Are Sports the Most Valuable Commodity in the World? With Pablo Torre

Galaxy Brain

The Atlantic

Technology

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 21 November 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Are sports the most valuable commodity in the world? On this episode of Galaxy Brain, Charlie Warzel is joined by Pablo Torre, a longtime journalist and the host of the podcast and YouTube show Pablo Torre Finds Out. They talk about the role that sports and rampant sports betting are playing in our politics, culture, and economy. Are same-day parlays the new American Dream? Are sports leagues at risk of losing their legitimacy? And why is nobody playing the long game? Sign up for the Galaxy Brain newsletter here. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at theAtlantic.com/listener. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	When was the last time you indulged your desires, felt true Ranger Rover refinement?
0:04.8	The last time you felt total serenity, total confidence, no matter the terrain?
0:09.0	Limitless, effortless, peerless.
0:11.2	How far can Rangerover take you?
0:13.1	Rangerover, designed for distinction.
0:15.1	I don't know if you're like me.
0:16.3	I'm like, I guess I'll read Mr. Beast's leaked manifesto now.
0:20.1	Oh, 100%.
0:21.7	It's, yes, absolutely.
0:23.1	I'm studying YouTube thumbnails and being like,
0:26.0	how far can I take this and maintain my dignity, you know?
0:31.5	It's, let me just tell you, dignity is the first to go.
0:35.7	Whatever face you think you'd like to make is not the face you'll
0:39.1	be making in the thumbnail for this video.
0:48.9	I'm Charlie Wurzel and welcome to Galaxy Brain. Today, we're going to talk about sports,
0:54.0	but we're not going to talk about sports, but we're not going to talk
0:55.8	about the actual sports themselves, not the things that happen on the field or on the court or
1:00.0	whatever, but the culture around sports. Because as my guest notes, sports are this
1:06.9	unbelievable attentional hack, right? There are a few things that can reliably attract an audience as much as live sports.
1:16.5	We sit down together and we watch the Super Bowl.
1:19.9	We have these sports that are passed down in our families, this kind of cultural heritage
1:24.5	that gets us to sit down for the World Series or the World Cup or
	...

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