonique Foxworth chart the power and powerlessness of the billionaire class. • Subscribe to "The Domonique Foxworth Show" • Subscribe to "Nothing Perso...

Transcendence on the court. Dancing in the streets. And a drunk Instagram Live for the ages. Why wait 'til the parade? Pablo raises a glass (while devouring an egg-and-cheese) with Desus — his fellow New Yorker and bard of Knicks nation — to the commute of a champion and the beauty of a bandwagon; to the drip of Landry Shamet and the sweat of Patrick Ewing; to KAT and OG and Wu-Tang and, yes, even...

The president's birthday-party fight card is straight out of central casting — and chock-full of political favor-trading. Who stands to gain the most? Luke Thomas unapologetically explains why everyone, from MMA fans to D.C. pundits, is missing the real story... then unearths fresh evidence of a purely transactional relationship. • Take the PTFO audience survey • Subscribe to "Morning Kombat" with...

The biggest party in global sport is underway, and soccer's governing body stands to profit nearly $9 billion. How did FIFA squeeze U.S. taxpayers with so many hidden costs? The Athletic's Adam Crafton crunches the numbers on wasted public money, as Pablo dissects comically absurd demands upon host cities — from "clean" stadiums and super-V.I.P. treatment... to a pop-up jail. • Take the PTFO audie...

Madison Square Garden hasn't felt this alive since a little-known point guard from Harvard became the most popular person in New York City. On the occasion of his grand return, Jeremy Lin sits down with Pablo, who's been covering him since their dorm-room days, for a full-circle conversation about pressure, toughness, fleeting fame, the end of his run with the Knicks, squashing the beef with Carme...

As Adam Silver calls for the NBA's Kawhi Leonard probe to wrap up and Aspiration's co-founder gets 14 years behind bars, Pablo investigates how Steve Ballmer covered his tracks on a side deal of his own — and with the SEC on the case. Former DOJ prosecutor Lou Manzo returns to make sense of the relationship between a billionaire and a fraudster, while David Samson is finally convinced that the ric...

Julie K. Brown went from working in a bell factory to ringing the alarm on masters of the universe and (finally) winning a Pulitzer. The Miami Herald reporter visits Pablo to shed light on the culture of silence that protected Epstein for so long, the legal dream team that struck his secret deal, then how Epstein pulled out all the stops... to stop her investigation. Plus: the whistleblower who ga...

Pablo visits the mayor of New York in his backyard, on the eve of the NBA Finals — and the cusp of heartbreak for his Arsenal F.C. — to discuss Knicks joy, soccer pain, hair loss, Donald Trump, Charles Oakley, Victor Wembanyama's Eid fit and, yes, flopping. Plus: Fellow Arsenal die-hard Adam Friedland checks in, on the state of socialism... and optimism. • Take the PTFO audience survey! • Subscrib...

Can Trump ruin these Knicks vibes? Why are billionaires so sensitive? Just how much of the White House is for sale? And is the pope radical? Or can decency levitate? Plus: the joylessness of a luxury box and… Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as a war criminal. Further content: • The White House Intervened to Get a $620 Million Deal for a Company Tied to Donald Trump Jr. (ProPublica) • The Trader in the Ova...

Ten years ago today, one gorilla's death broke the internet, from sports and politics to million-dollar memes. But Harambe's life was a tragic battle over name, image and likeness — including files the Cincinnati Zoo worked to suppress... until now. Desus Nice and Katie Nolan help Pablo get to the bottom of what gorillas in our midst can teach us about ourselves. • Subscribe to PTFO on YouTube to...

How is preparing for a game show like playing in the NFL? What's the first rule of "Jeopardy!" Fight Club? And why would you bet zero dollars with a million on the line? Plus: Katie Nolan's secret pep talk, Daily Double brain glitch, Spygate... and a buzzer bibliography. Previously on PTFO: • "Celebrity Jeopardy!" Film Study with Mina Kimes and Timothy Simons • Behind the Scenes of Pablo's History...

He dug up Dianna Russini's playlist for Mike Vrabel. And Osama bin Laden's p*rn stash from the CIA. He even got a DM from Bill Belichick's girlfriend on the prowl. Now, David Covucci is shattering the illusion of coaches' power — and the unfathomable pastimes of the billionaire booster class — one embarrassing document bomb at a time. Pablo finds a kindred spirit... and Jessica Smetana makes histo...

Have billionaire owners left us in the twilight of American fandom? Are crying Liverpool fans actually the cure for male loneliness? And is the NFL offseason running out of juice? Would you get married during the Super Bowl on Valentine's Day? Plus: Jim Thome's farm adjacency, Regis Philbin analytics, Gerry and the Pacemakers, institutional investors, the worst pandemic crowd... and feeding a sand...

He's wowed presidents, pro athletes and podcasters. But magicians tell us Oz Pearlman's viral act has crossed an ethical line. Stevie Baskin, after obsessively studying Pearlman's tricks, explains to Pablo how influencers from Charles Barkley to the White House were in on the act — and why he thinks this brand of "mind-reading" amounts to fraud. • Much more from Stevie Baskin's YouTube video • Pre...

What do the tech titans of Silicon Valley and the old heads of traditional broadcast television have in common? Answer: they all need to kiss the ring of Roger Goodell. But will the NFL get too greedy in their continued pursuit of maximum return on their media rights? And why is Rupert Murdoch secretly meeting with Donald Trump? The Sporting Class — aka “Rich Guys OnlyFans” — returns… Read Vanity...