When Trump Took Center Court

Hang Up and Listen

Slate Podcasts

News, Sports, Sports News

4.6 • 986 Ratings

🗓️ 8 September 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Hosts Alex Kirshner, Ben Lindbergh, and Lindsay Gibbs are joined by tennis writer Ben Rothenberg for a breakdown of the U.S. Open’s final days - where Trump was booed, Alcarez and Sinner battled, and Osaka was defeated. They also delve into the recent Steve Ballmer controversy, as well as Week 1 of the NFL. Finally, Ben has an afterball on the legacies of goalie Ken Dryden and second baseman Davey Johnson. On the bonus episode available exclusively for Slate Plus members, the hosts speak to Monash University researcher Erik Denison about homophobia plaguing Australian football. U.S. Open (2:42): Arthur Ashe vs. Trump Clippers (24:36): Examining Pablo Torre’s recent investigation into Steve Ballmer and the Clippers. NFL (39:11): The Bills’ Sunday night stunner Afterballs (49:06): Ben remembers Ken Dryden and Davey Johnson. (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, September 8th, 2025.
0:09.8	Welcome back to Hang Up and Listen, the sports podcast here at Slate.
0:13.2	Back with you again this week.
0:14.3	I'm Alex Kirshner.
0:15.5	I'm a contributing writer for Slate, and I co-host Split Zone Duo, a national college football podcast. This week, we will talk
0:22.4	not just about the latest Grand Slam final between Carlos Alcares and Yannick Sinner, but the
0:27.2	Donald Trump appearance that caused delays for thousands and caused the U.S. Tennis Association
0:32.2	to censor its own broadcasters and how they presented the event. We'll talk about the fallout
0:37.3	from a bombshell
0:38.1	report about possible salary cap circumvention, shady companies, and a $28 million no-show job
0:44.3	involving the Los Angeles Clippers and Kauai Leonard. And of course, we will react to a ridiculous
0:50.0	first weekend, or at least a ridiculous first Sunday night of the NFL season, the Buffalo
0:55.0	Bills you've truly done at this time. As usual, joining me this week is Lindsay Gibbs, the publisher
1:00.7	of PowerPlays, a newsletter that covers the key stories of the moment in women's sports. Lindsay,
1:06.3	how are you? I'm hanging in there, Alex. It was a fun first weekend as a football fan, not as a
1:13.3	Panthers fan, I would say, in the NFL. No, no. I'll spare you from too much
1:19.6	panther banter today, given how things just went. T.M., TM, yeah, yeah. And of course, we've got Ben Lindberg with us.
1:30.0	Ben is a senior editor for The Ringer and co-host of Effectively Wild a Baseball podcast.
1:36.2	Ben, how are you?
1:37.7	I'm doing well, and you're probably doing better than Lindsay in a football capacity because
1:42.4	your team did well as well, but we'll talk
1:45.0	about that. I think football, just one of six sports that we're covering in some capacity today,
	...

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