3 Podcasts I Liked This Week (2/2/19)

Jeremy Lin, a talking grain of sand, and the nerdiest NBA and NFL podcasts on the planet

Last week I tried something new, offering a brief review of the best three podcasts I listened to that week. Many podcasts I listen to are sports or sports-adjacent, but others are about TV, pop culture, media, religion, politics, or some overlap in between. I love podcasts that are stories and conversations, and I love ones that make me think. They’re a new and still evolving medium and I think there’s a lot there to uncover still.

Since most people reading this don’t have time to consume 40 podcasts a week like me, I thought a few highlights might be helpful. Each week I’ll choose the three best from that week, plus a bonus old podcast. This week I nerded out on a ton of NBA and NFL podcasts and will try not to only include sports nerdery here, so I cheated and included two older pods. Give a look and see if there’s something for you, and please comment below if you listened to a great podcast this week and want to share!

The Bill Barnwell Show

Jan 30 — Domonique Foxworth & Doug Farrar

It’s Super Bowl week, and if you’re looking to bring a little extra knowledge to the big game, you won’t find a more in-depth Super Bowl preview podcast. Don’t expect much talk about the commercials or halftime show. This is all Xs and Os and super nerdy football talk, just the way I like it.

The 25 minutes with Foxworth focus on the Los Angeles Rams offense and the incredible schemes head coach Sean McVay has befuddled the league with. He analyzes the system in place and talks about Rams player personnel and how their scheme has evolved over the year from exclusively 11 to more 21 and 12 personnel. The second half with Farrar discusses the New England Patriots defense and the way Belichick sets us his players to succeed as on-field coaches that make reads at the line and adjust. He talks about the way New England will disguise their reads and pass rushes to obscure Rams quarterback Jared Goff’s vision. If none of that made any sense to you, skip this one. But if this podcast is for you, it’s really for you.

Dunc’d On Basketball NBA Podcast

Jan 28 & 29 — Mock Trade Deadline 2019 (Parts I & II)

Speaking of podcasts that are either skippable or really for you, I present Dunc’d On. If you’re a basketball nerd, you’re probably familiar with Nate Duncan or Danny Leroux’s work at The Athletic or the Twitter NBA Show. These guys dive into the analytical NBA deep end and know their stuff as well as anyone, and their mock NBA transaction periods are always a drop-everything-and-listen favorite for me. The two combine with ESPN’s Kevin Pelton and NBC’s Dan Feldman and act as general managers for seven or eight NBA teams each, then spend several hours simulating all 30 teams wheeling and dealing at the NBA trade deadline (coming up this Thursday, February 7).

The podcast is split into two. The first features offers from half the league for Anthony Davis, and Knicks fans may want to look away as Kristaps Porzingis is ultimately traded not for Dennis Smith Jr. and cap space but for the Brow. From there we find homes for Grizzlies stars Mike Conley and Marc Gasol, then spend the second pod on deals for role players like Kent Bazemore, Nikola Mirotic, and Wayne Ellington. The team goes wayyyy down the rabbit hole on an absurd four-way trade involving Markelle Fultz, Jeremy Lin, and Furkan Korkmaz and spends a hilariously long time negotiating pick protections on a fake role player trade, out to 2023 and beyond. This one’s only for the nerdiest basketball nerds, but oh man, is it for us!

Everything Is Alive

Oct 16, 2018 — Chioke, Grain of Sand

And now for something totally different. Everything Is Alive was probably my favorite podcast find in 2018, and Chioke is my favorite episode yet. In EIA, our host interviews an inanimate object. Chioke is a grain of sand in a fish tank. Have you ever wondered what an interview with a grain of sand might sound like? Of course you haven’t. And that’s why this is amazing.

Chioke ridicules the stupid goldfish forever swimming back and forth in his tank. He mocks humans heading to an inevitably disappointing day at the beach and makes fun of white sand, aka poop. But Chioke also gets deep. He considers how sand is never just a grain on its own, how he belongs to a collective noun, wondering why humans don’t think of themselves the same way. He talks about just sitting and being and about the freedom from FOMO. Chioke is the deepest grain of sand you’ve never met. You won’t spend a better 20 minutes listening to anything else this week.

Winging It

Dec 17, 2018 — Jeremy Lin

It’s rare we get Vinsanity and Linsanity in one sentence, let alone on the same podcast. Winging It is a podcast featuring Vince Carter and Kent Bazemore, two Atlanta Hawks wings (for at least another week) along with outstanding host Annie Finberg, and they usually feature another NBA player and talk about his journey to and through the league.

This week’s guest is Jeremy Lin, one of sports’ most outspoken Christians and the first American born of Chinese descent to play in the NBA. He’s a role player on the court but a role model off it. Lin talks about his journey from Harvard to being undrafted to bouncing around the NBA before a wild series of fluky improbabilities led to the incredible stretch of Linsanity with the New York Knicks in 2012. He lists 13 to 15 items that were completely out of his control, any one of which a reversal would have killed off his NBA career before it even started. Lin gives God the glory for His sovereign plan along his journey. He also talks about what it’s like to represent Asia and even shares a silly little poem he wrote. It’s an enlightening and uplifting listen from one of the most unique and interesting players in the NBA.

What was your favorite podcast you listened to recently? Leave a note in the comments below!

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