The Jacobin Sports Show

Halloween season brings out the darkness in this episode. First Matthew and Jonah discuss Major League Baseball's disgusting defense of Atlanta Braves fans' disgusting tomahawk chop celebration. Then they discuss the NHL and Chicago Blackhawks' powers prioritizing profit and protecting their interests over prosecuting a sexual predator who molested Kyle Beach and went on to abuse more hockey playe...

Another NBA season is upon us! Mark Schindler joins us to preview stories around the league. Can the Lakers Big 3 lead them to a title? Is Denver a contender with Jamal Murray out much of the year? Does anyone know what to make of Dallas? How good is Chicago? New York? Indiana? All that plus Mark's insights on standout rookie Evan Mobley, Jonah getting in his feelings when Matthew makes a Celtics...

Jon Gruden's ugly emails and uglier defense of them. The Saudi royal family's purchase of Newcastle United to hide their crimes. Kyrie Irving's abstruse "the personal is political" defense of jobs over lives. Is there any thread linking these sad actors? Matthew and Jonah look for one in a wide-ranging conversation that probably raises more questions than answers. Follow the Jacobin Sports Sh...

Podcast superstar Haley O'Shaughnessy hops onboard to talk about the NBA's anti-vaxx sect and what the reaction and coverage to it tells us about the players, the media, and celebrity culture. Then we play truth or dare with NBA title faves, beautiful arena names, Tom Brady and returning to old haunts, emotional sports reunions, teams we'd re-relocate back to their original homes, and more! H...

Choose your kink: dynasties or parity? One-game playoffs or longer series? Jonah and Matthew discuss this as well as the NFL's winless and lossless teams, the WNBA playoffs (including why the New York Liberty are not Great Britain in World War II), an ode to Jayson Tatum, Ben Simmons listener email, and more. Follow the Jacobin Sports Show on Twitter: @JacobinSports Email us: jacobinsports@gmail.c...

Matthew and Jonah converse about much in the world of sports: What do Patriots fans make of Mac Jones after Week 1's loss? How did Nietzsche predict the Jets' QB situation? Why does Jonah, a Red Sox fan, hope they don't make the playoffs, and why does that make Matthew feel like Rick Moranis in  Ghostbusters ? Is the wealth disparity in European soccer a problem, or business as usual? All thi...

Los Angeles Football Club's assistant general manager Will Kuntz joins the show to talk about the club, Major League Soccer, and his career path from New York Yankees intern to the LAFC front office. Topics discussed include what it was like reporting to George Steinbrenner, the path that led him from MLB to MLS, the state of LAFC, and how the club's identity reflects the culture of Los Angeles. F...

Hell is other people and in this episode Matthew & Jonah take aim at a number of them: Manchester City for the Cristiano Ronaldo-to-United stunner, the NY Post for juxtaposing Benjamin Mendy's rape charges with his career resume, the New York Mets for Mets-ing, the media for confusing "immaculate" and "perfect," and people making fun of the Dell & Sonya Curry breakup. Matthew even reveals...

This week's guest, Brian Menéndez of Baseball Prospectus and FiveThirtyEight, hops on to talk baseball: why the Rays and Braves are ahead of the Yankees, Red Sox and Mets, the Astros' and Giants' turnarounds, and who's the best player in the game (spoiler: it's not Shohei Otani). The pod ends McLaughlin Group-style with Matthew asking Brian and Jonah their stance on various MLB rule changes....

Sports and culture scholar Dr. Johanna Mellis joins the pod for a discussion on athletes, mental health, and the failure of organizations to care for or about them. We start with Hungarian Olympic athletes during the Cold War who defected to the West only to find that capitalist conditions were often no better than what they left behind. We discuss how their activism created positive changes in th...

Kemba to the Knicks! Kyle Lowry to the Heat! Enes Kanter to Boston! On this special off-season edition of the Jacobin Sports Show, Matthew and Jonah discuss the first week of NBA free agency, why Russell Westbrook could work with the Lakers, how Elfrid Payton is like a greenhouse flower, why Shaquille O'Neal does so many commercials, how the fall of Communism cost the world Olympic superteams from...

This week the pod welcomes Alex Wolfe ( @thealexwolfe ), head of The Strickland and formerly of Sports Illustrated, as well as draft expert Prezidente ( @_prezidente ). We discuss the exploitative nature of working in sports media today, what led Alex to create his own successful site, and Prez's thoughts on this year's draft class. Matthew and Jonah then discuss the reactions to Simone Biles's ca...

