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Well done. You've sorted through the embarrassment of riches that is the modern podcast landscape

and found me Rob Briden on my podcast.

In this series of Briden and I talk to among others Harry Hill, Ben Elton, Charlotte

Church, Steve Cougan and Dame Harriet Walter, and that's just a few.

We tend to chat for about 45 minutes to an hour never longer. It's terrific conversation,

reminiscent, sweat-appropriate and exchange of anecdotes.

So do join me Rob Briden wherever you get your podcasts.

New episodes of Briden and are available early and ad-free on Amazon Music,

or by subscribing to Wondery Plus in Apple Podcasts or the Wondery app.

20 Years ago, ESPN premiered a television show called Playmakers about a fictional pro football team.

It talked about a lot of edgy issues in football, and it was an instant hit.

But after just one season, ESPN pulled Playmakers from the airwaves, reportedly because the NFL was upset about the show.

Today, Chris Fanini of The Athletic tells us the story of the dramatic rise and fall of Playmakers,

the role the NFL played in the show's demise, and how the show should be remembered today.

The legacy of Playmakers is that it shined a spotlight on a lot of issues in sports,

and especially pro football that were not talked about publicly.

They were things that were said behind the scenes or written in a book years later,

but the show attacked these issues head-on in the moment.

From Wondery, I'm Anders Kelto.

It's Friday, August 25th, and this is The Lead.

Chris Fanini, you recently wrote this wonderful story about Playmakers for The Athletic.

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