Why Giannis Won’t Be a Knick, UFC’s Latest Boom, the Movie Theater Renaissance, Six Stages of Sean Penn, and ‘One Battle After Another’ With Ariel Helwani and Wesley Morris

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Ringer

Sports

4.5 • 29.4K Ratings

🗓️ 8 October 2025

⏱️ 117 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Ringer’s Bill Simmons is joined by Ariel Helwani to discuss whether the Knicks could ever land Giannis Antetokounmpo, Alex Pereira’s dominant win at UFC 320, the future of the UFC, and more! (5:22). Then, Wesley Morris joins to talk about people returning to the movie theaters, Sean Penn’s career, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘One Battle After Another’ (01:06:15). Host: Bill Simmons Guests: Ariel Helwani and Wesley Morris Producers: Chia Hao Tat and Eduardo Ocampo This episode is sponsored by State Farm®. Don’t settle for just any insurance when there’s State Farm. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit⁠⁠ www.rg-help.com⁠⁠ to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Bill Simmons podcast is presented by Fandul Sportsbook.
0:03.7	We're also presented by the Ringer podcast network.
0:06.6	I put up new rewatchables on Monday.
0:08.1	It's still Robert Redford Month.
0:09.6	We did Jeremiah Johnson.
0:11.4	So that is our second.
0:13.9	Two left.
0:15.3	Yeah.
0:15.7	Redford.
0:16.8	And then I think we have another theme month in November.
0:20.8	So stay tuned for that.
0:21.7	Stay tuned on the Prestige TV podcast.
0:24.7	Two more episodes of task on HBO.
0:27.6	And episode five was a real, real, real, classic banger.
0:32.0	Joanne Robinson, Rob Mahoney and I will be breaking down on Sunday nights, episode six, episode seven.
0:38.8	Also, our buddies,
0:43.0	Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald on the watch, also breaking it down if you want double breakdowns.
0:47.6	So there you go. Check out the ringer.com. Check out all of our sports culture.
0:55.8	Basketball season starting. Not sure if you heard. What's today's day? Yeah. It's starting in two weeks.
1:03.1	Holy macro. I just started doing research and it just feels too soon. I need like another five weeks.
1:08.2	But unfortunately, I'm going to have to cram everything into one week. I watched the entire Monster Ed Gein, killer Netflix show because I always watch those.
1:16.0	I don't know.
	...

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