"This trap's extremely pithy name was inspired by a June 2020 episode of Bill Simmons' podcast entitled "A Truly Sad Week In America, Plus The 2005 NBA Redraftables With Ryen Russillo," the title of which aptly (and, again, pithily) sums up the challenge of attempting to talk about something extremely serious (in this case, it was George Floyd's murder at the hands of Minneapolis police) while also talking about The 2005 NBA Redraftables."
"We did it. We did the Truly Sad Day In America Plus The 2005 NBA Redraftables thing, and I believe we were right to do it. It helped that this week's guest, Arif Hasan of the Wide Left newsletter, is both one of the best people to talk to about the disgraceful ongoing ICE offensive in his home city of Minneapolis and one of the best people to talk to about this week's NFL Playoff slate."
Podcasting often avoids pairing grave national tragedies with light sports banter because the combination creates jarring tonal dissonance. A program combined coverage of a harsh ICE offensive in Minneapolis with in-depth NFL playoff and 2005 NBA redraft discussion. The content balanced serious civic reporting and casual sports talk by splitting into two distinct halves: one focused on the experience of an ICE invasion and the other on football analysis. A knowledgeable guest provided detailed context about Minneapolis and discussed sports expertise. Coverage included moments of levity but maintained attention to both the human impact of enforcement actions and the state of competitive football.
Read at Defector
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]