Cari Champion on the Undeniable Connection Between Sports and Politics

Our next guest is a force and a joy. Cari Champion is a sports journalist with over 25 years of experience reporting on the biggest, most formidable athletes of our time. She’s a regular contributor on CNN and host of the Naked Sports with Cari Champion podcast.

An LA native, Cari's early career included the Tennis Channel, covering icons like Serena and Venus Williams, before joining ESPN to host and report on shows including First Take and Sports Nation. Alongside Jemele Hill, Cari also co-hosted the Vice show, Cari and Jemele: Stick to Sports.

Cari’s work squarely sits at the intersection of sports, politics, and culture—even when some may not understand why. Today, she gets into it all and shares the unfiltered stories of:

• falling in love with basketball, all because of her grandmother.
• becoming a “one-man band” to break into broadcasting.
• navigating double standards and clashing with the boss.
• covering the so-called “rivalry” between WNBA stars Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark.
• and why some can ignore, but certainly can't deny, the connection between sports and politics.

Work Friends Credits 

Hosted by Sali Christeson @salichristeson

Produced by Gina Marinelli @ginaalilbit

Edited by Ryan Woldoff

Theme Song by Karina DePiano @sheplaysdepiano & Melanie Nyema @melanienyema

Recorded at Podstream Studio @podstreamstudio

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