The Jonah Keri Podcast

Jonah Keri interviews Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Capitals, Wizards, and Mystics.  Topics include: The challenge of winning a sports championship; drafting well; whether an owner's interaction with fans has a tangible impact on revenue; using analytics off the court/ice; teams participating in the secondary market for ticket sales; the benefits and drawbacks of participating in an all-access documentary like the HBO Series 24/7; and film + philanthropy = filmanthropy.

Jonah Keri interviews Jeff Passan, MLB columnist for Yahoo! Sports and co-author of Death to the BCS: The Definitive Case Against the Bowl Championship Series. Topics include: The NBA Finals and Dirk's quiet moment; Jeff's in-depth article on José Bautista (with tangents on fantastic newspaper sports sections, megalomaniacal managers, great sports nicknames, and shaved heads); possible realignment in Major League Baseball; finding a voice as a writer; Death to the BCS; and why Jeff refuses to follow you or be your friend. Plus, the Food Pick of the Week.

Jonah Keri interviews Rafe Bartholomew, author of Pacific Rims: Beermen Ballin' in Flip-Flops and the Philippines' Unlikely Love Affair with Basketball, and editor at Bill Simmons's new website Grantland. Topics include: Pacific Rims; Rafe's first game of pickup basketball in the Philippines; adjusting to life in Manila; basketball's unexplainable popularity in the Philippines; how basketball courts get built in the Philippines; politics and poverty; the access granted by the Philippine Basketball Association; imported U.S. stars; and LeBron's performance in the NBA Finals. Plus, the Food Pick of the Week.

Jonah Keri interviews Chris Nilan, legendary NHL enforcer and right winger for the Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, and New York Rangers. Topics include: The death of Derek Boogaard; the mindset of an enforcer, and dulling the pain with alcohol; camps to teach fighting to kids, like the one Boogaard ran; Chris's toughest opponents; whether the NHL should abolish fighting; mandating equipment like visors and cages; how quickly a player should come back after an injury; the return of the NHL to Winnipeg and possibly Quebec City; and the upcoming Stanley Cup finals between Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins. Plus, the Food Pick of the Week.

Jonah Keri interviews Lang Whitaker, editor-at-large of Slam Magazine, contributor to NBA.com and NBA TV, and author of In the Time of Bobby Cox: The Atlanta Braves, Their Manager, My Couch, Two Decades, and Me. Topics include: NBA playoff series between the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder; the legacies of Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant, and Jason Kidd; Miami Heat vs. Chicago Bulls playoff series; great coaching in the NBA playoffs; the youth of the Thunder and Bulls; how Lang constructed his book; the Braves post-Cox; how to time the release of a baseball book; the appeal of the Mavericks and of Chris Bosh, and the sort-of appeal of the Heat; and LeBron James. Plus, the Food Pick of the Week.

Jonah Keri interviews Evan Longoria, All-Star 3rd baseman for the Tampa Bay Rays. Topics include: Pre-season expectations; the youth-oriented team; starting the season with an injury, and the key to the team's turnaround; Joe Maddon's approach; pitch recognition; signing the most team-friendly contract in Major League Baseball; defensive skill; the AL East; and spending time on the Disabled List.

Jonah Keri interviews Carles of Hipster Runoff. Topics include: The origins of Hipster Runoff, meta-alt, and blog identity; the turning point of alt/indie music; reconciling alt and monetization; having a secret identity; hipster glossary; alt athletes and alt in sports; relevance; buzzhuman power rankings; the politics of music blogging; NBA buzz and the sports blog renaissance. Plus, the Food Pick of the Week.

Jonah Keri interviews Sean McDonough, legendary play-by-play announcer who is currently calling college basketball, college football, and major league baseball for ESPN. Topics include: Boston sports fans; college hockey; the McDonough family's sports legacy; Sean's chemistry with Bill Raftery and Jay Bilas; dude, where's Bill Raftery's car?; Sean's new Monday Night Baseball gig with Rick Sutcliffe and Aaron Boone; some of Sean's greatest calls: Francisco Cabrera's pennant-winning hit for the Atlanta Braves in 1992, Joe Carter's World Series-winning home run for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993, the 6-overtime game between UConn and Syracuse in 2009, Rip Hamilton's buzzer beater in the 1998 Sweet Sixteen game between UConn and Washington, and Warren Morris's College World Series-winning homer for LSU in 1996; and Gus Johnson and sincerity of tone. Plus, the Food Pick of the Week.

