My Daily Olympics Podcast Is Back
Here's a lot more info about what I'll be doing, and how you can check it all out.
Hi everyone. It’s been about seven months since the last time I sent anything out to my mailing list. A lot has happened since then, and I’ll get to that at the bottom, but I want to start with the big headline:
I’m hosting a daily Olympics podcast again!
You may remember that in 2016 I cohosted a podcast with Alex Abnos called Very Olympic Today. It was truly one of my favorite projects ever. In 2021, I wrote a daily newsletter, which worked better for the time zone when the Olympics were in Tokyo. I’m back in my preferred medium.
This time, the podcast is called Sports Illustrated’s Daily Rings. My new cohost is Dan Gartland, and I’m excited about what we’re building. In our episodes Monday and Tuesday, we did rapid-fire previews of all 39 sports—everything from track and swimming to canoeing and trampoline.
It’s going to be very fun, and I think different from how a lot of other people cover the Olympics. We’re basically going to watch 16 hours a day and then nerd out over all the incredible/inspiring/weird/funny stuff we liked. We have no obligations to stick to the top sports or famous athletes. The Olympics are massive, and we’ll make things more manageable and more fun to follow. If you like the Olympics at all, I think you’ll like it. If you like my voice, even better.
We announced it with a very short post on SI’s site, but I want to say a little more here to my people.
In 2016, I wrote a post on my blog (which I no longer use because I have this Substack) about why that podcast was so special to me. The answer is the community we built, something I’ve never experienced quite the same way with any other project. We managed to build an actual international audience that was deeply engaged and we heard from so many people every day while the podcast was running. Some amazing examples are mentioned in that post.
So that’s where you come in! First, I hope you’ll check it out. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify). Second, I hope you’ll help us spread the word and build that community back up. It’s very hard to build a big audience for a new podcast, especially when you aren’t famous and only have a week to do it.
What can you do to help? A few things. After you subscribe, you can leave us ratings and reviews in Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or both). In 2016, the algorithm scooped us up, fed us to a ton of people and made us No. 6 in iTunes, and this is the only way that’ll happen again. With a short window to grow, this is the week to give us that boost. (Can we get to 50 before the opening ceremony?)
Beyond that, I’d love it if you tell your friends. Forward this email. Post about the podcast on Instagram. Retweet me. Drop a link in your group text. If there’s anyone you think would like it, let them know about it. If you’re going to listen already, that’ll all help make it better for everyone.
I’ll also be doing a lot of other Olympics stuff beyond the podcast. I wrote two stories for the preview magazine, which you can now read online: a day-by-day viewing guide and a Q&A with NFL Red Zone’s Scott Hanson about hosting Gold Zone on Peacock. I’ll also be doing daily videos and written posts through the Games about what to watch the following day (details to come, I’ll share them on social media). And the podcast will have clips on SI’s YouTube page (which should all be here).
Thanks in advance, and I hope you all enjoy everything! I’ve been cramming for the past month to get ready, and I’m excited for everyone to finally see and hear everything.
By the way: This is my mailing list. It’s run through Substack, but I don’t think of it as a newsletter. I use it just a few times a year to update people when I have big news. If you’re reading this in your inbox, you’re already subscribed. If you found this some other way (social media, forwarded from a friend), you can subscribe here to start getting messages directly from me.
This is only my third time sending anything since launching this about a year ago. (I last wrote in December about writing my first SI magazine cover story.)
And If you want to hear from me more often, I’m still using Twitter; and I share links to my stories/podcasts on Facebook, Threads and BlueSky (though rarely post anything else in any of those places); plus I share work stuff on Instagram.
OK, the other thing: Yes, I work for Sports Illustrated still/again.
Many of you know I announced in January that it was my last day at SI. I really thought it was. I was told that it was. Not to get too in the weeds, but the CliffsNotes: The company that managed SI’s day-to-day operations announced significant layoffs (including the entire union). A new company called Minute Media (which runs The Players’ Tribune, 90min, Mental Floss and FanSided) took over SI’s operations and hired back a lot of the people who thought they were going to be laid off, or already had been.
I restarted on May 1, after 3.5 months out of work, to my same old job but under the new company.
I didn’t say a ton about the situation publicly after that first day, but I really, really appreciate the support I got from so many people who checked in to see how I was doing, offered up encouragement, sent me job leads, anything. It was meaningful to see my community, the friends who are there for me and the people who have taken an interest in what I do.
It’s great to be back in my old post (though sad we did lose people in the transition, including some friends and longtime colleagues). In addition to my Olympics stuff, I’ve been on the MMQB podcast a few times this summer. I wrote a piece where our NFL staff predicted the next five Super Bowls. My annual Octopus of the Year story is coming soon, and I’ll write my normal amount of football stuff after the Olympics take over my life for three weeks.
But that’s it for now. Thanks again everyone, for the support earlier this year and in advance for everything coming up. I have a few other projects and ideas I spent time on during my hiatus, and I will let you know when I have more fun news to share.