Hey, everyone listen to the podcast. This is a podcast exclusive. This is Ari, and we have something really special for you.

George Santos has gotten a lot of press. We haven't done a ton about him on the show, but that changes with this podcast.

I have a very special guest coming up who wanted to talk about Santos, so we get into that and a whole lot more.

It's Stephen A. Smith. Anyone interested in sports knows his sharp, biting and often exciting, passionate commentary

from ESPN, but he also has a new book out, which is why he joined us on the beat for the first time.

But this goes beyond the beat interview in case you saw some of that.

We have my discussion with him about a ton of issues that range from the role of history and specifically African-American studies and what Ronda Santos is doing in that area to what I mentioned, George Santos, to his unique approach to work in sports, to how his own father sort of counted him out when he was growing up, something that he describes in detail in the book.

So what this podcast, what this podcast extra does for you guys is share a bunch more than what aired on TV and his section of a conversation I had as well with our colleague Mike Barnacle, someone who also traverses sports, culture, and politics.

So that's all coming up here. As a reminder, you can always connect with me at Ari Melbert.com. That's Ari Melbaugh.com. As I've told you guys, that's one of the best ways that I hear directly from you. It's not going through some social media company or some outside third party. You can just go on there, subscribe to my newsletter. You can pick the free option, and you can comment there, and I'll see your comments. I respond to them. For those of you who already use the newsletter, you probably know that. So you can visit me at r.mobar.com or just keep listening for the podcast. And thanks, as always, for spending time with us here on The Beat with Ari Melbert.

Welcome back. We know our politics are polarized right now. You can find yourself in political debates at a dinner party or at work or even in a sports stadium. That's

famously led some people to demand athletes leave politics at the edge of the field, a claim

that's meant to sound neutral when it actually involves

censoring many efforts to back reform. You may recall one conservative anchor infamously condescending

to athletes exercising their free speech rights by saying they should, quote, shut up and

dribble. A hypocritical demand from someone who talks politics for a living. It also shows

how powerful political protests can be on the field from kneeling to protest police brutality in America,

which, by the way, is a peaceful and quiet act that still roiled many conservatives,

to more sophisticated multi-prong efforts by leaders like LeBron James leveraging

sports and economic and political capital to pursue his ideas, along with others, about

change. Do those efforts matter beyond sports? Well, here's one way to answer. Ask Barack Obama.

The former president found them important enough to confer with James about how to balance

that economic pressure campaign and boycotts with a sustainable model for police reform.

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