The War On Tanking

Hosts Alex Kirshner , Lindsay Gibbs , and Ben Lindbergh examine the NBA’s growing tanking problem and the league’s ongoing struggle to make the All-Star Game competitive. Then they’re joined by sportswriter, Neil Paine , to discuss the rise of Connor Zilisch, a young NASCAR driver drawing comparisons to Jeff Gordon. To close, Hang Up vet, Josh Levin , returns to talk all things Winter Olympics and what he’s looking forward to in its last week. Ben also has an Afterball on the Snoop Dogg-ification of the Olympics and sports in general. On the bonus episode, available exclusively for Slate Plus members, the panel talks about the NCAA's messy player eligibility lawsuits. NBA (2:39): The race to the bottom NASCAR (20:40) : A new young phenom racing to the top Olympics with Josh (37:38): Levin crosses the hog line! Afterballs (01:00:14): Ben drops it like it's hot (Note: time codes are only accurate for Slate Plus members, who listen ad-free.) Get more Hang Up and Listen with Slate Plus! Join for weekly bonus episodes of Hang Up and Listen and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts.

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The War On Tanking is an episode from Hang Up and Listen.

This episode is 1:15:00 long.

This episode was published on Feb 17, 2026.

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