Pablo Torre Finds Out
The Athletic
Follow Pablo down the rabbit hole, well beyond the game — every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday — on his award-winning podcast/TV show.You’ll get a deep-dive "talkumentary" episode, reported by Pablo and Curiosity Correspondents like Emmy-winning comedian Wyatt Cenac and Oscar-winning director Ezra Edelman, answering urgent questions such as: Are you smarter than an NFL quarterback? Does Giannis intentionally miss free throws to win free chicken for fans? And why does the FBI director play so much hockey? This storytelling has been honored by the Edward R. Murrow Awards and Peabody Awards. (Journalism!)Plus: Pablo hangs out with handpicked figures from sports, culture and politics like Sue Bird, Action Bronson and a U.S. Senator… plays Share & Tell with friends like Domonique Foxworth, Mina Kimes, Katie Nolan and Dan Le Batard (aka his boss)… and unveils the secrets of capitalism with David Samson and John Skipper on The Sporting Class.Follow PTFO…https://www.youtube.com/@PabloTorreFindsOuthttps://www.instagram.com/pablotorrefindsouthttps://x.com/pablofindsout…and subscribe to Pablo's newsletter:https://pablo.show Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Feb 27, 2025 • 50min
The Sporting Class: MLB and ESPN's Divorce
Major League Baseball just opted out of its $550 million contract with the Worldwide Leader. But are we still underestimating the fundamental value of the game? Why would a network sign a broadcast-rights deal in the first place, if you can just put crap on TV? And is Kyle Kuzma actually more popular than Aaron Judge? Plus: Netflix, Victor Wemminyamma, David Samson in union-boss mode, John Skipper's Chocolate-Chip Cookie Theory — and the fan of this show who is consuming it on mushrooms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 25, 2025 • 48min
Freedom of the Four: We Tracked a Radical Experiment in Basketball Nirvana
It is a far-fetched innovation floated by American hoops heads for years: the four-point shot. But as our far-flung correspondent Rafe Bartholomew reports, there is a real-life pilot program afoot — half a world away, in a galaxy-brained league with a half-century's worth of swag: the Philippine Basketball Association. And it's working. We meet the new king of long distance; watch film with a Filipino coaching legend; and then heat-check this cultural exchange with the NBA's preeminent philosopher of the four-pointer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 21, 2025 • 46min
We Smoked All the Athlete-Branded Weed We Could Find, with Dan Soder and Katie Nolan
From the beaches of Los Angeles to the botanical gardens of New York City, we traveled the country looking for the best cannabis with an athlete’s name on it. And who better to smoke it with than Katie Nolan and Dan Soder? Pablo joins Dan and Katie in their NYC apartment to burn it down with special guests Magic Johnstoned, Gary Payton, Melo, and more. Come for the marijuana, stay for the cake.This episode originally aired August 15th, 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 20, 2025 • 50min
The "Field of Dreams" That Hollywood Forgot
Michael Schur is a legendary comedy writer who calls his TV reboot of the classic baseball film "the best thing I've ever written." (He's written for SNL, The Simpsons, The Office, Parks and Rec, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place...) So why didn't his version of "Field of Dreams" ever get made? Also: what happened to the actual baseball field that he built, out there in the cornfields of Iowa? Sports-movie nostalgia has never felt quite so painful. Or surreal.This episode originally aired October 17, 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 18, 2025 • 38min
Meet the Tree: Why Jesse Owens Really Brought Hitler's Olympic Gift Home
At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Adolf Hitler gave the legendary runner a mysterious gift: four potted oak tree saplings — one for each of the four gold medals that Owens won, while surrounded by Nazis, in one of the greatest performances in the history of sports. Almost a century later, correspondent David Fleming examines what Owens decided to do with his so-called Hitler Oaks... and why that decision remains an enduring act of American defiance. Plus: tree people, myth-busting, redlining and witch-doctor science.This episode originally aired August 6th, 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 14, 2025 • 50min
The Sporting Class: The Truth Behind the NBA Ratings Decline
Sure, fewer people are watching basketball games these days. But the NBA has 76 billion reasons why that doesn't matter. John Skipper, David Samson and Pablo do the math on Adam Silver's real State of the Union — and why a rival, LIV-style league would never succeed. Plus: the goosing of Super Bowl numbers, the ballad of Monty the Giant Schnauzer... and the untold origin story of a certain award-winning sports business podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 13, 2025 • 42min
Share & Scrotox & Tell with Katie Nolan, Michael Cruz Kayne Nolan and Pablo Torre
Is Bill Belichick's girlfriend a Marvel superhero AND his momager? Why is Elon Musk lying about being a world-class gamer? And would you hire Dr. David Schlong? Plus: TMJ, POE2, foggin' it up, goin' all the way in, pre-mirror narcissism... and Chad Ochocinco's three-inch penis.Further content:DunKings 2https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quS-Ubn1tKAElon Musk rose to the top of video game charts. Now he has confessed to cheating. (Drew Harwell)https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/01/29/elon-musk-video-games-diablo-path-exile/The Musklash (Max Read)https://maxread.substack.com/p/the-musklash'Labia puffing' is the latest NSFW cosmetic trend (Brooke Kate)https://nypost.com/2025/02/04/lifestyle/what-is-labia-puffing-the-latest-nsfw-cosmetic-filler-trend/Chins Are In (Brock Colyar)https://www.vulture.com/article/hollywood-leading-men-plastic-surgery-chins-jawlines.htmlSubscribe to "Casuals with Katie Nolan"https://www.youtube.com/katienolanListen to "Sorry for Your Loss" by Michael Cruz Kaynehttps://www.audible.com/pd/Sorry-for-Your-Loss-Audiobook/B0CGJSXSPF Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 11, 2025 • 50min
Living the Dream Job: What It's Like to Run Your Childhood Team, with David Stearns
The ladder for a wannabe GM requires great balance — and not just when you're power-washing bathrooms in Coney Island as a minor-league intern. But Pablo's former classmate possesses an almost comically even-keeled nature that has led him to the top of Major League Baseball, making unemotional (and historically expensive) decisions as President of Baseball Operations for the New York Mets. His journey from racing in a hot-dog costume to working under the Big Apple spotlight for the richest owner in sports has meant turning off sports-talk radio, texting with Darryl Strawberry and, somehow, having no idea who Grimace was. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 7, 2025 • 48min
What NFL Owners Don't Want You to Know, with Don Van Natta Jr.
It's obvious that the NFL is the most powerful institution in American culture. But far less clear is what the league's power looks like from the inside. Which is why our guest before the Super Bowl is three-time Pulitzer-winner Don Van Natta Jr., whose investigative work for ESPN has offered a rare glimpse at a group that refers to itself as The Membership. Not to mention commissioner Roger Goodell, a human shield who's protected owners from a series of once-catastrophic scandals — and a boardroom that resembles an episode of Succession. Plus: the defenestration of Dan Snyder, the desperation of Bob Kraft and the superpower (and flip phone) of shadow commissioner Jerry Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 6, 2025 • 44min
The Room: Behind Closed Doors of the Messiest Ritual in Sports
Luka Dončić is just the latest athlete to be deemed too expensive by their employer. But Major League Baseball has a special solution to this problem that is at once top-secret, excruciating and embarrassing. Because when a player and his team disagree on the new salary he deserves, baseball puts them before a tribunal of judges... and lets them argue over how much that player sucks... in front of that player. All-Star second baseman Dan Uggla and journeyman outfielder Cody Ross re-confront David Samson, the former Florida Marlins president who stood between them and their millions. And they have a lesson for every athlete who dares to enter The Room. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
