Hang Up and Listen is a weekly sports discussion from the online magazine Slate. It features Slate sports editor Josh Levin, writer Stefan Fatsis (author of A Few Seconds of Panic), and NPR sports reporter Mike Pesca.
Hang Up and Listen isn’t a “scream and debate till the hosts are red in the face” PTI-style yap fest type of podcast. Anchored by Slate’s sports editor Josh Levin, writer Stefan Fatsis, and NPR’s Mike Pesca, these three are smart, thorough, and highly analytical. They can be pedantic at times-some of their segments are as dense as a dissertation—but it’s better to be critical and informative than beer-bellied, redundant, Bayless-like, and dependent on the adjectives “good” and “great.”
Instead of putting in a review by me (I listen every week) or a professional smarty-pants reviewer, I’ll just paste some insights from mere average humans for your edification. Then check it out for your own selves.
Hang Up and Listen Podcast Reviews
Increase Your IQ..just tune in.
by frommaui66 on Oct 17, 2013
Rating: ★★★★★
This has got to be the wittiest, consistently wry and most intelligent sports podcastâ¦EVER! Listening to the guys making hilariously arcane observations about sports and related events around the world is like getting a Masters Degree in Smart and Funny Sportstalk. This show is one of the few podcasts I listen to regularly.
by Joe in Boise on Jul 16, 2013
Rating: ★★★★★
Funnier than most comedy podcasts. This podcast covers sports of all kind with wit and emotion. Guests are well chosen experts. Cant reccomend highly enough even though they do sometimes ramble on about Scrabble (which is not a sport!).
Thinking Man’s Sports Features
by Jeffreykip on Jul 09, 2013
Rating: ★★★★★
Fun and thought-provoking. Less a “news” program and more a social commentary through the lens of sports. Despite reading comments to the contrary, I find the topics they cover to be out-of-the-box, inclusive of women’s sports and topics that go beyond obvious front-page flash (women’s soccer, university policy, self-criticism of journalistic practice, and of course Scrabble). It’s like being at a smart, lively, conversation of highly-informed friends.
Hang Up And Listen video of live podcast recording
Hang Up and Listen Podcast Hosts
Josh Levin: Josh graduated from Brown University and immediately began his career in journalism as an intern at the Washington City Paper in Washington, D.C. He came to Slate in 2003 where he is currently Slate’s executive editor. He edits the magazine’s sports and technology columns.
Josh has also freelanced for the Atlantic, Sports Illustrated, Men’s Health, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Play: The New York Times Sports Magazine. He is one of three hosts for Slate’s sports podcast Hang Up and Listen. Josh lives in Washington, D.C.
Stefan Fatsis: Stefan is the author of A Few Seconds of Panic, which chronicles his Plimptonian summer as a placekicker with the NFL’s Denver Broncos; the New York Times bestseller Word Freak, about the subculture of competitive Scrabble; and Wild and Outside, about a renegade baseball minor league.
He is a panelist on Slate’s weekly sports podcast Hang Up and Listen, talks about sports on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” and contributes to Slate, the New York Times, and other publications. Fatsis lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, “All Things Considered” cohost Melissa Block, and their daughter, Chloe.
Mike Pesca: Mike is based in New York City. In his current position as National Correspondent for NPR, Pesca’s reports can be heard on Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition. He covers mainly sports and pop culture for the network. He has also written for Slate and the Washington Post.
In addition to his weekly duties as a panelist on Slate’s Hang Up and Listen podcast, Pesca has appeared as a guest on many popular podcasts including NPR’s Planet Money, Slate’s Culture Gabfest, Luke Burbank’s Too Beautiful to Live, The Sporkful and Maximum Fun’s Jordan and Jesse, Go!