Are men in your life getting more political? This guy may be why.

It's Been a Minute

NPR

News Commentary, Society & Culture, News, Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 8.8K Ratings

🗓️ 18 April 2025

⏱️ 18 minutes

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Summary

Have you turned on ESPN recently? You might be surprised to find that the sports bros are abandoning GOAT debates and getting political. No one is more an example of this than ESPN personality and perhaps Presidential candidate, Stephen A. Smith. So what's going on here? And what does the Fox Newsification of sports media tell us about our current political culture and future?

Brittany is joined by co-host of NPR's Code Switch podcast, Gene Demby, and Senior Staff Writer at the Ringer, Joel Anderson. Together, they discuss how sports commentary is way more political than you might think and why its most viral star Stephen A. Smith would even entertain the idea of running for president in 2028.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	support for NPR comes from the Scy Sims Foundation since 1985, supporting advances in science,
0:07.1	education, and the arts towards a fairer, more just, and civil society. More information is
0:12.7	available at SciSims Foundation.org. Hello, hello. I'm Brittany Luce, and you're listening to It's Been a Minute from NPR, a show about what's going on in culture and why it doesn't happen by accident.
0:36.6	This week, we're connecting the dots between LeBron James, Bristol, Connecticut, and the 2028 election.
0:43.6	I know, I know.
0:44.9	How are all of these things connected?
0:46.8	Well, we are going to find out with co-host of NPR's Code Switch podcast, Gene Demby,
0:51.7	and former senior writer at ESPN and current senior staff writer at the Ringer, Joel Anderson.
0:57.4	Gene, Joel, welcome to its bit a minute.
0:59.1	Welcome back to It's been a minute.
1:00.5	You both have been here before.
1:01.6	It's good with you, buddy.
1:02.4	Yeah, I appreciate this have us back.
1:03.7	Yeah.
1:04.2	That's good to have you.
1:05.1	Okay, quick question.
1:06.2	Who do y'all have winning the NBA Finals. I don't know the answer this question because I don't even know who's in the NBA
1:11.7	semi-finals, quarter-final. I don't know who plays. I don't know who's
1:15.5	in there. My heart hurts would say this, but it's probably going to
1:18.4	be to the Celtics. I say the Celtics, but I'm
1:22.6	open to the idea of the OKC Thunder.
1:26.7	Well, these are the kinds of conversations that you'd expect to hear in your typical sports talk
	...

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