The Best Sports Podcasts to Listen to Now
People have long talked sports on the radio, but these days the landscape has grown beyond traditional radio programs. Sports podcasts are having a moment.
When it comes to sports, the best podcasts should strike a balance of entertaining, informative, and inspiring. Whether you’re an avid superfan, a season regular, or a casual viewer, there’s a podcast for you.
We’ve compiled a list of five that are definitely worth listening to, from Q&A-style roundtables to audio documentaries.
The Gist of It
The Gist of It
Best suited for: season regulars who want to stay up to date.
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A weekly podcast that fills you in on all the latest in sports, even if you missed a game? Yes, please. Created by women, but intended for all sports fans, Toronto-based sports media company the GIST aims to fill a lack of diversity in the sports industry by offering a female perspective.
Hosts Ellen Hyslop and Stephanie Rotz offer lighthearted laughs, explore issues of sexism and racism in sports, and detail easy to understand breakdowns for those who may not be avid sports fans. The hosts’ explanatory slant makes it accessible for listeners who want to stay in the loop of sports news, but aren’t diehard fans.
As someone who doesn’t quite understand sports all that well, this format works for me. They also include transcripts of their episodes, which is super cool and accessible.
Heavy Medals: Inside the Karolyi Gymnastics Empire
Heavy Medals: Inside the Karolyi Gymnastics Empire
Best suited for: casual sports fans who love reported stories in a serialized format.
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In the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, Nadia Comaneci became the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10. Her performance attracted international attention, and it put her coaches Bela and Martha Karolyi on the map.
In this seven-part series from 30 for 30 Podcasts, ESPN journalist and host Alyssa Roenigk unravels the Karolyi gymnastics coaching legacy, starting with their origins as tough coaches in Romania and detailing how they brought their intense practice regimens to gymnasts in the US.
This expertly-produced audio documentary details how the two built their gymnastics empire that made them top names in the coaching world, and the abusive methods that established American gymnasts at the top of Olympic podiums. As someone who loves archival audio and narrated scripts, this felt like a true crime podcast about sports.
If you were taken by the documentary Athlete A, you’ll like this podcast. Heads up: this podcast, just like Athlete A, contains sensitive content.
Leafs Forever
Leafs Forever
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Best suited for: nostalgic sports fanatics who want a walk down memory lane.
From Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, Leafs Forever explores the rich history of the legendary Toronto Maple Leafs. Hosted by Scott Willats (and produced by Vocal Fry!) it goes beyond the obvious recaps and big moments in Leafs history, opting for well-crafted and emotionally impactful stories.
I enjoyed this episode in particular, a goofy 90s throwback about a resurgence in franchise history. Even though I’m pretty un-Canadian in the sense that I don’t watch hockey (eeek sorry!), I still love this podcast for its use of well-mixed archival audio and nerdy explorations of Leafs’ history.
Vocal Fry is currently working on the second season, which will explore issues around race and hockey. The six-part miniseries is all about the Black players who played—or never got the chance to play—for the Leafs. Their experiences in the game, the obstacles they faced, and the passion that drove them.
Expect interviews with players, teammates, and hockey historians to talk about the complicated history of racism in hockey and what comes next.
Burn It All Down
Burn It All Down
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Best suited for: Avid sports fans who crave an intersectional feminist take.
The best thing about Burn It All Down is the hosts. This weekly feminist sports podcast is hosted by women with a mix of professional backgrounds: professors of history and women’s studies, sports writers, reporters, and activists. Brenda Elsey, Jessica Luther, Shireen Ahmed, Lindsay Gibbs, and Amira Rose Davis offer a much-needed intersectional feminist take on the biggest sports stories.
I was pleasantly surprised to hear nuanced feminist discussions about sports from hosts who clearly know what they’re talking about. Knowledgeable and passionate, BIAD is equal parts inspiring and informative. Episode #171 discusses challenges to the gender binaries at the heart of sport, including the recent dismissal of two-time Olympic champion runner Caster Semenya’s appeal against testosterone restrictions in women’s athletics.
Tune in to hear the hosts take “all the garbage in sport” and throw it onto a metaphorical bonfire. They torch a variety of sports news that rubbed them the wrong way that week. I like that the hosts confront problematic, transphobic, and misogynistic topics head-on, and burn it all down.
Dishes & Dimes
Dishes & Dimes
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Best suited for: Raptors superfans who love a play-by-play.
Dishes & Dimes is like listening to your most passionate basketball friends talk knowledgeably about the recent games. This weekly podcast dives deep into all things Toronto Raptors and the NBA, while demonstrating a love for the Raps and the associated culture. The podcast focuses on the recent games, offering in-depth analysis from keen basketball observers whose rotating cast of hosts happen to be women.
This is not a basketball podcast for those who don't know much about the game - as a casual watcher, the game talk went completely over my head. Listeners can expect sharp and perceptive analysis of plays, players, and big moments. Basketball fanatics who love to deconstruct and break down every minute of a game, this podcast is for you.
