Wosny Lambre of The Ringer fame stops by the HoS to discuss the prompt, “Is Twitter real life?” I’m not sure we fully answered that question, but we got into a whole range of issues I wasn’t expecting, including Wos’ takes on AOC, Nancy Pelosi, and whether he’d actually broach his misgivings about Obama’s presidency to Barack in person. Obviously, if you aren’t much for the politics, this pod could be outside your wheelhouse. Still, I’d recommend it for all because Wos just happens to be so damned engaging, thoughtful and bullshit-free. Enjoy.
Enjoyed listening while working out today. Thanks for the heads up concerning the Simmons POD and who he is. I've never listened to it. I always enjoyed Wos when you were both at the Athletic. Because I'm familiar with the two of you and have enjoyed your banter in the past, it's almost nostalgic to listen. That said I'd point out that both of you have usually filled the roll of critic in other pods. You both eloquently point out what others have done and give commentary concerning the results. Wos often takes it one step further and critiques other critics (often harshly). Neither of you are known for espousing unique takes (IE "what I would do"). Both Tim Kawakami and Marcus Thompson filled that roll in pods I listened to on the Athletic. I feel like your style as in interviewer might recieve wider appeal when interviewing someone with stronger, unique takes or if someone with those attributes is also in the conversation (IE Amin). Just a thought. Continued success.
Always proud of Wos's journey and also glad I got to be on the famous Friday pod because of Jade speaking to all those host of characters. It is amazing what can be done when you network the right way
Big Wos is unassailable, and don't let the haters who aren't familiar with the CTD/TrueHoop family make you regret this episode Ethan. Excellent pod and keep it up!
I thought the conversation about Bush v Trump was really interesting. One thing that I wish you would have delved more into at the end was when Wos commented on the "kids in cages" thing as a demerit of Trump presidency. It looks like the situation has gotten much worse since with the major difference in terms of labels a la "kids in cages" is now "migrant overflow facilities".
I only got around to listening this week, so apologies for the late comment. The selection of Wos wearing the Boston celticsw shirt was a perfect choice for an episode photo and a terrific bridge between those that have seen his career progress to those that are being introduced to him for the first time. I laughed out loud before I even pressed play.
What's probably fair to say is that regardless if I agree or disagree with arguments that you or your guests make, if I'm going to give any feedback it should be based on whether an episode was interesting and entertaining. You and Wos have terrific chemistry that was obviously authentic and forged from years working together. His energy noticeably impacted your enthusiasm as you bounced from topic to topic. That's something I've missed from the old days.
The largest opportunity from my perspective was the main topic: "Is Twitter real life?". I feel like I've listened and read about this subject from data researchers to gas bags alike since the early 2010's. I'm not coming to Ethan to cover well trodden paths. I'm not saying that you should abandon the structure of a big question, but they ought to be focused something less explored or posit a question that has a less certain answer.
Hey, you could have just said FUCK OFF in your best Logan Roy voice and say that you're taking a day off from it because you wanna talk shit with Wos! Looking forward to what you do next.
Getting to the main question: is Twitter real life? I feel like what I think is out of my control, given that the industry I work in (journalism) rewards people for being so public and engaging on the platform. I have noticed that doors are opened to people who are good at playing the game. This isn’t natural for me. I am in my mid 20s, a couple years into this career, and I always ask myself can you be a journalist in 2021 without being on Twitter? What would your advice be for someone making their way In this biz?
I enjoyed listening to this, but more for your chemistry with Wos (and his willingness to deviate from the political positions practically imposed on African-Americans). That said, what brings to me to your (written) content on this substack so far is that I find it to be thought provoking and worthy of re-reading. It offers a set of valuable and underexplored insights that could provide explanatory value to someone considering this current moment a few (or many, hopefully for you) years down the line. This podcast does not fit that bill. Maybe that's just importing unreasonable expectations from the written medium and projecting them onto the more fleeting podcast medium. And while I certainly don't chafe at political angles, it emerges best in your work when it percolates in from the periphery rather than being front-and-center (and yes it is understandable, the podcast convo just flowed there). The points you guys made were sort of obvious to anyone who has considered left positions outside the US (or in the US before class analysis was defenestrated by the luxury-beliefs signalling left here).
I do think Wos should be a more regular feature on the HoS pod though. With you, he is free-er to express angles he wouldn't have a space to on the Ringer pods and once the season is underway there should be more organic narratives for you guys to analyse at the intersection of sport/culture/politics.
Struass-Wos could be like the samizdat competitor to Russillo-Simmons.
Always fun to hear Ethan chop it up with BigWos. Maybe Radio Ethan could debate his mirror universe NPR Ethan with Prime Ethan moderating.
Here’s a freezing cold take but I don’t have that much of a problem with Geitner’s regime as treasury secretary. In terms of preventing a global financial collapse, I think his team did as good a job as could be expected. The government made money on TARP and even Krugman had generated positive things to say in his review of Geitner’s book, Stress Test. To be sure, the broader economic recovery for average Americans was slower than it should have been, but I think there’s plenty of blame to go around on that (and yeah the AIG stuff, post treasury hedgefund stuff is bad, but I guess I feel like Captain Renault in Casablanca getting too worked up about it)
Put another way, who would you want at Treasury in 2009: an insider like Geitner or an ideologue/outsider like Warren? I think the Geitner increases the odds of averting an even worse financial crisis while decreasing the scope of subsequent reforms, while a Warren treasury does the reverse. My neoliberal shillness is showing, but I’ll take the former over the latter in Treasury (and the latter over the former in Congress)
I am into politics, but this was incredibly boring. If you follow politics, the anti-Democratic party, anti-anti Trump angle is old hat, especially on Twitter, the platform you correctly state isn't real life. This was boiler-plate "Actually, the Democrats are bad!" analysis.
