Robo Calls: The Umps of the Future Are Here

Hang Up and Listen

Slate Podcasts

News, Sports, Sports News

4.6 • 986 Ratings

🗓️ 3 March 2025

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Hosts Alex Kirshner, Lindsay Gibbs, and Ben Lindbergh dive into the inclusion and implications of robotic officiating in the NFL and MLB. They also discuss the retirement of basketball all-time great, Diana Taurasi. Finally, they talk about a right-wing proposal for a steroid-fueled sports league. For Afterballs, Alex remembers the careers of Czech hockey superstar Jaromir Jagr as well as the beloved voice of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Mike Lange, who died last month. On the bonus episode available exclusively for Slate Plus members, the panel discusses the popular NBA parody Twitter account, NBACentel. Robo Refs (3:15): Robots will be used to scrutinize calls in both baseball and football. Diana Taurasi (21:49): The basketball icon steps away after twenty-plus years. Let 'em Juice (37:46): The bizarre proposal from Donald Trump Jr. and friends for a steroid-acceptable sports league. (Note: time codes are only accurate for Slate Plus members, who listen ad-free.) Want more Hang Up and Listen? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page, or visit slate.com/hangupplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Josh Levine. My podcast, The Queen, tells the story of Linda Taylor.
0:07.0	She was a con artist, a kidnapper, and maybe even a murderer.
0:11.7	She was also given the title The Welfare Queen, and her story was used by Ronald Reagan
0:16.6	to justify slashing aid to the poor. Now, it's time to hear her real story.
0:22.9	Over the course of four episodes,
0:24.9	you'll find out what was done to Linda Taylor,
0:27.4	what she did to others,
0:28.8	and what was done in her name.
0:30.7	The great lesson of this for me
0:33.3	is that people will come to their own conclusions
0:36.1	based on what their prejudices are.
0:38.3	Subscribe to The Queen on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening right now.
0:49.9	It is Monday, March the 3rd, 2025.
0:53.0	Welcome back to Hang Up and Listen, the sports podcast here at Slate.
0:56.3	Back with you again this week. I am Alex Kirchner. I'm a contributing writer for Slate, and I also co-hosts Split Zone Duo.
1:02.7	That's a national college football podcast. This week we have much to discuss. We will talk about two major sports leagues, the NFL and Major League Baseball, finally taking
1:11.4	concrete steps toward using technology for officiating in ways that they've bandied about
1:16.2	for a long time.
1:17.6	We will talk about the retirement of one of the great players in basketball history, Diana
1:21.3	Taurasi and the legacy that she leaves.
1:24.3	And we will also talk about the enhanced games, a very steroidal, Olympics-like concept
1:29.5	that strikes me as just a terrible idea, but is gaining some purchase as a working concept
	...

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