The r/BillSimmons Podcast

Welcome to Episode #115! We had on fellow podcaster Imperial Twilight and went for over two hours - so like our recent two episodes, we're breaking this into two parts. We kick off Part 1 by talking about Bill's background - how much of his persona is real and how much has he exaggerated his Boston fanhood over the years? Imperial thinks Bill's everyman sports fan persona is more of a...

Welcome to Episode #114! This is part two of our excellent conversation with journalist David Quiñones. David opines on what he feels are under-appreciated guests on the BS Pod; he likes Bill with Sean Fennessey and Mallory Rubin. We then discuss how it's odd people don't mention The Ringer and Barstool in the same breath when they have overlapping audiences. We weigh the pros and cons of...

Welcome to Episode #113! We bring on David Quiñones, a Miami-based podcaster and former sportswriter at the Miami Herald. David combines a deep history with Bill Simmons with his vast experience of working in media and sports media specifically, and the result is one of the r/BS Pod's best episodes yet. We recorded for 2 hours and 45 minutes, so I split the pod into two parts - Part 2 will rel...

Welcome to Episode #112! We bring on Mike from Twitter for a classic r/BS Pod rip. Mike and I assess the current state of Bill Simmons and his content and identify some issues that have caused us - former listeners of every one of his pods - to drop off considerably. We start with the thesis that Bill has lost touch with the average sports fan and highlight the recent Masters Pods as an example -...

Welcome to Episode #111! We bring back @HubieTalksHoops for a wide-ranging show talking Bill Simmons, NBA, sports media and more. We first continue our ongoing coverage of Zach Lowe to The Ringer, where Hubie hits on some points we haven't discussed over the last few episodes. We also get his view on how Lowe fits with Russillo and whether Ryen will re-up or stay when his contract is up. Next...

We bring back Aaron from Episode #100 for a wide-ranging and fast-paced r/BS Pod rip hitting on Bill Simmons current events including Zach Lowe signing with The Ringer - what's the salary cap hit and will The Ringer make any moves in response? Plus, who's more valuable, Lowe or Russillo? We also hit on Pardon My Take's NFL-centric approach and recurring guests, in some ways making it t...

Incredible news today - Zach is back! We break it down from every angle. Enjoy!

Welcome to Episode 108! We bring on recurring guest Chenny (Episodes #102, #80, #75) to break down the interview heard 'round the sports world this week: LeBron on McAfee. This had wide ranging implications on sports and sports media, and we get into everything - including LeBron's specific choice to do this on McAfee, him being as open and uncut as we've ever heard him, his ripping of...

Welcome to Episode 107! We bring on a frequent contributor from r/BillSimmons - he's staying anonymous - for a classic r/BS Pod rip. We haven't had one in awhile and boy it feels great to be back. We start off the show talking NBA vs. March Madness, with Bill Simmons leading the charge that you can't really enjoy both. We discuss the reasons for this increasing phenomenon, including as...

This week Around the Horn announced their last show will be May 23rd. Sports fans lit up Twitter with fond memories of growing up watching OG legends Woody Paige, Jay Mariotti, Tim Cowlishaw, J.A. Adande, Bill Plashcke, Kevin Blackistone, Jackie Mac, Bob Ryan and more banter on their screen every afternoon. In today's show, we look back at what made the show great, and also diagnose and presen...

There's been a lot of discussion about NBA ratings this season. Given my background in sports media, I discuss why this is misguided and that the NBA is actually in excellent shape. We discuss the new TV rights deal, how the media partners make money, what variables will be needed to judge the new deal, and the advantages that the NBA brings to NBC and Amazon that the NFL and MLB do not, inclu...

Welcome to Episode 104! We bring on Mike (@SpringerProject) from Twitter for a classic r/BS Pod rip. We start off discussing Bill Simmons current events, with Mike actually defending the Termine & Eddie Johnson pod - wait, what?? Then we get into Mike's time at ESPN and discuss the formation of and disintegration of Grantland - this is must listen for any Grantland fans. Next we discuss where...

