The Press Box

Latest Episodes:

NBA Finals Story Lines, More on the Trump Verdict, Charles Barkley’s Free Agency, and Colin Cowherd: Resistance Hero Jun 03, 2024

Show notes

Hello, media consumers! Bryan and David kick off the show with some notes on the coverage of the Trump verdict (1:09). Then, they get into the following topics:

What kind of story are the 2023-24 Dallas Mavericks (9:02)
Charles Barkley’s free agency and what could happen with the talent from ‘Inside the NBA’ (18:19)

Later in the Notebook Dump they discuss:

Reactions to Colin Cowherd’s monologue about Trump’s conviction (32:43)
The upcoming presidential debate and the advertisements that will be available for purchase (41:00)
Bryan and David are in LearnedLeague trivia (43:15)

Plus, the Overworked Twitter Joke of the Week and David Shoemaker Guesses the Strained-Pun Headline.

Hosts: Bryan Curtis and David Shoemaker

Producer: Brian H. Waters

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The Strange End of the Trump Trial, Baseball’s Spot in the Sports-World Lineup, and Nerd Culture Deep Dives With Mallory Rubin May 30, 2024

Show notes

Hello, media consumers! Bryan welcomes the Ringer’s ultimate team player, Mallory Rubin. They kick off the show by discussing the live coverage of the Trump trial deliberations (4:47). Then they discuss baseball’s place in the media lineup as networks are willing to pay $2 billion for the NBA while ESPN is trying to get out of a $540 million deal with MLB (16:12). They close with a fun discussion about Mallory’s career, which includes a chat about the things she has done a nerd culture deep dive on (33:40).

Plus, David Shoemaker Guesses the Strained-Pun Headline.

Bryan and Mallory’s conversation was recorded before the jury of the Donald Trump trial was finished deliberating.

Host: Bryan Curtis

Guest: Mallory Rubin

Producer: Brian H. Waters

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Remembering Bill Walton, Saving the Washington Post, and the Latest on the NBA Rights Scramble May 28, 2024

Show notes

Hello, media consumers! We lost a basketball and media legend this week, the one and only Bill Walton. Bryan and David kick off the show by reading some of his quotes and discussing how he was ahead of his time (0:20). Then, they get into the current reported plan to save The Washington Post, which includes subscription tiers and additional content for superfans (10:43).

Later, in the Notebook Dump, they talk about how the NBA playoff pregame shows have added a member to the panel (32:10), the Mavericks’ “commanding” lead in the Western Conference finals (40:02), and the latest on NBA media rights and how Turner could have maintained the rights without a bidding war (42:37).

Bryan closes the show with a fun story from the movies (47:29).

Plus, the Overworked Twitter Joke of the Week and David Shoemaker Guesses the Strained-Pun Headline.

Hosts: Bryan Curtis and David Shoemaker

Producer: Brian H. Waters

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NBA Inches Closer to a Rights Deal, ESPN’s No. 1 Team, and Stephen A.’s History of Debate TV With Howard Beck and Sheil Kapadia May 23, 2024

Show notes

Hello media consumers! We close out a busy week with two appearances! First, Howard Beck joins Bryan to discuss the NBA finalizing the rights deal (1:20), what is intriguing about NBC and Amazon’s coverage (9:30), and the NBA going back to broadcast television (18:00).

Then, Sheil Kapadia joins to discuss whether or not Charles Barkley would work with his ‘Inside the NBA’ teammates elsewhere (21:51), thoughts on ESPN’s number one announce team (25:23), ESPN’s ‘Up for Debate’ docuseries (36:55), and more.

Host: Bryan Curtis

Guests: Howard Beck and Sheil Kapadia

Producer: Brian H. Waters

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Patrick Radden Keefe on Crime Stories, No-Access Journalism, Getting Tenure at The New Yorker, and Turning 'Say Nothing' Into a Series May 22, 2024

Show notes

Last week, Bryan went to the Santa Fe International Literary Festival and was able to speak with Patrick Radden Keefe. They discussed a few things about Patrick’s career, including:

How Patrick discovered magazines in junior high school and what stood out about them (2:21)
How he pitches a story to The New Yorker today (12:20)
His attraction to crime stories (17:19)
Whether there are too many crime stories in the era of Netflix (25:07)
Write-arounds and no-access journalism (31:20)

Host: Bryan Curtis

Guest: Patrick Radden Keefe

Producer: Brian H. Waters

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ESPN Loves the Knicks, Scarlett Johansson and AI, Reporters Discover the T-Wolves, and the Media Acid Test May 21, 2024

