

House of Strauss
Ethan Strauss
A podcast about sports, politics, the future and technology. www.houseofstrauss.com
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 7, 2025 • 33min
HoS: Sarah Hepola on America's re-embrace of "tatas, uptops, boobs"
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comSarah Hepola is here for one of my favorite conversations of the year. It ranges from Brent Musburger’s public horniness to American beer advertising to honest analysis of the nation’s attractiveness insecurities. Topics include but aren’t limited to…* Who else? Sydney Sweeney: A complete analysis* What did “sex sells” go away in advertising?* “Hot, Not Pretty” vs. “Pretty, Not Hot” actresses* If we’d known nothing about the controversy, would we find the jeans ad weird?* Aren’t ads supposed to tickle our horrible base impulses?* Las Vegas sexy jobs that aren’t “sex work”* The cartoonish sexism of social media era beer ads * And the twiiiinnnns* What’s with blondes? * Uncomfortable realities of who’s popular in the dating market * Green dildos on WNBA courts

Aug 6, 2025 • 1h 3min
Pesca Random Offense Plus
House (of Strauss) keeping here. My Random Offense with Mike Pesca is up, file included in this email. Subscriber Craig T. Schwerin thoughtfully built off my “LLMs will be Ozempic for Golf” post. Sarah Hepola pod was just recorded, that’s incoming. In the meantime, I’ll be chatting about green WNBA dildos on BCC, so sign up for that.House of Strauss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.houseofstrauss.com/subscribe

Aug 1, 2025 • 6min
Narrated: TIME 100 and Podcast Graveyard Rage Bait
Audio version of this article is up! Chat about it and other topics on BCC. House of Strauss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.houseofstrauss.com/subscribe

Jul 31, 2025 • 9min
Narrated: Nobody Knows How Much to Pay WNBA Players
Narrations of articles are back! This one in particular kicked up a lot of conversation in the House of Strauss group chat on ChatBCC, which I’d encourage all to join. House of Strauss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.houseofstrauss.com/subscribe

Jul 25, 2025 • 1h 4min
Random Offense with Ryan Glasspiegel on the HoS feed
Many of you have been asking that Random Offense audio find its way to the HoS feed, and we’ve worked things out to make it happen. This week we’ve got a State of Sports Media pod with Ryan Glasspiegel. Next week, when I’m back from vacation, we should have regularly scheduled HoS pods back in production. Have a nice weekend, everybody. House of Strauss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.houseofstrauss.com/subscribe

Jul 3, 2025 • 31min
HoS: Jay Caspian Kang
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comA great talk with Jay Caspan Kang on his viral, “Heir Ball: How the Cost of Youth Sports Is Changing the N.B.A.” We also discuss Jay’s BULLYING of Christine Brennan over her defense of Caitlin Clark. Topics include but aren’t limited to…* Why youth sports is insanely competitive right now* Jay’s own misgivings about becoming a competitive sports dad* Why is t…

Jul 1, 2025 • 32min
HoS: Saam Esfandiari
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comLight Years co-host Saam Esfandiari is here to explain his perspective on NBA free agency, parenting, and Iran. Massive range in this pod. A great talk as always, including but not limited to…* Is there much to say about beloved Kevon Looney leaving GSW? * Why, oh why, is the “cuck chair” Saam’s preferred metaphor for GSW roster moves?* Why is Saam desperate to deal Jonathan Kuminga?* What is the chance Kuminga flourishes elsewhere?* Are millennial stars doomed to get injured?* Sam Presti shuts down Adam Silver’s BS on injuries!* We love what Denver did (Cam Johnson fro MPJ)* Western perspectives on the Middle East? * What’s with the American White Guy NBA moment right now?* Israelis in the NBA? * How to approach youth sports as a parent

Jun 27, 2025 • 1h 24min
HoS: Dieter and Hutch
Dieter Kurtenbach and Jake Hutchinson have done for 49ers Youtube what pod friend Nate Duncan did for NBA podcasting. I’m entranced by how Dieter and Hutch have decided to build an audience by getting as niche as possible about my local football team. And so we dig into what they’re doing and why it works. Enjoy!House of Strauss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.houseofstrauss.com/subscribe

Jun 25, 2025 • 30min
HoS: Mike Silver on 'The Why Is Everything'
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comMike Silver, senior NFL writer at the Athletic, has written a remarkable book. “The Why Is Everything” is, in my opinion, the type of work that will no longer happen in the modern access-constrained world. So we get into it, exploring the coaching rivalries that shaped modern football and analyzing the friend/enemy relationships involved. Topics include but aren’t limited to…* Why is the “why” important for players to understand?* “It’s a crazy business. I’ve seen people fire their brothers.”* Five future head coaches worked on one 2013 Washington Redskins staff: Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay, Matt LaFleur, Raheem Morris, and Mike McDaniel* Is Sean McVay a big hypocrite? Or just uncommonly vulnerable? * Mike McDaniel was Kyle Shanahan’s right hand man, to the point where Kyle undermined Mike’s dreams* What was working at the Daily Cal like for Mike and myself?* Will sports writers be replaced by AI technology?* Why the hell isn’t Mike Shanahan in the NFL Hall of Fame?!

Jun 19, 2025 • 49sec
Taking Random Offense With Mike Pesca on Friday 4 pm EST
Stop by live, Friday, at 2way.tv/ethan, where I can discuss most things and Mike Pesca can discuss everything. Topics I’d like to get into include NBA Finals, sports gambling as indicator of sports decline, plus the emergent visibility of baby boomer liberals in protest culture. Also…do we dare discuss Israel/Iran? See you there! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.houseofstrauss.com/subscribe