House of Strauss

Latest Episodes:

HoS Pod: Mike Pesca May 05, 2023

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.com

We’ve ombuds’d with Spike. Can we ombuds’d with Mike? We tried to stay on topic with Mike Pesca, public radio/sports podcasting legend, but we ended up hitting so many subjects outside this here website. Subjects include, but aren’t limited to:

* I just came back from Florida. What’s the deal?

* There once was a banana that everyone ate and it was called The Big Mike. Now it’s extinct.

* I went on Pesca’s podcast to discuss Giannis Antetokounmpo’s “there’s no failure in sports” moment. We analyze why his listeners hated our take.

* Is it helpful to exaggerate certain societal threats?

* Mike’s NBA vs. Senate salary comp became a random controversy

* I’m trying to outsmart Elon Musk. Good luck to me.

* Is, “Go Woke, Go Broke?” true or false?

* Mike wonders why I didn’t cover certain stories, like Jon Gruden’s Raiders ouster

* The conversation about women’s sports isn’t very nuanced

* Mike asks for my most progressive sports media opinion

HoS Pod: Sarah Hepola May 02, 2023

Show notes

I found myself fascinated by Sarah Hepola’s memoir Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget, and so I reached out for a discussion. The book was a huge bestseller when it came out in 2015 and it keeps resonating with new readers. I am one of those readers.

Though I’d never met Sarah in person, she was one of my bosses at Salon.com in 2009 and 2010, and I’d had no idea she was going through any of what was detailed in her book. In this pod, we talk about her enduring hit, and her unusually candid writing style, but also get into a lot more. As a pop culture obsessed young GenXer, Sarah has a particular perspective on the culture and how it’s moved over the last couple decades.

We wanted to talk some sports, but got too wrapped up in the conversation at hand. Next time!

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

HoS Pod: Spike Eskin, Podbudsman Apr 28, 2023

Show notes

As co-host of the successful Rights to Ricky Sanchez podcast and Vice President of Programming at storied WFAN, Spike Eskin has some audio bonafides. Having been spellbound by his takes on what makes a radio show work, I wanted his advice on how to improve my operation. So here we go, no mercy, no malice. Spike’s here to improve whatever ails the HoS audio product.

Discussion on this podcast includes, but is not limited to:

* Kitchen myths

* What I’m doing wrong

* How I’m not a natural point guard

* The magic of pausing

* Spike has takes on Rogan’s recent podcasts

* We try to break down what makes Red Scare a hit pod

* We get into the media going crazy over Giannis’ “failure” speech

* No Spike podcast would be complete without takes on JJ Redick’s ESPN heel act

* Additionally, no Spike visit would be complete without takes on ESPN’s “appreciate LeBron” messaging

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

Hos Pod: Wosny Lambre, Nate Jones Apr 24, 2023

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.com

The sports/econ/culture/whatever combo returns to HoS and boy do we have a good one for you. The launching pad topic is the NFL’s latest sports gambling scandal, but this podcast goes in a lot of NBA directions. This conversation with Wos and Nate touches on, but is not limited to…

* Somehow we start on the past inaccessibility of porn

* Young Nate Jones was a vice salesman

* Is sports going all in on gambling bad for sports?

* Can sports gambling make sports more popular?

* Can players be tempted to throw games?

* Phil Jackson had some comments about the NBA bubble

* Is it unfair that people punish the NBA for political hypocrisy?

* What’s up with the Blazers having so much admiration for Draymond Green?

* Is Draymond the greatest defensive player, post Bill Russell?

HoS Pod: Sherman Alexie Apr 20, 2023

Show notes

Sherman Alexie has won many literary prizes and also played pickup basketball against John Stockton. In this pod, he humors all my questions about Native American life, riffs on Draymond Green’s situation and recounts how competitively angry the Utah Jazz legend gets in person.

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

HoS Pod: Anthony Slater Apr 19, 2023

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.com

Anthony Slater has always been great at this job, to the point of changing it for everyone else. The cinematic Warriors-Kings (Or should it be Kings-Warriors?) series is a perfect excuse to have an in the weeds conversation with The Athletic veteran and now new father. This podcast discusses but is not limited to the following topics:

* Who else? Draymond Green

* Slater should write a book about what’s happening

* What was it like being 23 years old and covering the Oklahoma City Thunder?

* Why does Slater appreciate that Russell Westbrook is an asshole to every media member?