Show notes

Hello, media consumers! David kicks off the show with a fun story for you (0:40), then he and Bryan get into NBA playoff talk with the following:

How much does sports media know about Minnesota (7:05)
Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns's reactions to being told they are supposed to lose (12:25)
Stephen A. Smith and ESPN’s love for the New York Knicks (15:01)

Later in the Notebook Dump they discuss:

Scarlett Johansson’s voice being used for AI (26:42)
Netflix and the NFL (31:00)
Cam’ron’s appearance on CNN with Abby Phillip (38:05)

Plus, the Overworked Twitter Joke of the Week and David Shoemaker Guesses the Strained-Pun Headline.

Hosts: Bryan Curtis and David Shoemaker

Producer: Brian H. Waters

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Presidential Debate Strategizing, the NBA Rights Endgame, and New Yorker Editor Succession With Semafor’s Max Tani May 16, 2024

Show notes

Hello media consumers! On the Final Edition, Bryan is joined by Max Tani, media editor at Semafor, to discuss the following:

Biden and Trump agree to two presidential debates on CNN and ABC (01:33)
What to make of the NBA media rights negotiations (19:13)
JJ Redick: podcaster and coach? (28:20)
The succession plan for The New Yorker’s next editor (35:31)
Joe Kahn and the young reporters at NYT (44:23)
Covering the media beat (48:15)

Then, David Shoemaker Guesses the Strained-Pun Headline.

Host: Bryan Curtis

Guest: Max Tani

Producer: Eduardo Ocampo

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Checking in on the Trump Trial, Weekend Sounds from the NBA and How “The Phantom Menace” Changed the Media May 13, 2024

Show notes

Hello media consumers! Bryan and David kick off the week by checking in on the Trump trial and discussing how we have been getting updates without it being televised, including real-time updates from the New York Times (0:21). They then get into a few things from NBA playoff weekend, including the following:

Shaq telling Nikola Jokic that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander deserves to be NBA MVP (7:51)
Some very interesting sounds during Luka Doncic’s press conference (10:41)
How do NBA analysts judge teams when they keep getting blown out (12:47)
JJ Redick's intrigue over the Lakers’ coaching vacancy and whether or not he would still keep his podcast (24:22)

Later, in the Notebook Dump, they discuss the 25th anniversary of ‘Phantom Menace’ and how it changed media (35:12). Plus, the Overworked Twitter Joke of the Week, Only in Journalism, and David Shoemaker Guesses the Strained-Pun Headline.

Hosts: Bryan Curtis and David Shoemaker

Producer: Brian H. Waters

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The Death of Journalistic Swagger, Apple Is Crushing It, ‘The Office’ For Newspapers, and "The Revenge of the Homepage" With Julia Turner May 09, 2024

Show notes

Hello media consumers! On the Final Edition, Bryan is joined by Julia Turner—one of the hosts of Slate's Culture Gabfest! They get into the following topics:

Jack Shafer’s story in Politico about “journalistic swagger” (1:20).
Ben Smith of Semafor’s interview with New York Times executive editor Joe Kahn regarding the 2024 election (20:26)
The Apple ad about the new thin iPad (32:56)
An ‘Office’ spinoff, but for a newspaper company (35:26)
Reggie Miller has learned something from Bryan and other podcasters (40:00)
Kyle Chayka's, of The New Yorker, story: "The Revenge of the Home Page" (42:59)

Then, David Shoemaker Guesses the Strained-Pun Headline.Host: Bryan Curtis

Guest: Julia Turner

Producer: Brian H. Waters

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A Report From the Tom Brady Roast, Pat Beverley Stiffs a Reporter, and Kristi Noem’s Memoir-gate. May 06, 2024

Show notes

Bryan and David start by recapping Bryan’s experience at the roast of Tom Brady. Then, they discuss the reports and negotiations around the upcoming NBA media rights, and what it could mean for the ‘Inside the NBA’ on TNT (23:37). They also talk about Milwaukee Bucks guard Patrick Beverley not allowing a media member to participate in a media scrum for not subscribing to his podcast (29:11). Later in the Notebook Dump, they talk of Kristi Noem being “misquoted” in her memoir, followed by The Old Guy’s Still Got It, The Tad Friend Rule, and Only in Journalism (39:02).Plus the Overworked Twitter Joke of the Week and David Shoemaker Guesses the Strained-Pun Headline.

Hosts: Bryan Curtis and David Shoemaker

Producer: Isaiah Blakely

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