The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Hour 1: [Redacted] Is Out On Taylor Swift (feat. Lucy Rohden)

Episode Date: October 7, 2025

"We're gonna get lemonade!" Lucy Rohden joins the crew to discuss the Marcus Freeman Clinic for Men, College Football teams with the best and worst vibes, and to commiserate with a fellow Shipping Container member over the new Taylor Swift album. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is the Dan Levitars show with the Stucats podcast. Do you think I could talk to you on camera real quick? For what? It's for the Dan Levitart show. It's a segment called Offroading. The Dan Patrick Show? No, Dan Levitart. So it's in Miami.

He's a guy and you might know his dad, Poppy. You know, I'm kind of worried about my digital footprint. I'm going to have to pass on this one. I'm just going to ask you questions about the game. I don't want to talk you about the game. Fine. Geez! Hey Dan, it's me, Lucy.

We're here today at the Notre Dame Boise State game, and I can't wait to talk to some fans about game day. You're going to have a good time and get what the vibe is like on campus. How did I do? Today is my first time in a Notre Dame game. What do I need to know? What do I need to be prepared for? You need to know that you're about to have like the best day of your entire life.

your entire life. It's the most magical experience you can ever have. Is it magical because of the leprechauns? There's only a few teams in the world that God's rooting for. Things go wrong. Do you also blame God for that or no? No, because it's all part of the journey. We're on destiny here and, you know,

eventually we're going to get another championship. What is your favorite tradition? My favorite one has to be when we score touchdown, they put somebody up and you have to do the amount of push-ups that we have scored points. Have you been the touchdown person before? I have, but I saved it for the playoff game in Miami. And we did win that game, so I feel like I can't go

back up again until like playoff season. It hasn't happened to before. I've never been lifted in the air by complete strangers. It's definitely better to be lifted than to lift. I can tell. He was stressed I was going to flow it away like a feather in the air because I'm so skinny. Everyone knows about touchdown Jesus, right?

We also have first down Moses, which is a statue of Moses going like this, like a first down, but every year on Halloween, someone puts a tiny little pumpkin on his finger. How cute is that? And spooky. One time when I was a student, I was walking past statue of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

And Joseph has his hand outstretched, and there was a hot dog in his hand. And I thought, oh, that must be a thing. Like, it's the hot dog Jesus statue. And then, like, 10 years later, I was explaining it to one of my friends. And they were like, that's not a thing. You just walked past it once when there was a hot dog there.

So now this is my petition to dub that statue, hot dog Jesus. Can you describe what it's like to see Marcus Freeman on the sideline ever yet? It is like a spiritual experience to see him. and appreciate him for all he is. We need Marcus Fridman to run like a clinic for men. I'm just going to say it.

They're a respectful young lady. He's so hot. You three are seniors. This is C.J. Carr's first season starting as the quarterback at Notre Dame. How bummed are you that you will not be students to watch what will be the inevitable 2026 Heisman campaign? I'm so bummed. So I have a philosophy class with C.J. Carr. So I can talk to him like every Monday and Wednesday.

He is the nicest guy that you've ever met in your entire life. What does the C.J. stand for in C. Chris? No, it's got to be a long name, right? I'll tell you, it's Curtis Jason. Okay. Now you can call him Curtis in your philosophy class. Do you have a message for USC? They're not trying to play this game anymore.

Still enjoy the rivalry on the West Coast, and we'll keep it on as long as they're willing to, and we're happy to kick their ass. That's the road to the playoffs. We're going to make it. A couple teams are going to lose. We're going to win a couple games. But they don't want to play Notre Dame anymore.

They don't. They don't. They're sad. They're sorry. Sounds like you're afraid. You don't want to smoke? Well, it is the University of Scared Children, so that's consistent with their name and how they actually play on the field in my experience. Could not have said it better myself. Thank you, Ryan Harris. Today is the Irish Wear Green game. Everyone is in Green.

