Slate’s sports podcast on Junior Seau’s suicide, the morality of horse racing, and Mariano Rivera.

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Hang Up and Listen is brought to you by Audible. Get a free audiobook and 30-day trial today by signing up at www.audiblepodcast.com/hangup. Our Audible picks of the week are Secretariat by William Nack and Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand.

In this week’s episode of Slate’s sports podcast Hang Up and Listen, Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Mike Pesca talk about the suicide of ex-NFL star Junior Seau and what effect if any it will have on pro football. They also discuss whether horse racing is immoral and contemplate Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera’s torn ACL and the state of the closer in Major League Baseball.

Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned on the show:

• The Washington Post’s story on the D.C. public schools’ Scrabble tournament.
• Monty Python’s semaphore version of Wuthering Heights.
• Josh’s Slate piece on how we should think about Junior Seau’s death.
• The Seau family may or may not donate his brain to researchers.
• Merril Hoge criticizes Kurt Warner for saying he’s concerned about his kids playing football.
• Warner responds to Hoge’s accusation that he’s “uninformed and uneducated.”
• Trevor Pryce’s New York Times piece: “In Comfortable Retirement, and Getting Tired of It.”
• Edward McClelland asks whether horse racing is immoral.
• The New York Times’ investigative piece, “Mangled Horses, Maimed Jockeys.”
• The Thoroughbred Times’ response to the NYT investigation.
• HBO’s Luck was canceled after three horses died during production.
• Mariano Rivera tore his ACL and will likely miss the season.
• James Traub’s 2010 New York Times Magazine profile of Rivera.
• Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci says the modern bullpen is broken.

Hang Up and Listen’s weekly racinos:

Mike’s racino: Adam Yauch’s basketball documentary, Gunnin For That #1 Spot.

Stefan’s racino: Jonathan Hock on Dana Brand, the inspiration for Hofstra’s conference on the New York Mets. (Here’s Brand’s essay on The Lost Son of Havana and The Two Escobars, and here’s his colleague Joseph Fichtelberg’s essay on Brand.)

Josh’s racino: Lelands’ strangest sports auctions, including life-cast hands, a rake, expansion team caps, and Shaq’s shoes.

Podcast production and edit by Mike Vuolo.

You can email us at hangup@slate.com.

The Hang Up and Listen T-shirt, designed by listener Todd Johnson, is now on sale. A shirt can be had for as little as $15.75, and you can choose between two color schemes—the green-and-gold “Oakland” edition or the red “Portland” edition. Support the show by buying both!