Do you trust the sanctity of data and proof of objectivity? What if we told you that a guru at the forefront of the analytics revolution... had cooked the books of the NBA, to boost stars of the Jordan era? Correspondent Tom Haberstroh confronts a statistician with an invisible hand — and reveals that the pumping-up of our historical record is more widespread today than even nerds like Pablo had accounted for. The human element, after all, can always grease the wheels.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve found a dose of optimism amid America’s exhausting gun debate. And it’s located in the incredible life story of Jason Kander: a former Army intelligence officer and political prodigy, knighted by Barack Obama himself, who had to drop out of politics, entirely. But now, one week after the mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade, Kander — a fifth-generation Kansas Citian — tells us how the gun industry’s biggest scam is also its greatest legal strength. And why one relatively unknown piece of legislation, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, is the key to changing everything.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why did Jennifer Lopez self-fund an allegorical $20 million “movie” about her life? (And why did all three of us watch it?) How good are we at the Dutch art of doing nothing? (And should we reimagine the concept of “something”?) And, finally, who’s on our personal Enemies Lists? (And why is it FS1’s Nick Wright?)

Further reading:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osu2N9gysYk

https://variety.com/2024/film/features/jennifer-lopez-this-is-me-now-musical-film-ben-affleck-love-story-1235908364/

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/feb/07/the-art-of-doing-nothing-have-the-dutch-found-the-answer-to-burnout-culture

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/17/well/bed-rotting-hurkle-durkle.html

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's easy to shot-shame a player at the free-throw line and athletes who throw funny. From the depths of that bullying and loneliness, though, a revolution is brewing, with adaptations so innovative that they may shame sports themselves. Pablo goes bowling with Jason Belmonte — the two-handed Tiger Woods of the lanes — and learns how to succeed in life while looking kinda stupid.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is Tom Brady just going to be a cranky bastard in the broadcast booth? Is Jon Stewart just SUPPOSED to be a cranky bastard on The Daily Show? Will Joe Biden just inevitably be the cranky bastard we need for democracy to survive? And have group chats replaced hanging out?

Further reading:

Why Americans Suddenly Stopped Hanging Out (Derek Thompson)

Return to Bullsh*t Mountain (Sam Adams)

For Voters, When Does Old Become Too Old? (Nate Cohn)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It was either everything that's right or wrong with America, but the very public relationship between Scottie Pippen's ex-wife and Michael Jordan's son is very much over — deleted Instagram posts, passive-aggressive polls, and all. Miserable Pablo and cowardly Cortes take a victory lap, revisiting how they may have triggered the biggest celebrity breakup of the year.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America's stratospheric sports power couple joins our Valentine's Day episode — part unnecessary couples therapy, part post-retirement exit interview — with down-to-Earth perspective on marriage, kids, the evolution of acceptance, the limitations of love language, and how to get some in a long-distance relationship. Plus: Trump, kneeling, the tragic humor of a career-ending injury, the metronome ringing in an athlete's brain, and the joy of not working out.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pablo's detective agency is back, just in time for Super Bowl Sunday, with the face-melting concert that puts Usher to shame, the flag-football fantasy draft, the most shameless celebrity endorser of all time, and yet more shameless content for the Swifties. Plus: That @ArtButMakeItSports guy has gotta be using A.I., right? What does Pablo's laugh sound like? And is the Miami Heat mascot on drugs?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're all desperately seeking self-improvement, so Pablo puts aside the spiritual mumbo-jumbo, puts his friends to the test, and emerges with something like service journalism: how to breathe correctly, exercise better, appreciate your career choices, accept failure, thank your feet, and learn to love your own superpower. (Even if that superpower is using a Jedi mind trick to singe your own thumb down to ash.)

Further reading:

The World's Happiest People All Share These 15 Things in Common (CNBC)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jet packs! Double kickoffs! Protest! The helmet-less, hungover superstar with a dynasty at stake! A killer game clock! Unconsciousness! The first Super Bowl was a sh*tshow. So why hasn't anyone seen it? Because the footage vanished for a half-century, only to resurface — with a million-dollar bounty — from an attic in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, and get thrown in a vault under lock and key. Until correspondent Devin Gordon entered the time machine to witness the progenitor of Travis Kelce, feel the primordial ooze from which Taylor Swift may have been formed… and, yes, to open a Playgirl centerfold featuring a man called The Hammer.

Special thanks to Richard Sandomir for his reporting. For more, visit: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/03/sports/football/super-bowl-i-recording-broadcast-nfl-troy-haupt.html

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.