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Congrats to ZigZag for again winning a SportsPredict NFL Week. The prize is a 30 minute phone conversation with yours truly, and I’m happy to re-up on that. In the spirit of NFL content, this week’s pod is with the ever granular Dieter Kurtenbach of the Dieter and Hutch YouTube channel. The overarching topic is an exploration of a) Why the 49ers went from analyzed to ignored by national media and b) How NFL national media arrives at its collective takes.

Topics include but aren’t limited to…

* National NFL games dictate a TON of NFL media takery

* Football games should only be played in domes?

* Jon Gruden’s big secret on what makes plays work

* A smidge of Wemby slander

* An insane aspect of a Brock Purdy interception the Monday Night Football TV broadcast didn’t show you

* The suddenly surging 49ers are being ignored?

* The Rams are the top team. One guy insists they have a fatal flaw?

* Dieter tries and fails to sell me on getting into the San Jose Sharks

* Interceptions are overrated

* Is Jalen Hurts protecting his rep by avoiding INTs?

I was touched by your responses to this article and apologize if I’ve yet to get back to you. Here is the audio, in the meantime.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.houseofstrauss.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.com

Our guy Spike has been at ground zero of the Great Jalen Hurts Debate, which might be coming to a head following an astounding Eagles collapse in Dallas. We discuss this, plus many other subjects. Topics include…

* Dumb NFL narratives

* Jalen Hurts’ teammates don’t like him

* Remember when Rush Limbaugh got fired by ESPN for race-ing the Donovan McNabb debate?

* Film geeks too often blame coaches

* Jalen Hurts’ golden moment that immediately went away

* Am I correct that Draymond Green has annoyed people into underrating him?

* Twitter shows what country you’re in now. An aspect of this saddened Spike

* Did Tom Brady really come close to dropping the n-bomb?

* Spike reacts to my pod reacting to Pablo Torre’s pod

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.com

The Peach Fish is back, for a very special episode. The great Mike Pesca and I have a bunch of thoughts regarding a Pablo Torre podcast about the activist Riley Gaines that kicked up much dust online. We also discuss how Sally Jenkins might save college sports. Enjoy!

Here’s the audio for the YouTube show with Wos on, primarily, what we glean from Steph Curry’s DIVORCE…from Under Armour. Like, subscribe, listen…

House of Strauss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.houseofstrauss.com/subscribe

First of all, congrats to Tom P for winning our NFL picks contest for Week 10. His reward is what many would regard as a punishment: A 30 minute phone conversation with me. Hit me up at [email protected] if you wish to collect.

My conversational shortcomings aside, it’s been great speaking with subscribers who’ve won so far. Getting to know you through these weekly NFL competitions has been edifying.

Starting this week, we’re making prizes more tangible by adding $100 Ticketmaster gift cards for weekly winners, and the prizes will grow as the crowd does. So if you’ve enjoyed playing, invite your friends to join the HoS NFL and NBA lobbies and let’s make this community even bigger.

Perhaps Tom P and I will discuss this latest podcast with top level NBA reporter Yaron Weitzman, author of A Hollywood Ending. Yaron’s new book on the awkward/sordid LeBron Laker Era has my total recommendation. For a sense of how hot the material is, the Lakers preemptively threatened to sue over the contents, alleging that the author’s description of now former owner Jeanie Buss was “misogynistic.” My contention is that Magic Johnson comes off far worse in the book than Jeanie, a topic we get into in this episode. Enjoy…

House of Strauss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.houseofstrauss.com/subscribe

We eagerly await Anthony Mayes’ return from honeymoon for our regular pods, but I was able to do the live YouTube show with 2Way. This was a good one with Ryan Glasspiegel on MLB vs. NBA, Sydney Sweeney vs. GQ journalist, and whatever this week in culture/politics means going forward. Enjoy + like/subscribe…

House of Strauss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.houseofstrauss.com/subscribe

Sharing the audio from the great YouTube live show with Amin (Like and Subscribe!). There will be a Substack pod gap this week, because Producer Anthony Mayes is on his honeymoon. Congrats to Mayes, we’ll be back at it soon, and the next 10 days or so should be more devoted to writing.

House of Strauss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.houseofstrauss.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.com

Great House of Strauss friend Bomani Jones joins the show to discuss his perspective on the NBA’s gamble scandal, the predicament of modern leagues and how complicity impacts us media types. Topics include!

Is it weird that the Portland Trailblazers haven’t had a press conference about this?

* Why the conflict of interest with media and sports betting isn’t JUST about the money

* Weirdly, sports gambling isn’t THAT much of the sports league revenue pie

* Would Adam Silver redo his infamous 2014 sports gambling New York Times Op Ed

* Good risk calculators can’t understand bad risk calculators

* Does the public care at all about these scandals? Or does the media just pretend scandal away?

* Why isn’t sports betting a right/left issue?

* Are we no longer able to be scandalized?

* Does Bomani Jones feel swindled by NBC not having Michael Jordan in studio?

* Did the leagues NEED to do sports gambling?

* Did the sports media NEED to do sports gambling?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.com

2Way founder Mark Halperin was a big time journalist in network television media, originally making a name for himself covering the Bill Clinton campaign. The Game Change co-author is now a YouTube success, having produced what was, in my opinion, the best coverage of the 2024 election. I know of no other person better positioned to comment on what’s happened in political media, with a 30K foot vantage. And so I asked him a range of stupid questions, mostly under the banner of, “What the hell is going on?”

Topics include but aren’t limited to!

* When did the Media drift into party advocacy?

* The lasting impact of the 2016 election on media

* What killed the earnest practice of “both sidesism”?

* Were you nervous on Election Day?

* Two entertainment ecosystems, boomer and everyone else

* Did the Media used to be better?

* Are conservatives more open to debate right now?

* News as act of curation (Twitter can spotlight racialized police killings, or it can spotlight immigrant crime)

* Graham Platner’s bad week and the new skeletons in candidate closets

* What do you make of the male flight from the Democratic Party?

* What do you make of potential senior flight from the Republican Party?

* What do you make of the No Kings protests?

* Why is traditional media still hard to crack for Republicans?