Hang Up and Listen

A weekly sports discussion from Slate.

Sports
Sports News
376
The My Favorite House Edition
Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by the Athletic’s Marcus Thompson to discuss the Warriors and Steph Curry. Bloomberg’s Ira Boudway also joins to talk about legalized sports betting.
83 min
377
The Seven Dwarves Versus Four Giants Edition
Stefan Fatsis and guest host Mike Pesca discuss the start of the NBA conference finals and the debate over the debate over who’s the greatest, Michael Jordan or LeBron James.
71 min
378
The Little Tikes Hoop With a Saggy Pamper Edition
Stefan Fatsis is joined by ESPN’s Dave McMenamin to break down the epic buzzer-beater by LeBron James in Game 3 of the NBA’s Eastern Conference playoffs and by hockey writer Sean McIndoe to discuss the Stanley Cup playoffs.
72 min
379
The No Texts or Nothin’ Edition
71 min
380
The Bill Belichick’s Best Friend Edition
Josh Levin and Stefan Fatsis discuss the NBA playoffs with Slate’s Nick Greene. The Irish Times’ Ken Early joins to talk about Arsene Wenger’s departure as Arsenal’s manager, and the MMQB’s Tim Rohan explores the history of the mock draft.
65 min
381
The Not Michael Jordan Edition
Josh Levin and Stefan Fatsis discuss the musical Small Ball with Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell joins to talk about why the NFL is bad at scouting quarterbacks, and The Good Place’s Mike Schur explains his love for Dan Le Batard.
70 min
382
The Everybody Hates Patrick Edition
Josh Levin and Stefan Fatsis discuss Patrick Reed’s Masters win with Slate’s Jim Newell. The Toronto Star’s Bruce Arthur also joins to talk about the Humboldt bus crash, and the Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh helps assess Shohei Ohtahi’s amazing week.
64 min
383
The Goalie Is an Accountant Edition
Josh Levin and Stefan Fatsis discuss the women’s NCAA tournament with Jere Longman and Kara Lawson. Patrick Fort also joins to talk about emergency hockey goalies, and they interview Jack Alexander and Bill Bunten about sports before Brown v. Board.
71 min
384
The Everyone Is Going Through Something Edition
Josh Levin, ESPN’s Joel Anderson, and NPR’s Gene Demby discuss March Madness. They also talk about the sports world’s response to the police killing of Stephon Clark and how Kevin Love and DeMar Derozan started a conversation about mental health.
70 min
385
The Humble Swagger Edition
Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by the New York Times’ Marc Tracy to discuss UMBC. Deadspin’s Dom Cosentino comes on to talk about Kirk Cousins’ new contract. Plus: Dave Kindred on covering girls’ high school basketball.
74 min
386
The Passing Is an Expression of Failure Edition
Josh Levin and Stefan Fatsis talk with Slate’s Ben Mathis-Lilley about the NCAA Tournament, Slate’s Jim Newell joins to talk about Tiger Woods’ comeback, and ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz assesses the Toronto Raptors and Houston Rockets.
67 min
387
The Golden Age of Tanking Edition
Guest hosts Daniel Engber and David Epstein talk with Carl Bialik about robot line judges in tennis, Mike Pesca joins for a review of NBA tanking, and Florentina Hettinga discusses the science of the Paralympics.
57 min
388
The "Here Comes Diggins!” Edition
Stefan Fatsis welcomes Slate’s Justin Peters and NBC Nordic skiing commentator Chad Salmela to recap the Winter Olympics. And journalist Ben Strauss and sports economist Andy Schwarz examine the government probe of NCAA basketball recruitment.
63 min
389
The Trickless Hungarian Edition
Josh Levin is joined by Slate’s Justin Peters and the Wall Street Journal’s Ben Cohen to talk about Elizabeth Swaney, Ester Ledecka, Nathan Chen, and more from the Olympics. PhillyVoice’s Kyle Neubeck joins to discuss what’s wrong with Markelle Fultz.
62 min
390
The Yoo-Hoo, We Did It Edition
Josh Levin and Stefan Fatsis talk with Slate’s Justin Peters about the top stories from the Olympics, Jack Hamilton joins to look at the Cleveland Cavaliers’ roster shake-up, and Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl discusses what’s next for U.S. Soccer.
64 min
391
The Nick Foles Is a Super Bowl MVP Edition
Josh Levin and Stefan Fatsis talk with the Gist’s Mike Pesca about the Eagles’ win over the Patriots in Super Bowl LII. They’re also joined by Jeff Passan of Yahoo to discuss what can be done to fix Major League Baseball’s broken economic system.
66 min
392
The “What Did Izzo and Dantonio Know?” Edition
Josh Levin talks with Paula Lavigne of ESPN and Slate’s Ben Mathis-Lilley about the Michigan State sexual abuse scandal. ESPN’s Howard Bryant also joins to discuss the Australian Open, and the Root’s Damon Young assesses the NBA’s all-star draft.
66 min
393
The One-Armed Bandit Edition
Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin talk about the Patriots’ and Eagles’ wins in the NFL’s title games; the New York Times’ Juliet Macur discusses the sex abuse scandal in U.S. gymnastics; and Deadspin’s Dave McKenna helps remember D.C. sports legend Gary Mays.
72 min
394
The “They Shoot Utility Infielders, Don’t They?...
Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin discuss the Vikings’ last-second win over the Saints and other NFL playoff doings; the Wall Street Journal’s Ben Cohen joins to talk about Trae Young; and Sam Miller comes on for a conversation about a 50-inning baseball game.
70 min
395
The Citronauts Are National Champions Edition
Stefan Fatsis, former NFL player Nate Jackson, and football writer Melissa Jacobs discuss the NFL playoffs. Then Stefan talks to Spencer Hall of SB Nation about the University of Central Florida’s claim on college football’s national championship.
50 min
396
The 200 Seventh-Graders vs. LeBron Edition
Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by the Gist’s Mike Pesca to discuss a whole bunch of sports conundrums.
47 min
397
The Remember Connie Hawkins Edition
Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by Ben Strauss to discuss why academically rigorous universities like Wesleyan are betting big on football. They also speak with Rick Telander about the life and legacy of hoops legend Connie Hawkins.
53 min
398
The Badly Photoshopped Flag-Burning Edition
Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by Andrew Brandt to discuss the allegations against Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson; by Chris Nowinski to talk about the NFL concussion protocol; and by Deadspin to assess the rise of fake sports news.
74 min
399
The Bronx Bombers’ Big Boppers Edition
Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by Warren Cromartie and the Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh to discuss Shohei Ohtani and Giancarlo Stanton; David Epstein joins to assess Russia’s Olympics ban; and Daniel Libit talks about his muckraking site NM Fishbowl.
83 min
400
The Most Valuable Vegan Edition
Stefan Fatsis, Jeremy Stahl of Slate, and Howard Bryant of ESPN discuss the rift among NFL players over the league’s plan to donate money to social causes.
54 min