It’s mid-July and the weather isn’t all that’s heating up. Matthew and Jonah digest a dramatic Game 4 of the NBA finals, England’s heartbreaking loss in the European championship, ESPN having its ugly cake and eating it too, a WNBA idea the NBA should adopt, and more. Follow the Jacobin Sports Show on Twitter: @JacobinSports Email us: jacobinsports@gmail.com

Matthew and Jonah discuss NBA playoff injuries and debrief the careless hirings of Jason Kidd and Chauncey Billups. They also talk about the NBA playoffs, the Euros, whether the rapid arrest of a Tour de France fan is good or bad for civilization, who's the best player in MLB, and more. CW: includes discussions of sexual violence and assault. Follow the Jacobin Sports Show on Twitter: @JacobinSpor...

We speak with Natalie Weiner about the clash of women's sports and business. Natalie ( @natalieweiner ) has covered sports and music for the New York Times , SB Nation, Pitchfork, and Fanbyte , and is the creator of The 1959 Project , a jazz archive. Also in the podcast: Carl Nassib coming out as the first openly gay NFL player, NBA playoff talk, Jay Williams fails NBA History 101, Jonah opens a m...

How can Kevin Durant's 50-point masterpiece vs. Milwaukee inspire a lack of opinion, and why is that good? Are the widespread injuries throughout the NBA playoffs diminishing the viewing experience? What great sports beefs (aka beeves) deserve further examination? What is it like navigating sports media today versus 15 years ago as far as equity of opportunity? Why is it good to be in a...

On this emergency edition of the Jacobin Sports Show, we dissect the Hawks' Game 5 victory in New York and the Knicks future after their first-round playoff loss. Special guest Matt Erlich joins the show from Boston to discuss Danny Ainge's shock retirement announcement, Brad Stevens’s coaching legacy and what's next for the 17-time NBA champion Celtics. Follow the Jacobin Sports Show on Twitter:...

On this episode, the dynamic duo talks about Kyrie Irving, Celtics fans and the history of racism and reactions to racism in Boston. They also dive into Naomi Osaka's withdrawal from the French Open, sports media, the playoffs, the Champions League final, and more. Follow the Jacobin Sports Show on Twitter: @JacobinSports Email us: jacobinsports@gmail.com

Louisa Thomas of the New Yorker joins us to discuss how greater media presence means better working conditions for women athletes, the richness of rooting for a losing team, what drives her as a fan and a sportswriter, Steph Curry normalizing the impossible, and why Gregg Popovich is her favorite interview ever. Matthew gushes over Louisa being the first guest in the show's history he could talk t...

Jonah and Matthew look back on the play-in games and the upcoming NBA playoffs. Are the Lakers alive or ready to topple? How is Draymond Green's shooting like Matthew's fiction? Does a Celtics fan like Jonah even care about this Boston team advancing? How does a fine tell us the Knicks are back? Could a trade Denver made with an eye on a deep playoff run two months ago submarine them in the first...

Sports Illustrated senior basketball writer Chris Herring joins the pod to talk about Jaylen Brown's injury, Russell Westbrook's madness, and the NBA play-in tournament. Then, Chris discusses his forthcoming book, Blood On The Hardwood: The Flagrant History of the 1990s Knicks , and shares some fascinating stories about one of the NBA's most memorable teams. Come for the John Starks nostalgia, sta...

Kavitha Davidson of The Athletic joins us to talk MLB’s fraught and failed history simplifying and sanitizing Jackie Robinson, the exhausting harassment women in sports and sports media face and what allies can do to help make concrete and digital spaces welcoming, the intersections between sports, society and the rise in violence against Asian American and Pacific Islander peoples, and the differ...

This week’s guest is Sean Jacobs, a soccer polymath who joins Jonah & Matthew to discuss the Champions League quarterfinal results. Points of interest include Liverpool’s disappointing season and reasons to hope for a quick turnaround, Manchester City’s best shot at continental glory, whether PSG advancing helps or hurts their chances of retaining Kylian Mbappé and whether Chelsea succeeding i...

This week's guest is former college basketball player and current SB Nation writer Sydney Umeri. Topics discussed included but are not limited to: Stanford's championship proving one fist > five fingers; how Iowa’s Caitlin Clark shoots like Steph Curry and why that may mean something different for the future of the women’s game than Steph does for the men’s; what makes Paige Bueckers a unique t...

The latest Jacobin Sports Show is an NBA trade deadline special. Matthew and Jonah discuss Orlando’s moves and what they mean for Boston, Chicago and Denver; Miami acquiring Victor Oladipo; Tilman Fertitta’s embarrassing ownership in Houston; Rajon Rondo’s winding career forking a new path; what to takeaway from Kyle Lowry, Lonzo Ball and Andre Drummond not moving; and how New Orleans’ approach to...