Indiana University professor John T. Holden explains how lawsuits, NIL deals, and direct payments are transforming college sports—and why athletes may soon be recognized as employees.

John T. Holden is a business professor at Indiana University specializing in sports betting, gambling regulation, and legal issues in college athletics. His research focuses on the intersection of sports, law, and policy.

• The 2021 Alston Supreme Court ruling and its ripple effects
• Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) law and state competition
• The 2025 House v. NCAA settlement and direct athlete payments
• Roster caps and the future of walk-ons
• Legal risks, employee classification, and collective bargaining
• Winners and losers of the new system
• Impact on coaching, recruiting, and smaller programs
• The future of academics for paid athletes

• Alston & House Cases: These opened the door for athlete compensation and more antitrust litigation.
• Direct Payments Begin: Starting in 2025, schools can pay athletes up to $20.5M—but they must fund it themselves.
• Rising Inequality: Star players in football and men’s basketball will benefit most; walk-ons and niche sports may disappear.
• Legal Uncertainty: The NCAA is resisting employee classification, but labor peace likely requires unionization and collective bargaining.
• College Sports Will Survive: Holden believes the system is evolving, not collapsing, and employee recognition may stabilize it long-term.

• “The NCAA is basically providing all the benefits of employment—minus actually calling them employees.”
• “No one's tuning in to watch university presidents in skyboxes—it's the players on the field who create the value.”
• “This is not the end of college sports—it’s just the end of pretending it’s still amateur.”

🎙 The Pod is hosted by Jesse Wright
💬 For guest suggestions, questions, or media inquiries, reach out at https://elpodcast.media/
📬 Never miss an episode – subscribe and follow wherever you get your podcasts.
⭐️ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review the show. It helps others find us.

Thanks for listening!

Finance professor Alex Edmans joins to expose how research, statistics, and stories are often weaponized to mislead us—and what we can do to resist confirmation bias in a post-truth world.

Alex Edmans is a Professor of Finance at London Business School, a former investment banker, TED speaker, and the author of May Contain Lies: How Stories, Statistics, and Studies Exploit Our Biases—and What We Can Do About It.

• CEO pay, testimony before UK Parliament, and research misrepresentation
• The problem with cherry-picked or manipulated studies
• Diversity, ESG, and performance: what research really shows
• Why “smart” people still fall for bad ideas (e.g., Theranos)
• How confirmation bias affects policymakers, businesses, and parents
• The myth of breastfeeding and IQ
• Using ChatGPT and AI tools more critically
• Why post-truth thinking is dangerous—and how to fight back

• Misquoting research is rampant—even in government policymaking.
• Studies can be cherry-picked or selectively framed to “prove” anything.
• Diversity and ESG don’t always lead to better performance, especially when oversimplified.
• Smart investors, policymakers, and academics are just as vulnerable to bias.
• AI tools like ChatGPT can reinforce misinformation unless prompted with skepticism.
• It's not about learning statistics—it’s about applying common sense and open-mindedness.
• Be as skeptical of studies you like as those you dislike.

• “Even if a statistic is 100% correct, the interpretation of it can still be completely misleading.”
• “We know how to poke holes in studies we disagree with. The challenge is doing the same when we agree with the findings.”
• “AI can’t fix misinformation—it reflects it. You need to know how to interrogate it.”

🎙 The Pod is hosted by Jesse Wright
💬 For guest suggestions, questions, or media inquiries, reach out at https://elpodcast.media/
📬 Never miss an episode – subscribe and follow wherever you get your podcasts.
⭐️ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review the show. It helps others find us.

Thanks for listening!

Tony Edwards, author of The Good News About Booze, argues that moderate alcohol consumption—especially wine—offers significant health benefits that public health authorities deliberately downplay.

Guest Bio:
Tony Edwards is a medical research journalist and author of The Good News About Booze and The Very Good News About Wine. A self-described "research nerd," he draws from hundreds of peer-reviewed studies to argue that moderate alcohol consumption—especially red wine—has significant health benefits, including reduced risk of heart disease, dementia, and arthritis.

Topics Discussed:

• The “J-curve” relationship between alcohol and health outcomes
• WHO’s anti-alcohol messaging and comparisons to tobacco
• Obesity, processed food, and deflection from real public health issues
• Alcohol’s impact on the liver, heart, cholesterol, and weight
• Wine vs. beer vs. spirits: What’s healthiest?
• Alcohol and the microbiome (“second brain”)
• Historical and social roots of alcohol demonization
• Alcohol’s role in aging, community, and social bonding
• Publishing censorship around “positive” alcohol science

Main Points:

• Moderate drinking is associated with better health outcomes than abstaining, especially regarding cardiovascular disease, dementia, and longevity.
• Health authorities suppress or ignore nuanced evidence, promoting a binary “alcohol is poison” message similar to tobacco fear campaigns.
• Red wine is particularly beneficial due to its high polyphenol content and synergistic effects with alcohol.
• Social drinking strengthens community bonds and psychological well-being through endorphin activation and routine social rituals.
• The real health threats—processed foods, pharmaceutical overuse, and poor lifestyle habits—are often overshadowed by anti-alcohol messaging.

3 Best Quotes:

• “Alcohol is actually good for your health—up to a certain level. It’s a paradoxical substance.”
• “You will die five years earlier if you drink nothing but water compared to people who drink wine.”
• “They won’t tell you the truth because they think people are too stupid to understand that a little of something is good for you—and a lot is not.”

🎙 The Pod is hosted by Jesse Wright
💬 For guest suggestions, questions, or media inquiries, reach out at https://elpodcast.media/
📬 Never miss an episode – subscribe and follow wherever you get your podcasts.
⭐️ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review the show. It helps others find us.

Thanks for listening!