The Knicks (and a Crowded East) With Zach Lowe, Plus Anthony Jeselnik on Book Clubs, Roasts, and Stand-Up Comedy in 2026
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What sponsorship and intro messages open the episode?
The Bill Simmons podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. We are also brought to you by the Ringer Podcast Network, where I put up a new episode of the Rewatchables on Monday night. We did Law-Abiding Citizen, a movie that I never expected would be on the Rewatchables, and yet. I kept getting sucked into it, and so did Van Lathan. And we decided to podcast about it. So that went up on Monday night. Really fun one, actually. Uh, Craig Korlbeck joined us as well. Coming up on this podcast, Zach Lowe was in town. We had lunch. We said, fuck it. Let's turn on the mics. Let's turn on the cameras. Let's go. So we talked about basketball for an hour. And then uh Anthony Jesslinick, who has a new podcast coming with us at the end of the month, Jesslinick Book Club, which
Which has been a uh YouTube series for him that we are now bringing to the ringer and Spotify as well. And that's launching at the end of the month. And if you wanna see him, by the way, uh he's doing stand-up all over the place, go to uh Anthony Jesselnik dot com and see where the tour dates are. He's even gonna be In Porchester in Philly. Uh this week. So yeah, if there's not a Nor'easter. Uh all right. So we're gonna take a break. We're gonna bring in Pearl Jam and then uh my friend, Zach Low. The Bill Simmons podcast is presented by FanDuel. The NFL is here and it's the most rewarding season ever on FanDuel with the all-time FanDuel Rewards Club. Every eligible bet can earn you points.
How do Bill Simmons and Zach Lowe kick off the Knicks and Eastern Conference discussion?
Win or lose, you still get points. The more points, the bigger the rewards you can unlock. Head to FanDuel.com slash BS to start earning with FanDuel Rewards Club. Twenty-one plus select states are 18 plus DC or Wyoming. Get a problem, call 1-800-Gambor, call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/slash chat in Connecticut.
Zach Lowe's in town. We're taping this on a Monday afternoon. You were just here. We had lunch. I was like, We have we're near the studio. We should just tape something. And then we were like, What should we record? What do we do? So we have an idea. But I I did dawn on me as we were eating lunch. I have known you now for fifteen years, dating back to the kind of heading into the two thousand eleven season. When we tried to hire you for Grantland for year one. And I don't remember what happened, but you ended up staying at S. I chickened out is what happened. Something got screwed up. No, no, I thought we screwed out.
You chickened out? Yeah, it's chickened
out.
I thought we screwed it out. It's like this is this new thing. It's is it gonna work? Sports Illustrated is this like hallowed brand. Like just a very backwards way of looking at it's not spotting the trends. I didn't spot the trends very well.
Interesting. 'Cause for this whole time I felt like we effed it up. And then A year passed and I was like, that's it. That was our one chance. It's not your fault. They're gonna figure out how good he is. It's not your fault, Bill. We stayed in contact, and then the next. The next summer, that was it. And we worked together for the last three years there. But I'm trying to remember what what were what were the things I told you? When I like the ad I'm trying to remember the advice I gave you other than don't make yourself crazy. 'Cause the big thing was you were writing like You're writing like two, three times a day?
Oh, at S I? Yeah. I I think your advice w like so you're talking about advice to like
No, I was like, all right, here's what I think can happen.
Yeah, I think you j you were big on just you're writing too much, you're trapped in this blog cycle, like when blogs were a thing. That was what I was doing. I
caught it the hamster wheel.
Yeah, and you need to get out and meet people and like spend more time doing that and less time just churning out every bit of content possible 'cause that's the only way you're gonna write things that are truly Meaningful or you know? Then your other advice after that was start a podcast. And I said, No, I don't want to start a podcast. And it turned out to be
You didn't listen to me in that for like a year.
I don't think it was a year.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What sponsorship and intro messages open the episode?
0:06–1:29
2
How do Bill Simmons and Zach Lowe kick off the Knicks and Eastern Conference discussion?
1:29–1:08:54
3
Which teams does Zach Lowe predict will miss the playoffs in the East?
1:08:54–1:19:10
4
Why are cheap e‑book prices a point of discussion for comedians?
1:19:10–1:30:01
5
How did the hosts decide to partner with Bookshop.org and support independent bookstores?
1:30:01–1:54:18
6
What challenges does a comedian face when creating a new stand‑up special after years on the road?
1:54:18–2:16:41
7
How will the new Jesslinick Book Club be launched and what can listeners expect?
2:16:41–2:34:16
Speakers
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