Pablo Torre Finds Out

Did the Knicks owner's pump-up speech help them win it all? Did their players stop fornicating because of it? How much do billionaires matter to championships anyway? And should superstars sacrifice millions for the greater good? David Samson and Domonique Foxworth chart the power and powerlessness of the billionaire class.

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Transcendence on the court. Dancing in the streets. And a drunk Instagram Live for the ages. Why wait 'til the parade? Pablo raises a glass (while devouring an egg-and-cheese) with Desus — his fellow New Yorker and bard of Knicks nation — to the commute of a champion and the beauty of a bandwagon; to the drip of Landry Shamet and the sweat of Patrick Ewing; to KAT and OG and Wu-Tang and, yes, even Coldplay. Just not tha...

The president's birthday-party fight card is straight out of central casting — and chock-full of political favor-trading. Who stands to gain the most? Luke Thomas unapologetically explains why everyone, from MMA fans to D.C. pundits, is missing the real story... then unearths fresh evidence of a purely transactional relationship.

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The biggest party in global sport is underway, and soccer's governing body stands to profit nearly $9 billion. How did FIFA squeeze U.S. taxpayers with so many hidden costs? The Athletic's Adam Crafton crunches the numbers on wasted public money, as Pablo dissects comically absurd demands upon host cities — from "clean" stadiums and super-V.I.P. treatment... to a pop-up jail.

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Madison Square Garden hasn't felt this alive since a little-known point guard from Harvard became the most popular person in New York City. On the occasion of his grand return, Jeremy Lin sits down with Pablo, who's been covering him since their dorm-room days, for a full-circle conversation about pressure, toughness, fleeting fame, the end of his run with the Knicks, squashing the beef with Carmelo Anthony and, yes, getting recrui...

As Adam Silver calls for the NBA's Kawhi Leonard probe to wrap up and Aspiration's co-founder gets 14 years behind bars, Pablo investigates how Steve Ballmer covered his tracks on a side deal of his own — and with the SEC on the case. Former DOJ prosecutor Lou Manzo returns to make sense of the relationship between a billionaire and a fraudster, while David Samson is finally convinced that the richest owner in sports has lost...

Julie K. Brown went from working in a bell factory to ringing the alarm on masters of the universe and (finally) winning a Pulitzer. The Miami Herald reporter visits Pablo to shed light on the culture of silence that protected Epstein for so long, the legal dream team that struck his secret deal, then how Epstein pulled out all the stops... to stop her investigation. Plus: the whistleblower who gave away the A-Rod steroid scandal, ...

Pablo visits the mayor of New York in his backyard, on the eve of the NBA Finals — and the cusp of heartbreak for his Arsenal F.C. — to discuss Knicks joy, soccer pain, hair loss, Donald Trump, Charles Oakley, Victor Wembanyama's Eid fit and, yes, flopping. Plus: Fellow Arsenal die-hard Adam Friedland checks in, on the state of socialism... and optimism.

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Can Trump ruin these Knicks vibes? Why are billionaires so sensitive? Just how much of the White House is for sale? And is the pope radical? Or can decency levitate? Plus: the joylessness of a luxury box and… Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as a war criminal.

Further content:

• The White House Intervened to Get a $620 Million Deal for a Company Tied to Donald Trump Jr. (ProPublica)

• The Trader in the Oval Office (The Bulwa...

Ten years ago today, one gorilla's death broke the internet, from sports and politics to million-dollar memes. But Harambe's life was a tragic battle over name, image and likeness — including files the Cincinnati Zoo worked to suppress... until now. Desus Nice and Katie Nolan help Pablo get to the bottom of what gorillas in our midst can teach us about ourselves.

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How is preparing for a game show like playing in the NFL? What's the first rule of "Jeopardy!" Fight Club? And why would you bet zero dollars with a million on the line? Plus: Katie Nolan's secret pep talk, Daily Double brain glitch, Spygate... and a buzzer bibliography.

Previously on PTFO:

• "Celebrity Jeopardy!" Film Study with Mina Kimes and Timothy Simons

• Behind the Scenes of Pablo's History-Making "Family Feud" Adventur...

He dug up Dianna Russini's playlist for Mike Vrabel. And Osama bin Laden's p*rn stash from the CIA. He even got a DM from Bill Belichick's girlfriend on the prowl. Now, David Covucci is shattering the illusion of coaches' power — and the unfathomable pastimes of the billionaire booster class — one embarrassing document bomb at a time. Pablo finds a kindred spirit... and Jessica Smetana makes history.

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Have billionaire owners left us in the twilight of American fandom? Are crying Liverpool fans actually the cure for male loneliness? And is the NFL offseason running out of juice? Would you get married during the Super Bowl on Valentine's Day? Plus: Jim Thome's farm adjacency, Regis Philbin analytics, Gerry and the Pacemakers, institutional investors, the worst pandemic crowd... and feeding a sandwich to Stugotz on Microsoft Teams.

He's wowed presidents, pro athletes and podcasters. But magicians tell us Oz Pearlman's viral act has crossed an ethical line. Stevie Baskin, after obsessively studying Pearlman's tricks, explains to Pablo how influencers from Charles Barkley to the White House were in on the act — and why he thinks this brand of "mind-reading" amounts to fraud.

• Much more from Stevie Baskin's YouTube video

• Previously on PTFO: The Un...

What do the tech titans of Silicon Valley and the old heads of traditional broadcast television have in common? Answer: they all need to kiss the ring of Roger Goodell. But will the NFL get too greedy in their continued pursuit of maximum return on their media rights? And why is Rupert Murdoch secretly meeting with Donald Trump? The Sporting Class — aka “Rich Guys OnlyFans” — returns…

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Why is the Bulls legend hawking "the Mona Lisa of sports" as a talking Web3 meme-coin NFT? And who are the secret weapons turning the 60-year-old Hall-of-Famer into a crypto bro, with a last-ditch effort to cash in on The Last Dance? Pablo breaks out the folders for Jordan family friend Wyatt Cenac and former Pippen colleague Amin Elhassan, featuring revelations on MJ's son, Benihana, Lil Hippo... and so on.

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The president may have ended his favorite sport's civil war — by waging a war of his own. But what did we really learn from Saudi Arabia's multibillion-dollar golf experiment? Journalist Alan Shipnuck explains what insiders are texting about but won't say out loud: that golfers are the most overpaid athletes on Earth, that peacetime is suddenly more complicated for the PGA Tour... and that sportswashing is insidious because i...

The Knicks are surging. But politicians are condemning owner James Dolan and his tax breaks, after our investigation with WIRED. So Pablo tests the limits of facial recognition with his playoff ticket plug Ben Wizner, who just happens to be the Deputy Legal Director at the ACLU — and one of America's foremost experts on modern privacy. Which makes him uniquely (if begrudgingly) qualified to break down everything from spooked ...

What does Mark Cuban think of Pablo's big Pulitzer Prize win? Did A.I. write that JPMorgan threesome lawsuit? And are the steroid Olympics in fact the Apollo mission of RFK Jr.'s America? Plus: third-tier "Mad Men" characters, self-canonization, the polymath of punch-ups, the lifespan of an inbred beagle... and Zoop.

Further content:

• Pablo Torre left the worldwide leader in sports to start a podcast. It just won a Pulitzer....