Ben Lindbergh brings on ESPN senior MLB insider Jeff Passan to discuss the ins and outs of the newsbreaking business—how he reports and announces news, how newsbreaking in baseball differs from newsbreaking in other sports, conflicts of interest, the ills of social media, work-life balance, aging, his flirtation with switching to the basketball beat, and more—plus Jeff’s thoughts on ESPN’s relationship with MLB, the biggest surprises and questions of this hot stove season, and the outlook for a lockout. Then (1:06:55) Ben talks to The Athletic’s Sam Blum about what he learned from covering the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Tyler Skaggs against the Angels, which was settled just before the jury reached a verdict.

Audio interstitial: Grant Brisbee, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Kite Person, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Jeff’s last EW appearance

Link to Jeff’s newsbreaking origins

Link to Jeff’s gravy tweet

Link to aging research

Link to article about aging

Link to Woj comments

Link to Schefter comments

Link to Shams comments

Link to Shams profile

Link to Shams vs. Woj feature

Link to Passan NBA report

Link to exhibit 49 info

Link to more exhibit 49 info

Link to ESPN-MLB deal

Link to ESPN-NFL deal

Link to ESPN evolution

Link to Jeff’s trade tweet

Link to news about Jeff’s son

Link to The LAT on the settlement

Link to Sam on the settlement

Link to Sam on Trout

Link to MLB testing change

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