Hang Up | Nate Silver and the NFL's Year of Parity

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Slate

Society & Culture, Technology, History

4.6 • 636 Ratings

🗓️ 21 October 2025

⏱️ 85 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hosts Alex Kirshner, Lindsay Gibbs, and Ben Lindbergh are joined by Nate Silver, founder of FiveThirtyEight and Silver Bulletin, to discuss his new NFL prediction model “ELWAY” and what it reveals about an unpredictable football league. Later in the show, OG Hang Up host Stefan Fatsis returns to talk about his new book on the dictionary, “Unabridged: The Thrill of and Threat to the Modern Dictionary,” and to share some of his favorite sports word definitions. The panel also previews the upcoming NBA season. Stefan sticks around to give a throwback style introduction to Ben's Afterball on the goofy mule-kicker comedy “Gus”. On the bonus episode available exclusively for Slate Plus members, the panel has GOAT talk aboutShohei Ohtani. NFL (3:54): The tricky world of football forcasting NBA (26:33): Will Wemby be great? Fatsis is back! (45:18): The prodigal host is unabridged Afterballs (1:05:08: Hee-haw (Note: time codes are only accurate for Slate Plus members, who listen ad-free.) Get more Hang Up and Listen with Slate Plus! Join for weekly bonus episodes of Hang Up and Listen and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Hang Up and Listen show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or visit slate.com/hangupplus for access wherever you listen. You can email us at [email protected]. Podcast production and editing by Kevin Bendis, with production assistance from Patrick Fort. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It is Monday, October 20th, 2025. Welcome back to Hang Up and Listen, the sports podcast here at Slate.
0:12.5	I'm Alex Kirsner. I'm a contributing writer for Slate, and I co-host Split Zone Duo, which is a college football podcast. Big weekend in that sport.
0:19.6	Big show this week, too. Later on,
0:21.4	we're going to have an old friend back in town as former hang-up and listen host, Stefan Fatsis,
0:25.7	joins us to talk about his new book and about language and language in sports. It's going to be a
0:30.2	blast. But before that, we'll talk about a uniquely tight NFL season, a lot of parody. Nate Silver
0:36.1	will join the program to talk about how he's seeing a year
0:38.4	where everyone in football is packed together.
0:41.3	We'll also preview the NBA season, hang up style, before it starts on Tuesday night.
0:47.0	As usual, joining me this week is Lindsay Kibbs, women's sports lead at CBS Sports, publisher
0:52.4	of power plays, a newsletter covering the key stories
0:54.8	of the moment in women's sports, Carolina Panthers fan, and more.
0:59.2	Lindsay, hello.
1:00.1	How are you?
1:00.7	Hi, Alex.
1:01.8	I'm officially the fan of a winning football team.
1:06.1	My football team has a winning record.
1:08.2	I'm now, like, a winner.
1:10.4	I'm now, like, one of those people
1:11.8	that, like, roots for, like, winning things. Absolutely. You know, do I look, you know, you can see
1:16.8	through the Zoom, I think my hair is a little brighter, skin a little clearer today. There's a glow.
1:22.0	I'm above 500, Alex, you know, in all aspects. Could even Nate Silver have predicted that?
	...

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