Variety’s Stephen Rodrick joins Drew and Roth to talk about his most recent profile of director Paul Schreder. As Stephen is one of the premier profile writers of our time, there are a lot of parallels to draw: this Schreder profile to the one in The Canyons era; what it is like writing profiles in 2024 as compared to 20-year-old Rudy Giuliani article; and the alcoholic similarities between his Johnny Depp profile and the recent Rolling Stone piece on Kidd Rock. In the second half, they dig into the wild drama of the NBA playoffs with Bill Simmons’ takes as the swirling weathervane. And as always, they dive into the Funbag, answering real questions from real listeners.

Do you want to hear your question answered on the pod? Well, give us a call at 909-726-3720. That is 909-PANERA-0!

Stuff We Talked About

Sponsors

- Solin Law, a small but aggressive workers’ comp law practice based in New Jersey. Check them out at https://solinlaw.com

- Factor, where code distraction50 will get you 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next month at https://factormeals.com/distraction50

- Betterhelp, where you can get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/distraction

Credits

- Hosts: Drew Magary & David Roth

- Producer: Eric Silver

- Editor: Brandon Grugle

- Production Services & Ads: Multitude

- Subscribe to Defector!

About The Show

The Distraction is Defector's flagship podcast about sports (and movies, and art, and sandwiches, and certain coastal states) from longtime writers Drew Magary and David Roth. Every week, Drew and Roth tackle subjects, both serious and impossibly stupid, with a parade of guests from around the world of sports and media joining in the fun! Roth and Drew also field Funbag questions from Defector readers, answer listener voicemails, and get upset about the number of people who use speakerphone while in a public bathroom stall. This is a show where everything matters, because everyone could use a Distraction. Head to defector.com for more info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.