Newcomers: Sports, with Nicole Byer and Lauren Lapkus

Exciting news from Nicole: Best Friends is BACK and 1) now on Headgum, 2) with FULL VIDEO EPISODES!

Enter the pantheon of best friendship and check out Nicole and Sasheer's first episode back, available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And Subscribe to the Best Friends YouTube channel (@NicoleandSasheer) for video episodes. New episodes every Wednesday.

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It’s the extra special livestream finale of Newcomers: Sports! Lauren and Nicole are called up to the show to discuss Bull Durham with very special guests Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer. Along with celebrating the alluring powerhouse that is Susan Sarandon, the group also gets into the range of Tim Robbins, the strangeness of A Big Romantic Speech, and improvise the plot to Bull Durham 2.

Follow Rob: Twitter, Instagram

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Lauren and Nicole take a trip to the Field of Dreams with very special guest Paul F. Tompkins (Threedom)! Together, the group gets into what hypothetical players they’d like to recruit for their own ghost team, the oddity of hearing voices telling you to build a baseball field, and take a slight detour to discuss a completely different film, The Whale.

Follow Paul: Twitter, Instagram

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Lauren and Nicole head to the front row of the New Rochelle Challenger with very special guest Margaret Cho to chat all things Challengers! Our trio examines the film’s trio of Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor, share their expectations versus reality of one of 2024’s sexiest films, reminisce about early aughts fashion, and muse about the similarities between pursuing a career in sports and comedy.

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Lauren and Nicole hop over the pond with very special guests E.R. Fightmaster, Katie Kershaw, & Tien Tran (Jockular) to get into all things women’s football with the early aughts film Bend It Like Beckham. Also discussed is the icon and living legend Ilona Maher, the beyond obvious queer storyline that refuses to come to fruition, and the movie trope of an injured man becoming the coach for a women’s team.

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This week, Lauren and Nicole take a trip to the Cobra Kai dojo to get into all things The Karate Kid with very special guest Bill Hader (Barry, SNL)! The group waxes (on and off, of course) about the in-depth backstories of Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), the incredibly high expectations this movie set for both dating and martial arts training, and where Joe Pesci might possibly fit into this ci...

This week, Lauren and Nicole are joined by very special guest Gareth Reynolds (The Dollop, We’re Here to Help) to debrief the Kurt Russell-led hockey film, Miracle, just in time for the (summer) Olympics. The stakes are high, the character introductions are long, and the hockey stops are as satisfyingly crisp as ever. Also discussed: the icon Celine Dion, dating whilst skating, and star Eddie Cahill’s career spanning from ...

Lauren and Nicole enter the world of boxing with very special guest, comedian and Philadelphia native Rekha Shankar! The group gets into the interesting social dynamics that come with Rocky’s quirky pet ownership, the cultural obsession with impersonating Sylvester Stallone, and the lasting impact of yelling “Adrian!”.

Follow Rekha: Instagram, Twitter

Join us next week for our episode covering Miracle! 

Li...

Lauren and Nicole are back covering the baseball classic A League of Their Own with very special guests from the eponymous Amazon series, Molly Kearney and Melanie Field! Along with BTS tea from the fan-beloved series, the gang also gets into the intricacies and hurdles of women’s sports in the 20th century, whether they love or fear the ocean, as well as shining a deserving light on Rosie O’Donnell’s hit-after-hit acting ...

Lauren and Nicole are joined by very special guest Emily Hampshire (Schitt’s Creek) to debrief the classic football film, Rudy. No conversational stone is left unturned, from Rudy’s older brother stealing his girlfriend (rude!) to Rudy having the impulse to read every single rejection letter out loud (funny!). Who do Lauren and Nicole think should play Rudy in the imaginary 2024 remake? The answer may surprise you.

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Lauren and Nicole are back with an epic new season of Newcomers covering legendary sports movies. There’s no better way to kick things off than discussing White Men Can’t Jump (1992) with Headgum founder, co-host of the podcast Segments, and basketball fanatic Amir Blumenfeld! The group gets into their own personal experiences playing sports (both good and bad, mostly bad), understanding the lore of someone’s Favorite Movi...

For the season finale of Newcomers: Scorsese, Lauren and Nicole are joined by Reservation Dogs writer, comedian, filmmaker, and Osage member Ryan Redcorn to discuss Killers of the Flower Moon (2023). On location in Oklahoma during the film’s production, Ryan generously shares his behind the scenes scoop with Lauren and Nicole, adding important and thoughtful historical and cultural context to this harrowingly true story.

F...

Q: What do you get when you put Robert Di Nero, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino in a 3.5 hour Scorsese epic about the life and crimes of Jimmy Hoffa? A: The Irishman! Nicole and Lauren are joined by writer Grace Spelman to celebrate Di Nero’s platform shoes, the newest de-aging technology in cinema, and give special flowers to Ray Romano (Spoiler: Everyone loves him).

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Lauren and Nicole are joined by very special Bostonian guests Mike Mitchell (Doughboys) and John Hodgman (Judge John Hodgman) to get into Scorsese’s award-winning 2006 film The Departed! This episode has everything: Mitch’s birthday, rat acting, Jack Nicholson’s filming pre-requisites and a special shout out to every person, place, and thing that made this film what it is. You won’t ever think of micro-processors the same ...

Lauren and Nicole take a wild ride in the sky covering Scorsese’s The Aviator (2004) with a very special guest: film critic, author, and podcast host Amy Nicholson (Unspooled)! After all independently coming to the realization that this is neither a war epic nor an Amelia Earhart biopic, the group assembles to discuss Leonardo DiCaprio’s portrayal of nepo-baby Howard Hughes, the theatrical debut of Gwen Stefani, and the cl...

This week, Lauren and Nicole are joined by very special guests Griffin Newman and David Sims (Blank Check) to debrief Scorsese’s 2002 film Gangs of New York starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Cameron Diaz. Beloved by some and missing-the-mark for others, the group discusses this early-aughts epic while also getting into Lauren’s childhood production of Les Misérables, the unique and powerful smell of 1860’s ...

Lauren and Nicole are joined by journalist Hunter Harris to not only discuss the 1995 film Casino starring Robert Di Nero, Joe Pesci, and Sharon Stone, but also get to the bottom of why Martin Scorsese is considered The Internet’s Baby Girl. Also covered are everyone’s past Vegas experiences (both positive and otherwise), the merits of the Amazon Prime Video trivia feature, and Sharon Stone’s iconic dresses (including the ...

Lauren and Nicole rejoice in another Di Nero x Pesci collab with 1995’s Goodfellas! Joined by very special guests Caitlin Durante and Jamie Loftus (The Bechdel Cast), the group discusses the ins and outs of life in the mob while pausing every now and then to celebrate Joe Pesci’s range. From the Copacabana to eating ketchup and egg noodles under Witness Protection, the twists and turns of this episode are ones you won’t wa...

This week, Nicole and Lauren jump into the proverbial boxing ring to discuss Scorsese’s classic Raging Bull with special guest Branson Reese (Rude Tales of Magic)! Together, they bob and weave through the complicated story of Jake LaMotta played by Robert De Niro, rejoice in another stellar performance by Joe Pesci, and learn the movie magic behind how all of those fight scenes were filmed.

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