Welcome to Episode #141! We bring on Danny Funt, author of Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling, for a highly informative and engaging discussion on the impact of legalizing sports gambling in the US.

We start with Danny's motivations for writing the book, including how the main people involved haven't yet had to answer for the negative consequences of how prolific gambling has become. We next dive into mostly unknown but fascinating online sportsbook practices including betting VIPs and hosts (which just gained more prominence with the Bryce Harper FanDuel video), referral fees that are based on a percentage of a bettors' lifetime losses, extremely misleading "risk-free" sign-up bets, and how successful bettors are being limited by the apps. We also discuss the irony of how so many people are losing money gambling, yet the companies themselves aren't very profitable and so many have failed. Plus, Danny notes a key difference between US and international online gambling companies for why the US hasn't been as successful to date.

We then get into Bill Simmons. In a chapter called The Media GoAll In, Danny details how powerful sports media has been in popularizing sports gambling; being a long-time BS Pod listener, Bill was the perfect person for him to focus on. We are both disappointed that, since Bill fancies himself as a truth teller who won't hold back, he's been conspicuously silent on the more nefarious aspects of the rise of sports gambling. Given Bill's love for gambling and particularly same game parlays, plus The Ringer's FanDuel contract, he's clearly benefitted financially by US legalization, which we absolutely think is affecting his content, such as weak takes on major gambling stories like Jontay Porter. We also hear feedback about The Ringer and Bill'srelationship with FanDuel from former employees, and about Bill's (pre re-apex) fall-off by those in the sports media industry.

We finish up talking about the negative impacts on young people and how the rise of gambling is likely related to the current state of society, which is encouraging other (also well-marketed) high-risk taking activities such as crypto meme coins and prediction markets.

If you enjoyed the episode, follow Danny on Twitter @dannyfunt and check out the book here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Everybody-Loses/Danny-Funt/9781668062029

Welcome to Episode #140! We bring on Rebecca from Twitter to get the perspective of a relatively new Bill Simmons listener who came to his pod and The Ringer through their pop culture content. We hit on the recent Spielberg and Friedland pods as well as Bill's NBA Finals coverage, and assess the move to video pods for Netflix - no surprise they haven’t been attracting many viewers as has been recently reported. We also predict movie industry changes stemming from the Paramount/Warner Bros. merger, detail frustrations with streaming services and praise physical media.

Next we dive into The Big Picture pod, including the intense online discussion of the show - especially with Disclosure Day - and decide if Sean himself and The Ringer in general are apexing. We also highlight a significant miss in their 25 Best Movies of the Century list. We then re-visit Bill's unpopular (but correct) Challengers take and celebrate his movie authenticity, including his love for The Devil Wears Prada. We touch on current movie events including Disclosure Day and Oscars results, and Rebecca reveals her take on why Timothee Chalamet gets too much hate. Enjoy!

Welcome to Episode #139! We bring back Chris for his 5th appearance (#93, #95, #100, #130). Last November we discussed who was winning the break-up; we update our thoughts after Russillo's recent ascension and Bill's lackluster content of late - is the re-apex officially over?

We get into the issues with Zach Lowe Sunday nights - and address whether the hate has been too intense or fully warranted - and wonder whether basketball discourse in general is reaching a logical endpoint.

We finish with a ruling on the break-up to date, including recent developments (Russillo's Barstool week and screenwriting comments) and what we’ll be looking for to make a final judgement once it's been a year since Russillo left.

Welcome to Episode 138! We bring on returning guest Mike (Episode #112) to get to the bottom of why there's been almost no coverage of the Dianna Russini scandal by sports media. We go through the evolution of the medium: TV and ESPN's early days, athletes gaining more control over the narrative, the insider economy, and ultimately conclude with a) why the story hasn’t been covered and b) if this will be a reckoning or continued drift. Of course, along the way the Podfather features prominently throughout our conversation. Enjoy!

Chanch and Kyle (Episodes #98 and #120) return to the pod after calling their shot in 2024 on listeners turning against Zach Lowe and coming to the realization that the NBA has serious issues including style of play and the regular season schedule. We also discuss how the NBA is losing its coolness factor and how that shares similarities to rap music. We then finish up the pod explaining why Chuck Klosterman has lost his fastball.

If you liked the show, check out Kyle on TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@smilingstrange) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/smiling_strange) as well as his podcast (https://www.buzzsprout.com/2573404) and Chanch on Twitter (https://x.com/perchanches).

Welcome to Episode #136! We bring on Matt from Twitter for an in-depth conversation on all things Bill Simmons. First, we discuss the topic of the year so far: Russillo vs. Lowe NBA Sundays. The listeners already miss Ryen and prefer him over Zach; we get into why we think that is, and propose potential fixes to the current Sunday iteration of Lowe & Bill. We also check-in with Russillo at Barstool.

Next we get into Bill's desire to be a cultural commentator without taking as much risk as he used to - Bill often comes in late to the discourse but wants to be known as the guy with an original take, which he did more of back in the day. During his re-apex he's been taking more risks, which we've enjoyed, and we assess his content shift from Grantland to early Ringer and now post-Russillo.

Next we hit on several Ringer personalities including House, Sal, Matt Belloni, Muhammed Kellerman & Rich Paul, Derek Thompson, the pop culture crew of CR/Fennessey/Joanna/Mallory and give our takes on since-departed KOC. We finish up talking ideas for Bill's future content. Enjoy!

Welcome to Episode #135! We bring on Josh from Twitter (@joshjurnovoy) for an insightful look into The Ringer moving their video podcasts from YouTube to Netflix. We discuss the business case from both Netflix and The Ringer's perspective, assess the technical aspects of these video pods now being on the streaming service, and contemplate what, creatively, makes for an elite (and not so great) video podcast. We then hit on a variety of Ringer and non-Ringer shows (yes, we talk Russillo) for what we like and dislike about their presentation.

If you like the pod, check out Josh's movie podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-rewind/id1399890948

We bring on recurring guests Roman (#118, #119) and Ben (#133) for a 3-man weave celebrating Bill Simmons' re-apex. Enjoy!

Welcome to Episode #133! We bring on Benjamin and first react to Max Kellerman's appearance on the BS Pod - what made Max so good, and more broadly, what makes for a great BS Pod guest? We then talk about Bill's improved content since Russillo left - did he hook himself up to the Rejuvenation Machine? After chatting some Russillo, Benjamin gives his take on the missing element of Ringer NBA pods. We finish up talking The Ringer's changing place in the sports and pop culture landscape.

Check out Benjamin's site at section220.com

Welcome to the latest episode! Netflix has agreed to buy Warner Bros. - we break it all down! Enjoy