Jonah Keri interviews Drew Magary, co-founder of Kissing Suzy Kolber; writer for Deadspin, NBC, GQ, Maxim, Penthouse, and many other outlets; and author of the upcoming novel The Postmortal. Topics include: The Postmortal; the societal dangers of immortality; whether we'll all turn into Charlie Sheen; internet anonymity, over-the-top writing, and the Mom Problem; a community of blogging peers; the future of sports media; NFL draft; NFL lockout; the characters of Kissing Suzy Kolber; the process of writing fiction; and Twitter as a weight loss tool. Plus, the Food Pick of the Week.

Jonah Keri interviews Ben Gibbard, lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie. Topics include: Changes in fan demographics that result from a band's longevity; indie cred and selling out; embracing new technologies; Death Cab vs. Postal Service; social media and new methods of marketing music; Ben's marriage to Zooey Deschanel; finding a source of angsty inspiration in the Seattle Mariners?; Ben the stathead; the intersection of baseball and music, and Ben's life goal; Death Cab for Cutie's upcoming album Codes and Keys; Ben's favorite ahead-of-its-time band; and the creative process. Plus, the Food Pick of the Week.

Jonah Keri interviews Bomani Jones of The Score Satellite Radio's Morning Jones and ESPN.com. Topics include: Zone defense in the NBA; ugly wins; changes in the rules of basketball; NBA versus college; the Pacers-Bulls playoff series; this year's NBA draft; whether Chris Paul is the best point guard since Magic; changing a player's legacy by changing his uniform; groupthink and preordained superstars; an alternate universe in which Blake Griffin plays for the Thunder; and free agent destinations. Plus, the Food Pick of the Week.

In Part 2, Jonah Keri interviews Dave Dameshek about the Western Conference of the NHL Playoffs, including Canucks-Blackhawks, Sharks-Kings,  Redwings-Coyotes, and Ducks-Predators, as well as the Stanley Cup Finals. Tangents include a fashion critique of NHL uniforms and great brothers in the history of sports. Then, Jonah and Dave negotiate a fantasy baseball trade. Plus, the Food Pick of the Week.

Jonah Keri interviews Dave Dameshek of NFL.com. In Part 1, Dave and Jonah provide a preview of the NHL playoffs including Penguins-Lightning, Habs-Bruins, Sabres-Flyers, and Rangers-Capitals. Interspersed topics include: Wearing the jersey of the visiting team; impressions; Dave's new podcast coming to NFL.com; rooting for a pathetic team; podcast alumnus Sam Fuld's performance with the Tampa Bay Rays; and the playoff structure of the NHL, March Madness, and MLB.

Jonah Keri interviews Dave Cameron, baseball analyst for Fangraphs, ESPN Insider, and the Wall Street Journal. Topics include: Dave's start at USS Mariner and accusations of bias toward the home team; recognizing strengths within baseball organizations; what causes analysts to whiff in their player rankings; providing meaningful baseball coverage so early in the season; Pitch f/x; predictions for this season, and the problems with making predictions; changes in the tone of sabermetrics writing over the years; and sabermetric ambassadors. Plus, the Food Pick of the Week.

Jonah Keri interviews Jorge Arangure, senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. Topics include: Jumping off from Jorge's recent article on the Tampa Bay Rays' baseball academy in Brazil, a discussion of scouting and player development in Latin America; El Play, Jorge's forthcoming book on baseball in the Dominican Republic; institutional racism toward Latino baseball players; helping young players of every background adjust to unfamiliar surroundings; and American media coverage of Latino athletes. Plus, the Food Pick of the Week.