This week on the US Sports Podcast with Max Whittle, csnbayarea.com writer and broadcaster Ray Ratto jumps on the pod to discuss a bizarre range of topics from Colin Kaepernick not voting in the presidential election to avoiding parties so he can watch QI. Born in the East Bay and covering sports in San Francisco and Oakland for decades, Ray gives his take on the way the NBA and NFL have behaved following Donald Trump's victory, the future of the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders, the 'hot take' media culture, the Golden State Warriors' Kevin Durant project, the problem with the human race and Peep Show. It's quite a ride.

This week on the US Sports Podcast with Max Whittle, comedian and long-suffering American sports fan Marek Larwood joins the show. Marek has performed stand-up comedy, worked on television and most recently vlogged his way around London on YouTube. He is also the founder and creator of the world's most popular new sport, 'Volfsball', which has already had its first World Cup. Marek talks about his beloved Detroit Lions, the reason why they are his team and his previous trip to Detroit. Find out how Volfsball came to be and what it's like to perform on the comedy circuit, and the strange choice he made when choosing an NBA team.

This week on the US Sports Podcast with Max Whittle, US-based, soccer-mad founders of the supporters group EvertonUSA Marshall Lamm and David Kurtz come onto the show. These converted 'Evertonians' talk about how they grew up playing soccer in the States, the idea of forming a country-wide supporters group, the huge number of fellow American's that travel to England to watch games every year and having the opportunity to meet the American legends who have played for Everton over the years . Both huge sports fans in San Francisco and LA, the two of them also discuss the latest goings on in their respective cities. Visit evertonusa.net to find out more!

This week on the US Sports Podcast with Max Whittle, Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Kelvin Beachum joins Max to talk about his childhood in Texas, his mammoth breakfasts, blocking for Ben Roethlisberger, his playoff goals for the Jags and his stance on the national anthem protests. Following Kelvin, NFL.com writer and former Sports Illustrated scribe Don Banks shares his best stories covering football, why he loves the Red Sox and his short movie career.

This week on the US Sports Podcast with Max Whittle, NBA TV host and sideline reporter Kristen Ledlow joins the show. Kristen discusses her love for basketball, how inspiring it was to cover the USA Women's Olympic basketball team in Rio, shooting free throws with Shaquille O'Neal and the moment she had to report live from the Cleveland Cavaliers locker room after they clinched the 2015-16 NBA championship.

This week on the US Sports Podcast with Max Whittle, former Stanford kicker and founder of STRIVR - Sports Training in Virtual Reality - Derek Belch joins Max to tell his inspiring story. Derek talks about why he got into kicking and how that particular position is treated within a football team, then explains how at Stanford he came up with the idea of helping athletes prepare for performance through virtual reality. Derek's company, STRIVR, works with seven NFL teams, 13 college programmes, the NBA and NHL, enabling players to acquire practice reps without being on the field. Here, he tells us exactly how the technology works and his experiences with those teams.

On the first episode of the US Sports Podcast with Max Whittle, pioneer of the NFL International Series Alistair Kirkwood joins Max for an in-depth conversation. Alistair talks about the many challenges he faced during his early years in the NFL office and the moment he proposed the idea of staging NFL games in London to Roger Goodell. He also gives a thoughtful take on concussions and the current state of safety in the league and his marathon Sunday's watching the sport.