* Warriors GM Bob Myers has more than one foot out the door

* Did Myers sort of screw the Bay Area media by complimenting their soft coverage of Andrew Wiggins’ absence?

* The difficulty of discussing a players’ personal issues

* Covering Thunder GM Sam Presti vs. Warriors GM Bob Myers

* How Slater changed the industry for everyone and quite suddenly

HoS Pod: Grant Cohn Apr 17, 2023

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.com

I kept hearing it from some unexpected sources in my life: You gotta get Grant Cohn on the pod. With the NFL Draft coming up, it was finally time.

No person in the sports media appears to have more disdain for the sports media than Grant. And that makes sense, even if his father Lowell was a longtime local columnist. Cohn has made it outside the mainstream circuit, pitching his bold takes to a Youtube audience. He’s been publicly attacked by multiple 49ers players, dismissed by other media outlets and yet, his channel just keeps growing and going. We get into it all.

This pod includes, but isn’t limited to discussion of:

* Grant thinks I’m more controversial than he is?!

* We recall a past lunch wherein Grant confessed he was struggling to make it professionally

* What happened to turn his career around?

* Why does Grant have disdain for the sports media of today?

* The Javon Kinlaw incident

* Why did the media take Kinlaw’s side? Why did they call Grant a “troll”?

* 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan is a fascinating study in coach psychology

* Why do the 49ers care so much about his takes?

* Andrew Wiggins being rusty cost the Warriors in Game 1. What’s up with the absence of commentary?

HoS Pod: Amin Elhassan, Talking in the Lion's Den Apr 12, 2023

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.com

Amin is back and taking this 1 hour 47 minute podcast into unexpectedly fraught territory. Beyond examining however my persona has evolved, we touch on some landmine topics. Discussion in this podcast includes, but is not limited to:

* We riff on whether it’s moral to eat lion

* Amin has thoughts on my (political? apolitical?) persona and how people assess it

* We reflect on how normies vs. extremely online types reacted to the Rachel Nichols situation

* We talk about, yes, the trans sports issue

* We hear what Amin would tell his daughter per that particular issue

* The MOM Rule, which is different from the DADD rule

* We honestly discuss Warriors GM Bob Myers’ foray into podcasting and whether it’s working

HoS Pod: Matt Klinman Apr 10, 2023

Show notes

Matt Klinman is a) My best friend since Middle School and b) the Co-Star of High Science, a new show on HBO Max that features Paul Bettany as an educational talking bong. Matt’s also something of a tech critic, who’s gone viral with his explanations of how Facebook killed a once thriving digital comedy scene.

Beyond his show premiering on 4/20, this was an ideal time for us to chat, given recent Musk vs. Substack machinations. We get into that, while also arguing a lot.

This pod discussion touches on, but is not limited to:

* High Science as the show where it’s fun to learn

* Trippy marine science facts

* Matt thinks Musk attacked Substack because he “does things that suck because he sucks.” I demand a more granular explanation and we argue

* Glass Onion is the most salient Musk satire. It’s also highly annoying to me

* Matt lashes out at Matt Taibbi for being Gen X

* Matt thinks our artistic nadir is more related to economics than Wokeness. I think Matt’s onto something but also in denial

* Will AI kill us all? Do the nerds want to make it kill us all?

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

HoS Pod: Katie Herzog Apr 07, 2023

Show notes

HoS pod is quite happy to welcome Blocked and Reported co-host Katie Herzog. I’m a big BAR fan and believe it to be somewhat misunderstood, especially at this juncture. We get into how the podcast has evolved into a more journalistic and narrative driven product, plus touch on the ways an Old Public Radio golden age fell apart.

This discussion touches on, but is not limited to:

* Katie allegedly knows nothing about sports but somehow knows the relevant details of Meyers Leonard saying “kike” while gaming.

* Shouldn’t the dumb jock defense help Leonard here?

* White American NBA player politics

* How Prestige 2000s Radio fell apart and why those carrying its torch are the people public radio hates

* When you realize that the truth won’t set you free, what happens next?

* Katie’s lost friends over what she’s written but I, oddly, don’t seem to have?

* The challenge of sports with a lot of homophobia among players trying to advance Pride Nights

* The Bon Appetit vs. Reply All Latinx Standoff Ouroboros

* The Great Katie vs. Jesse debate about his leaving Twitter

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

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