Welcome to Episode 103! We bring on previous guests Mike (Episode 73) and Chanch (Episode 98) for a 3-man weave reviewing Katie Nolan's new podcast. It's a concept we've wanted to do for awhile - a podcast reviewing another podcast - and what better show to start with than someone who goes back deep in Bill Simmons lore and, in many ways, is attempting to do an evolutionary version of...

Welcome to Episode 102! We bring back 3-time guests Flex and Chenny to react to the insane Luka trade and epic masterpiece from Russillo, Bill and Rob Mahoney, who recorded an emergency 3-man weave as soon as the trade happened Saturday night. We break it all down: the trade, the pod, Bill's juice, Russillo's virtuoso performance (yes, this is his Apex Mountain), Bill letting Russillo cook...

Welcome to Episode #101! The Podfather is staying at Spotify, and thus we break down all the angles. Plus, reports indicate he may work with ESPN again, and we assess whether Zach Lowe is now planning on joining The Ringer. Enjoy!

Welcome to episode 100! We bring on 3-time guest Chris (Episodes 93 & 95) and first time guest Aaron (who's pod I guested on last week) to discuss, so far, the sports media story of the year: Big Cat grew up a Boston sports fan. That's right, the Pardon My Take co-host grew up right outside of Boston and only started rooting for Chicago teams after college. While this was known by some...

Welcome to Episode 99! We bring on @T_sizzle71 from Twitter for a classic r/BS Pod show. We've focused on NBA ratings for the last couple episodes and had a welcome return to this podcast's roots talking all things Bill Simmons. We start off discussing our backgrounds with Bill, both finding him on ESPN.com in the early 2000s and listening to "Eye of the Sports Guy" in 2007 before it was changed t...

Welcome to Episode 98! We bring on Chanch and Kyle from TikTok, who are brothers in real life, for another classic r/BS Pod 3-man weave. We start off talking our history with Bill Simmons (0:00-9:15) before Chanch and Kyle introduce their foolproof way to fix the NBA (9:15-58:30). They've been perfecting this idea for over a decade, which primarily involves a radical schedule change and also intro...

Welcome to Episode 97, where we bring back r/BS Pod favorites JF (Episodes 71 & 83) and TikTokInvestors (Episode 27) for a classic 3-man weave. We discuss the topic that's taken over NBA Media: Why are NBA ratings down? JF & TikTok expand on a variety of reasons highlighted by the NBA Twitter community but also detail several additional reasons that we haven't seen mentioned much. Some are...

We review the history of Bill Simmons and JJ Redick, dating back to 2010, that's led to Bill severely doubting the 2024 Lakers and saying JJ was a lunatic for taking the job - and why he's likely infuriated at their hot start.

Welcome to Episode 95! We bring back Doug from Episode 70 and Chris from Episode 93 for a timely 3-man weave. We start off discussing the recent Ringer news: Why we like these additions, and how they should fit into and improve their NBA and NFL coverage. The Ringer's NBA roster is now robust - do they even need Zach Lowe? And how is their NFL roster with McShay added, but still missing Robert May...

Welcome to Episode 94! We break down The Ringer bringing on Todd McShay, Kirk Goldsberry, Dave Jacoby and Joel Anderson, including: — Why these hires make a lot of sense — What this says about the evolution of podcasting — Why Bill is more likely to re-sign with Spotify now — Why Zach Lowe is still a long shot to sign with Bill Enjoy!

Welcome to Episode 93! We bring on Chris from Twitter (@tbrodude) to dive into Bill's new Vince McMahon doc on Netflix. Over the course of the show we answer several questions, including: - Our grade on an A-F scale and vs. 30 for 30s and Bill's Andre the Giant HBO doc - How various groups (hardcore fans, casuals) are viewing the doc, and who the doc was really made for - Was this a takedo...

Wow! Shocking news has hit the NBA. We break it all down — why was Zach fired, where will he land next, will he reunite with Bill Simmons, what this says about the current state of ESPN, and a lot more. Enjoy!

Welcome to Episode 91! We bring on Scott from Twitter (@Cap_tain_Ron) to focus all of our attention this episode on Any Given Wednesday, the short-lived, Bill Simmons-hosted, 2016 HBO sports late night show. It remains an enigma to this day given how bad it was, a shocking career failure for Bill Simmons, who came into HBO at the peak of his powers. So, we break it all down. How did this happen? W...