And do you think that Notre Dame did this to give Boise State fans a taste of their own medicine watching a team play wearing green on green turf? Oh, I think it's fine. I like the green on green. It's a cool color. Cool. Thank you. We are all from Boise, and we are all rooting. For Notre Dame. We love Boisey State. We would vote for them any other day,

but we got a child that just started here, a freshman girl. So we are all new Notre Dame fans. Okay, Lucy, we took a tour of campus. You've talked to some fans. What are your thoughts so far? This is top five most beautiful campus we've ever seen. It's beautiful.

I don't go to church very often, but those churches were really nice, I would go more. Well, now you have to give us your top five. Number five, OLI, Iowa, because I went there, or OLI, Iowa. Number five, I like Clemson's campus. We'll go Clemson five. Number four is Auburn, beautiful campus.

South Carolina's actual campus, beautiful. So that was three, two, Notre Dame. And number one, deep cut, we've never been here, but Wake Forest is the most beautiful campus I've ever seen. I'm about to go in. What should I be expecting? Come one, come all, and enjoy this experience, because it's steeped in Catholic tradition. And if you need your mind, your soul, and your heart refreshed, and you want to watch some great football, you come to the right place. That was motivational as hell. This trip to the bend was brought to you by the GameTime app. Download the GameTime app and use code Lucy for $20 off your first order.

Terms apply. Hey, Dan, it's me, Jessica. Let me say this was the most fun I've ever had in my life. I love working with Lucy. She is maybe the most talented person that works at this company. And I'm just going to say it, one of the prettiest as well. This was so much fun. I would say it would be awesome if me, Jessica, could go to every game with Lucy for the rest of time.

Thank you. Put it on the poll, please, Juju at Lebitard Show. Did you have God rooting for a two-loss team in October? Lucy, thank you for joining us. Why are the vibes so much different around two-loss Notre Dame than they are around two-loss Penn State? Is it just because Marcus Freeman is beautiful and, as that man said, the nicest guy in the world? He is beautiful. Well, I think you just have to take a look at, like, the quality of losses. Texas, Penn State, UNC, they don't have wins over Power 5 teams.

So, like, when your two losses are against Miami, which might be the best team in the country, and Texas A&M, which is also one of the best teams in the country, and they were close losses. Like, you didn't get blown out. You probably don't feel that bad. Also, if you look ahead at Notre Dame schedule, there's not a ton of meat left on there. There's the USC game, and that's about it. So, like, they're not in this super terrible position. They're not in a great position because, like, you don't have a, this is kind of the one time,

I think, being, like, not in a conference hurts them because you don't have the chance for a conference championship game to, you know, sort of solidify your spot. But, like, the vibes are fine with Notre Dame. I'm not worried about it. Their defense has looked a little bit better the last two weeks. Their offense is really good. CJ Carr has been great so far. So, like, vibes are good.

What about Texas, though? What did you make of them going to Florida and looking like that? that? Yeah, Texas is a bad football team. They dropped out of the poll this week, as they should have. Arch Manning was their leading rusher with 15 carries and 37 yards. Outside of Archmanning, they had 15 yards on the ground. Like, their offense is completely one-dimensional. And I think Arch is a problem. Like, I think he loves throwing in a double coverage. It's like his favorite thing to do, and I'm not quite sure why. But I don't think he's actually like the main issue there. He was sacked six times. They cannot run the ball. Their offense is completely stagnant.

I still think their defense is pretty good, but like, what do you mean you're playing in Florida and you're not forcing DJ Lagway into these tough situations? Like, he had five turnovers against LSU, five interceptions. Like, you should have been able with the quality of your defense to put him in a more uncomfortable situation. But, like, that offense is a real concern. And, like, what do you mean? They have no run game. They aren't even trying to run the ball. It is very concerning, especially when you're like, aren't you supposed to be an, like, offensive genius?

