Jemele Hill is returning to the weekly podcast game — less than a month before the 2024 U.S. elections — with “narrative-style” show dubbed “Spolitics,” blending (as the name suggests) commentary and guest interviews through the primary lens of sports and politics.
Hill, journalist, author and former ESPN host, is teaming with iHeartMedia for “Spolitics,” which will premiere Oct. 17 on the iHeartRadio app and all other major audio platforms. New episodes of the show will publish on Thursdays. The debut of the new podcast comes after Hill and Spotify last year agreed to end their three-year deal, which included her weekly commentary series “Jemele Hill Is Unbothered.”
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On “Spolitics,” Hill and her guests will engage in wide-ranging discussions spanning sports, race, gender, sexuality, social issues and politics, including such topics as immigration, voting rights, gender equity, affordable housing and reproductive rights. Guests are scheduled to include sports personality Dan Le Batard, former NFL player LeSean McCoy, Michigan Lt. Gov Garlin Gilchrist, Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, Roland Martin, Errin Haines and Claressa Shields.
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“I’m very excited to join iHeartPodcasts family during this critical time in American politics,” Hill said in a statement. “Sports and politics always have been connected, and on this podcast, I’ll be exploring that deep connection with important newsmakers and smart people. The goal is to use the unifying element of sports as a lens to make people better understand that politics touches every corner of our lives.”
“Spolitics” joins iHeartMedia’s slate of political podcasts with Reasoned Choice Media, which aims to provide a platform for “diverse voices and perspectives” throughout the 2024 U.S. presidential election cycle.
In the premiere episode, Hill sits down with Le Batard to discuss his career as a sports media personality, his life growing up as the child of Cuban exiles and how it shaped his perspective on politics. Hill will also be joined by Bill Rhoden, author of “Forty Million Dollar Slaves,” to discuss the history of sports and politics dating back to George Washington’s presidency in the 1700s.
Hill is co-founder of Lodge Freeway Media and a contributing writer for The Atlantic. She’s the author of “Uphill: A Memoir,” published in October 2022, documenting her “tumultuous childhood, complicated family dynamics and her life-saving journey into journalism.”
An Emmy-winning journalist, Hill first joined ESPN in 2006 as a national columnist and worked her way up to appear on ESPN shows including “SportsCenter,” “First Take,” “Around the Horn,” “The Sports Reporters” and “Outside the Lines.” Her foray into daily TV began in 2013, when she and co-host Michael Smith began the daily sports discussion show “His & Hers,” which originated from their popular podcast of the same name. She and Smith went on to co-anchor the 6 p.m. edition of ESPN’s “SportsCenter” before she left the network in 2018.
In 2020, Hill and her longtime friend, former ESPN anchor Cari Champion, launched a weekly, late-night show on Vice TV called “Cari & Jemele: Won’t Stick to Sports.”
Hill also is executive producer of former NFL quarterback and civil-rights activist Colin Kaepernick’s documentary, “Da Saga of Colin Kaepernick,” which will air on ESPN and is directed by Spike Lee. In addition, she is currently developing a comedy series with actor Gabrielle Union. Earlier this year, she signed with WME.
Listen to the trailer for “Spolitics”:
