Episode 96 of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features longtime ESPN columnist and on-air reporter J.A. Adande, who was named in August as the director of the new sports journalism program at Northwestern’s Medill School. Previously, Adande wrote for the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and the Chicago Sun-Times.

In this podcast, Adande discusses his move to academia and what he hopes to accomplish at Northwestern; how he would evaluate the quality of student entering Medill; how much impact the 2016 Presidential election will have on journalism heading forward; what was unique about covering sports in Los Angeles; getting a newspaper column job at a major paper at age 26; his relationship with Kobe Bryant; the importance of an agent in negotiating with companies such as ESPN; how he would evaluate the sports media industry when it comes to voices of color; why writers and broadcasters should not “clean up” quotes; what you might be missing about Around The Horn; criticism of his friend and mentor, Michael Wilbon; what he learned from Scottie Pippen in a urinal, and much more.

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