Steve, isn't that like your whole? Bad football? team, though? You're saying Texas is bad. I won't say bad, but they're certainly not good. Like, I don't think they're a top 25 team. I don't think they are like in the realm where they're going to be competing for the SEC or the playoff at this point. And like, I just think they're so one-dimensional on offense. And I might even go as far as to say they're not even one-dimensional because Arch has these great moments. But outside of that, you're still like, hey, I kind of want more. And it's a decision that I don't think they'll ever bench him because like financially, that's just

kind of something crazy to do. I just think that, like, they went out and they recruited really well. They had the top recruiting class in the country coming into this year. You didn't do what you needed to do in the portal when it came to your offensive line and it shows. Arch was sacked six times this game. You have no run game whatsoever. And it was just like you abandoned this like core principle of what would have made your football team very good, which is something that Texas has done over the last few years. Like their offensive line was good last year. But if you look at the last like five years of Sark, like that has consistently sort of been a problem where like you have talent, obviously you're Texas, but like that offensive line just hasn't been like what

it takes to go to the playoff, win the SD, with the exception of the last like two years. One of the things that's super stupid about these polls is that if I put Texas Tech, if I made everything else the same and put Texas Tech in either Texas uniforms, Ohio State uniforms, Penn State uniforms, Texas Tech would be in the top three, would they not, just based on what they've shown you this season. Yeah, based on vibes, they're like super fun. I know that Utah is it ranked anymore, but that Utah win was really impressive. And like what Texas Tech is doing really well is they're winning the games they should

and they're like kicking ass in the process. Like they're not messing around against Houston. They're going out and they're taking care of business. I think it hurts them that won their Texas Tech where like you obviously don't have the benefit of being a blue blood. And you're in the Big 12, which is just kind of a giant like weird little cesspool right now where you sort of had Iowa State. they lost this weekend. They were one of three top 15 teams to lose. They lost to Cincinnati

on the road. And so there just really isn't enough in the Big 12 to sort of give Texas Tech that support to make them, you know, consider the top three team. But honestly, does it really matter? Because one, I hate the AP poll and it's stupid and it's made up and I disagree with it entirely all the time. But like you have a 12 team playoff right now, which I think this year is so interesting because like, can we name 12 like really good teams? Well, this is the problem with what Mike's saying. Mike's saying that Penn State can erase. that loss to UCLA, which is a loss, no team like that has ever had against an 0 and 4 team with just a win against Ohio State? No, I don't think that that is. I think that loss was bad enough that it would

take. It won't, if they beat Ohio, so Penn State's next four games are Northwestern, which they have the same record as right now, Iowa, Indiana, and Ohio State, they would have to beat all four of those teams. Because if you beat Indiana and Ohio State, I think that's enough. But even just beating Ohio State with that loss to UCLA, which we cannot emphasize enough. There is a top 10 team has not lost to a zero and four team in 40 years. This is the first time that's happened. This is one of the worst losses in modern college football history. If you watch the broadcast, you heard it a million times.

UCLA had not had a lead the entire season. There was not one minute this entire college football season where UCLA was up until they played New Mexico and lost by 25 at home to New Mexico. Yeah, they got destroyed by them. But I disagree. Lucy, I have to disagree with you. We've seen in this small sample, like, Alabama had a bad loss last year. They got themselves back into that conversation. The system is just so geared for Big Ten teams.

If they go 3&O headed into that Ohio State game, they're probably going to be right there in the teens with an opportunity to play themselves in the CFP. That's what the system is. I disagree because Oklahoma and UCLA are very different. Oklahoma is a team that has, like, you know, there's some power with that name, even if they were, bad last year. It's still Oklahoma. They're still the talent. It was such a disgusting loss. Like, I truly did not think UCLA would win a game this season. They were such a bad, bad football team. And I think, one, we're giving this a lot of, like, hypothetical credit. Like, if James Franklin can't beat UCLA, like, what's going to finally turn it around against Ohio State for them?

