Unlocking the State Secrets of College Football, with FOIAball's "King of the Bros"
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What intriguing documents did David Covucci uncover about college football?
Welcome to Pablo Torre Finds Out, I am Pablo Torre, and today we're going to find out what this sound is. Right after this ad.
I'm looking at how many views are on the Diana Rossini Spotify playlist.
I just got asked to join like the Twitter monetization program and it asked for so much information. I was like, I can't do this.
You're like, I know how records can be used against you.
Like connecting to Twitter through my bank account. I was like, we can see your balances and recent transactions. It's like, no, no, please. I don't like that at all.
But the downside is that the next time you have a post that has 19 million views on it, it will not be monetized.
You can make $6.
I did the math. I think it might have been like $120 had I been able to get it, which is, you know, I'm starting my own business here. I'll take anything I can get, even sort of evil dollars from Elon.
Jess Mathana, did you know of David Cavucci before the Diana Rossini Spotify playlist?
I did. I've been following his newsletter, subscribing to his newsletter for a long time now.
Oh, thank you. I mean, FOIA ball is one of the all-time great sports newsletter ideas.
I'd been kicking around in my head for a while and like any good journalist, I got laid off and just figured now was the time to try my own thing. So I was able to hit the ground running because I had a lot of energy behind it. But it's still very new. It's only been publishing for eight months. So I'm very thrilled by the response so far.
And was it therefore cruel when the thing that everybody broadly knew you for who isn't at this table was like, you're the Diana Rossini Spotify playlist guy?
Not necessarily because the last viral FOIA I did was pretty, I don't think my parents were too happy about that one.
Wait a minute, hold on. What was the last one that you did?
If you just Google David Kabuchi, Osama bin Laden. Which I do bi-weekly.
Wait a second. The Post called you a, quote, bro?
Yes. I was working at a place called Bro Bible at the time, which is still somehow one of the only— You were FOIA-ing Osama bin Laden stuff at Bro Bible?
Yeah, and— Wait, but we—I'll just read the headline because now it does kind of track. It says, A bro asked the CIA about Osama bin Laden's porn stash. The agency answered.
June 10, 2015.
Actually, I sent that request May 26th, so it's almost the 11-year anniversary of that.
Oh, that's cute. Happy anniversary.
And eventually, I was part of some appeals that were brought, and we didn't get the pornography collection. We got the record, so it's sort of on the— You didn't get the collection.
Interesting.
No, but they did release a lot of his laptop files where it revealed he was watching Tom and Jerry during the day and stuff like that. So the very first FOIA I ever sent was to the CIA, and I got results. Osama bin Laden was into anime?
Yeah.
I don't know. Is Tom and Jerry anime? I think it's the original.
Was it easier or harder to FOIA the CIA than college athletic departments?
I've only sent one to the CIA and I've had 100% success rate, so I'll go with easier.
That seems like a tracks.
So just to put a button on the Osama bin Laden born stash. We don't know specifically what Osama bin Laden was into as a matter of genre. No. He's dead, so you're free to speculate. Do you want to speculate? Go ahead.
How did the Diana Rossini Spotify playlist become a viral sensation?
I think he's into extensive anime porn.
I think one of the reasons I heard back so quickly was because of how I asked. I was like, you know, he's the most wanted man in the world. Like, we need to know, like, what was going on in his mind, you know, while he's being hunted by Predator drones and U.S. forces. So, like, what? What got him off? I think I wrote that in my actual request.
Hold on, I have another headline. This is from Mother Jones. CIA tells King of the Bros he can't see Bin Laden's porn stash.
King of the Bros? I had put that just in my Twitter bio. I'm learning so much. 12 years ago. And, you know, when something about you goes viral, you have no control over it. So people were just putting, they like, you know, declaratively stated that I was king of the bros.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What intriguing documents did David Covucci uncover about college football?
0:00–3:25
2
How did the Diana Rossini Spotify playlist become a viral sensation?
3:25–15:51
3
What insights does David Covucci share about FOIA requests and transparency?
15:51–17:32
4
What are the challenges of obtaining public records from college athletic departments?
17:32–39:20
Speakers
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