Hang Up and Listen: The Olympic-Sized Edition
Slate’s sports podcast on Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, gymnastics controversies, and everything else in the London Games.
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In this week’s episode of Slate’s sports podcast Hang Up and Listen, Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Mike Pesca discuss the Olympics, including the opening ceremony, how we watch the games on TV and online, Jordyn Wieber’s unjust elimination, the Phelps-Lochte rivalry, and what sports should be cut.
Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned on the show:
- Deadspin’s Olympics opening ceremony in 30 seconds.
- NBC has had trouble with its live streaming. At least it’s better than the Olympics Triplecast.
- Louis C.K.’s routine on how everything is amazing and nobody’s happy.
- Josh on table-tennis teen Ariel Hsing’s exciting Olympic run.
- Stefan’s 2004 Wall Street Journal piece on shooter Kim Rhode.
- The indefensible two-gymnasts-per-country rule that kept Jordyn Wieber out of the all-around finals.
- Aly Raisman’s parents react to her bar routine.
- Mathematician Jordan Ellenberg explains the genius of the gymnastics scoring system.
- Josh and Justin Peters on Ryan Lochte’s big win and Michael Phelps’ flop and their subsequent relay reversal.
Hang Up and Listen’s weekly ippons:
- Mike’s ippon: Russell Westbrook thinks he’d be good at team handball, and bowling buff Chris Paul learns about how Malaysians spin the ball.
- Stefan’s ippon: Why chess players and other dorks (like Bill Gates) love table tennis.
- Josh’s ippon: The World Games, featuring such sports as casting, fistball, and tchoukball.
Podcast production and edit by Mike Vuolo.
You can e-mail 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!