SEASON OF FIRSTS: Natalie Nakase on Breaking Barriers and Paving the Way for What’s Next + CBA talks

A Touch More with Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe

The Vox Media Podcast Network

Soccer, Basketball, Sports

4.4 • 765 Ratings

🗓️ 30 October 2025

⏱️ 77 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The WNBA season is over, but on A Touch More we’re still playing games: we’re checking out the tug of war between the players and the league as the CBA is about to expire, while five teams play a round of musical chairs to fill their empty head coaching slots. We’re also talking to Golden State Valkyries’ head coach Natalie Nakase about her epic first season, the biggest risks she took during this year, and what it’s like to play in Ballhalla. On a more serious note: Millions of Americans are losing their SNAP benefits due to the federal government shutdown and the Trump Administration’s refusal to tap emergency funds to keep the program going. We want to encourage our listeners to consider helping by contributing to your local food back: check out Feeding America to find one in your community. For those in the New York City or Seattle, here are a few organizations we recommend: NYC: Food Bank for NYC - https://www.foodbanknyc.org/ West Side Campaign Against Hunger - https://www.wscah.org/ Seattle: Rainier Valley Food Bank - https://www.rvfb.org/ North Helpline - https://northhelpline.org/ Northwest Harvest - https://www.northwestharvest.org/ A Touch More: The Podcast is produced in partnership with VOX MEDIA and TOGETHXR. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for a touch more comes from Delta.
0:03.0	I know where I want to be, so how do I get there?
0:06.0	It's the question at the start of every season.
0:09.0	It begins with small steps, and every step propels you toward new heights,
0:13.0	because there's always more to reach for.
0:16.0	And Delta Airlines is there to help connect you to your full potential.
0:20.0	That's why Delta is the official airline of the National Women's Soccer League, helping you get to where you need to be, from season kickoff to the championships.
0:33.3	Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the show. Before we get started today with our usual shenanigans, we did want to take a second to talk about something that is impacting millions of Americans. As of this recording, the federal government has been shut down for about a month. And starting on November 1st, over 40 million Americans are losing their SNAP benefits. This is also known as food stamps for those that don't know what SNAP is. The Trump administration has said that it would not tap emergency funds to keep SNAP going, and food banks around the country are bracing for a surge in demand. I know, Megan, this is something that you have seen firsthand. Yeah, totally. I have,
1:12.3	you know, family members who are single parents that you SNAP, they're working, they're going to
1:16.6	school. I think it's like there's a ton of different people who rely on SNAP benefits and other
1:25.0	government-assisted programs that, mind you, guys, we all pay for.
1:28.5	It's like, this is where the money is coming from, that they rely on them for their everyday
1:33.1	lives and their amazing programs that, you know, feed kids and help families.
1:38.2	And there's no reason why this can't be funded.
1:42.9	And this feels very cruel to not do that.
1:46.9	So just, yeah, I just wanted to say that because it's just, it touches so many different people
1:51.9	and so many different walks of life.
1:53.9	And I think sometimes there's just a stigma around, you know, government assistance or food stamps
1:58.8	or, you know, the kind of tropes around that. And it's just
2:02.5	like not true. And that hasn't been true in my own life. So there's some ways that you can
2:09.5	contribute. So if you're wondering how you can help or you want to get involved and contribute,
2:14.8	you can definitely contribute to your local food banks to support their work.
	...

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