"Play, Don't Pay": Meet the College-Football YouTuber Who Led a Gaming Revolt

"Play, Don't Pay": Meet the College-Football YouTuber Who Led a Gaming Revolt

James Bordeaux was a 23-year-old in Kentucky, playing EA Sports College Football 27 for a living. Then Electronic Arts — the $50-billion mega-developer backed by the Saudis and Jared Kushner's private-equity firm — tried to extract so-called "microtransactions" from inside his beloved video game. So the furious creator put his mouth where his money is: leading the type of organic, populist revolt that has become all too uncommon in American life. Bordeaux explains to Pablo how fans won a battle... but why consumers may never win the war. • Previously on PTFO: The "Pay-to-Play" Scheme That (Almost) Ruined Video Games, with Dan Soder [https://pod.link/1685093486/episode/NmE1NTIzOTYyODczNjNjNmM4MmUzZjU4] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

He Funded Jeffrey Epstein. Why Is This Billionaire's Name All Over College Campuses?

Victoria's Secret mogul turned mega-donor Leslie Wexner introduced Epstein to Harvard. Now, a growing protest movement to strip his name from university buildings is getting shut down. What did Epstein's money man know? When did he know it? And who really calls the shots in higher education? The Harvard Crimson's Dhruv Patel returns for Part 3 in our series on America's most prestigious school and most notorious predator, to examine Wexner and Epstein's "friendship," plus an exclusive interview and a new tranche of internal fundraising transactions that reveals $100 million in publicly unaccounted donations. • Part 1: "The Jeffrey E. Epstein Fund for Women's Athletics" [https://pod.link/1685093486/episode/NjlmMmJkZWMzZDIxZWUyMjhjNmFiMjRh] • Part 2: How Harvard Whitewashed Jeffrey Epstein's Millions [https://pod.link/1685093486/episode/NjlmNDAzYzg3MGU2M2NlYWEwMDIwYWJi] (Pablo Torre Finds Out is independently produced by Meadowlark Media and distributed by The Athletic. The views, research and reporting expressed in this episode are solely those of Pablo Torre Finds Out and The Harvard Crimson and do not reflect the work or editorial input of The Athletic or its journalists.) ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Decoding the Kawhi Leonard Investigation, with DeMaurice Smith

A superstar held up by the salary cap. A billionaire under the microscope. A league inquiry hidden from public view. De Smith has seen this playbook for punishment before. The former NFL union boss — and white-shoe law-firm investigator — returns to answer questions the NBA still won't: Who is "independent" when the league (and Steve Ballmer, in particular) pays the legal bill? Why would witnesses participate if they face potential criminal exposure? How do unions play the long game? And what obligation does a league have to its fans, if cheating can be the baseline? • Read "Turf Wars" [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/735685/turf-wars-by-demaurice-smith/] by DeMaurice Smith • Subscribe to PTFO on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@PabloTorreFindsOut] for breaking-news updates on Kawhi-Gate • Previously on PTFO: The Man Who (Relentlessly) Sued the NFL Has Receipts [https://pod.link/1685093486/episode/NjlmMDExMThjMDBmOGE1ZDFhMzA1NmEz] (Pablo Torre Finds Out is independently produced by Meadowlark Media and distributed by The Athletic. The views, research and reporting expressed in this episode are solely those of Pablo Torre Finds Out and do not reflect the work or editorial input of The Athletic or its journalists.) ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

The "Pay-to-Play" Scheme That (Almost) Ruined Video Games, with Dan Soder

Virtual currency is a new cheat code. But when EA Sports tried to squeeze extra cash out of sports fans with so-called "microtransactions" inside its latest-college football title, gamers revolted... and won? Comedian Dan Soder, who's been playing video games with a future NFL coach since childhood, takes Pablo on a journey to the seventh circle of nerddom: What does this phenomenon say about private equity turning fun into an asset? How do we stop sacrificing community for convenience? And is shame still possible? • Subscribe to "Soder" [https://pod.link/1716617572] Previously on PTFO: • Share & Madden & Tell with Katie Nolan and Dan Soder [https://pod.link/1685093486/episode/OTUyZDY0ODQtODRkZC0xMWYwLWFjNDUtNGI3MzhkNTQwNjU4] • We Smoked All the Athlete-Branded Weed We Could Find [https://pod.link/1685093486/episode/OTUyZDE0M2UtODRkZC0xMWYwLWFjNDUtNDdkNjM5YWEwNGI2] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

The Best, Worst and Sexiest Trophies in Sports, with Legendary Art Critic Jerry Saltz

The Heisman? "An American classic." The World Cup? "Uncircumcised." A white-gloved Pablo welcomes back New York magazine's unfiltered, Pulitzer Prize-winning arbiter of taste to evaluate the history of competitive hardware as sculpture — with a curated tour of shiny balls, stolen chalices and one gigantic mystery box. • Previously on PTFO: Athlete Statues, Reviewed by Pulitzer-Winning Art Critic Jerry Saltz [https://pod.link/1685093486/episode/OTUzMDVkODgtODRkZC0xMWYwLWFjNDUtZWI4OWFlZDg2YjNk] • Subscribe to New York magazine [https://subs.nymag.com/magazine/subscribe/official-subscription.html?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=pablotorre#/] for more Jerry Saltz • Subscribe to The Athletic [https://theathletic.onelink.me/eNRy/ptfo] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.