Enjoyed listening while working out today. Thanks for the heads up concerning the Simmons POD and who he is. I've never listened to it. I always enjoyed Wos when you were both at the Athletic. Because I'm familiar with the two of you and have enjoyed your banter in the past, it's almost nostalgic to listen. That said I'd point out that both of you have usually filled the roll of critic in other pods. You both eloquently point out what others have done and give commentary concerning the results. Wos often takes it one step further and critiques other critics (often harshly). Neither of you are known for espousing unique takes (IE "what I would do"). Both Tim Kawakami and Marcus Thompson filled that roll in pods I listened to on the Athletic. I feel like your style as in interviewer might recieve wider appeal when interviewing someone with stronger, unique takes or if someone with those attributes is also in the conversation (IE Amin). Just a thought. Continued success.
Always proud of Wos's journey and also glad I got to be on the famous Friday pod because of Jade speaking to all those host of characters. It is amazing what can be done when you network the right way
Big Wos is unassailable, and don't let the haters who aren't familiar with the CTD/TrueHoop family make you regret this episode Ethan. Excellent pod and keep it up!
I thought the conversation about Bush v Trump was really interesting. One thing that I wish you would have delved more into at the end was when Wos commented on the "kids in cages" thing as a demerit of Trump presidency. It looks like the situation has gotten much worse since with the major difference in terms of labels a la "kids in cages" is now "migrant overflow facilities".
I only got around to listening this week, so apologies for the late comment. The selection of Wos wearing the Boston celticsw shirt was a perfect choice for an episode photo and a terrific bridge between those that have seen his career progress to those that are being introduced to him for the first time. I laughed out loud before I even pressed play.
What's probably fair to say is that regardless if I agree or disagree with arguments that you or your guests make, if I'm going to give any feedback it should be based on whether an episode was interesting and entertaining. You and Wos have terrific chemistry that was obviously authentic and forged from years working together. His energy noticeably impacted your enthusiasm as you bounced from topic to topic. That's something I've missed from the old days.
The largest opportunity from my perspective was the main topic: "Is Twitter real life?". I feel like I've listened and read about this subject from data researchers to gas bags alike since the early 2010's. I'm not coming to Ethan to cover well trodden paths. I'm not saying that you should abandon the structure of a big question, but they ought to be focused something less explored or posit a question that has a less certain answer.
Hey, you could have just said FUCK OFF in your best Logan Roy voice and say that you're taking a day off from it because you wanna talk shit with Wos! Looking forward to what you do next.
Getting to the main question: is Twitter real life? I feel like what I think is out of my control, given that the industry I work in (journalism) rewards people for being so public and engaging on the platform. I have noticed that doors are opened to people who are good at playing the game. This isn’t natural for me. I am in my mid 20s, a couple years into this career, and I always ask myself can you be a journalist in 2021 without being on Twitter? What would your advice be for someone making their way In this biz?
I enjoyed listening to this, but more for your chemistry with Wos (and his willingness to deviate from the political positions practically imposed on African-Americans). That said, what brings to me to your (written) content on this substack so far is that I find it to be thought provoking and worthy of re-reading. It offers a set of valuable and underexplored insights that could provide explanatory value to someone considering this current moment a few (or many, hopefully for you) years down the line. This podcast does not fit that bill. Maybe that's just importing unreasonable expectations from the written medium and projecting them onto the more fleeting podcast medium. And while I certainly don't chafe at political angles, it emerges best in your work when it percolates in from the periphery rather than being front-and-center (and yes it is understandable, the podcast convo just flowed there). The points you guys made were sort of obvious to anyone who has considered left positions outside the US (or in the US before class analysis was defenestrated by the luxury-beliefs signalling left here).
I do think Wos should be a more regular feature on the HoS pod though. With you, he is free-er to express angles he wouldn't have a space to on the Ringer pods and once the season is underway there should be more organic narratives for you guys to analyse at the intersection of sport/culture/politics.
Struass-Wos could be like the samizdat competitor to Russillo-Simmons.
Loved listening to you guys. I feel the same way but haven't been able to properly express all of this.
Always fun to hear Ethan chop it up with BigWos. Maybe Radio Ethan could debate his mirror universe NPR Ethan with Prime Ethan moderating.
Here’s a freezing cold take but I don’t have that much of a problem with Geitner’s regime as treasury secretary. In terms of preventing a global financial collapse, I think his team did as good a job as could be expected. The government made money on TARP and even Krugman had generated positive things to say in his review of Geitner’s book, Stress Test. To be sure, the broader economic recovery for average Americans was slower than it should have been, but I think there’s plenty of blame to go around on that (and yeah the AIG stuff, post treasury hedgefund stuff is bad, but I guess I feel like Captain Renault in Casablanca getting too worked up about it)
Put another way, who would you want at Treasury in 2009: an insider like Geitner or an ideologue/outsider like Warren? I think the Geitner increases the odds of averting an even worse financial crisis while decreasing the scope of subsequent reforms, while a Warren treasury does the reverse. My neoliberal shillness is showing, but I’ll take the former over the latter in Treasury (and the latter over the former in Congress)
One more like this and I'm dropping my subscription. I don't want political takes unless you are going to have some in-episode balance.
"I contend, most of those people [who died of COVID] would have died anyway." This is provably false.
I am into politics, but this was incredibly boring. If you follow politics, the anti-Democratic party, anti-anti Trump angle is old hat, especially on Twitter, the platform you correctly state isn't real life. This was boiler-plate "Actually, the Democrats are bad!" analysis.
I put off watching friday night pennant race baseball to listen, thats how much i wanted to hear this
The Big Problematic!
oh I'm looking forward to listening to this!