I don't think it would have to be winning that Indiana game and winning that Ohio State game that will put them back in the conversation. But, like, let's look at how the SEC is playing out right now. The SEC seems to be a lot more competitive. There's a lot of lot of teams ranked, like, in the top 10, in the top 15. If it comes down to a Penn State team with a loss to UCLA or an LSU team with a loss to Ole Miss, who do you think they're going to pack? They're just going big conferences. Like, what, a 12 days passed between that Oklahoma loss and Alabama getting into that college football conversation. Like, we're all going to forget about the UCLA loss. If Penn State thoroughly manhandles Indiana and they're right there

against Ohio State, everyone's going to be talking that up. It's just how the system is. I don't think that happens at all. One, that team quit. That, like, if you looked at that Penn State team, they just, like, seems like their will to live had been lost. Like, it just doesn't seem like they have anything in them anymore. That UCLA loss was so bad.

You lost to an adult, blonde man. We can't forget that. With a bad airline. With a thinning hairline who didn't even know how to get the plays in. Did you see that detail? He wasn't even holding down the button. He was like, I don't know how to use the headset. And then you put James Franklin in hell?

You put Jim Noles in hell? like it was such an insanely bad loss. Like this will go down as one of the worst losses in college football history because I know it's UCLA, like it doesn't really have like the name effect of losing to like a, you know, a Mack school or whatever. But that is a genuinely terrible UCLA team. It is such an intense loss where like I know that Alabama, Oklahoma comparison, I get that. Oklahoma had won games up until that point. UCLA had not.

I just don't think that this Penn State team, which this is what's so interesting about it is because this was supposed to to be the Penn State team. James Franklin told you this was the most talented team that he has ever had at Penn State, and this is what they produce. Honestly, what I'm so curious about with this one is like, I never thought that Penn State was ever in the realm of firing James Franklin, even after that Oregon loss, even after all those Ohio State losses, because he was consistently winning 10 games a year, and he wasn't losing games like this. Losing this game, I think, is firmly pushed him into hot seat territory because this is such an insanely bad loss. some skin in the game, put your money in Larsonese award-winning bourbon where your mouth is.

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The Dan Levitart show is brought to you by Larsonie Bourbon, Bardstown, Kentucky. 46% alcohol by volume. Think wisely, drink wisely. Hey, Mike. I want to talk to you about Miller Life. You and I have bonded over these last few weeks talking about our shared love of Miller Life. That's right. A great partner of

our show for practically its entire existence. It's been a partner of this show since I was 10 years old. And it's been around for 50 years, and they've been a part of our show for almost 20. We're approaching incredible partner status with Miller Light. I mean, to think that people were celebrating at my bar mitzvah with Miller Light as they were a partner of this show is pretty incredible. You're talking about the moments that are made better by making those times, those special times, Miller Time.

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It's just 96 calories. I still can't believe that. We say it every week. I can't believe it. It's just 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. It's the original light beer since 1975 and still hit in different five decades later. Miller Light, great taste, 96 calories. Go to Miller Lite.com slash Dan to find delivery options near you,

or he can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere. they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories, and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. Okay, flights on air Canada. Oh, wow. Mayorka, that's new. Oh, nice. But Vienna is a classic Mozart, Mozart, palaces, and schnitzel. Now you're cooking. If you're hungry, deli brings the heat. Heat. Cartagena's got sun and the sea to cool off. So does Martinique. Mmm, and that French cuisine? Book it. Yes, chef. Wait, what about Leone?

Choose from our world of destinations if you can. Air Canada. Nice travels. Don Lebertard. He seems like a not nice guy, and he's always been a not nice guy. I don't care for him. And I hope he has the day he deserves. Oh, let's see.

Stugats. I hope he has the day he deserves. That's how I get people when they're really mean to me. I'm not like go after you or something. I'm like, I hope you have the day you deserve. I think it's so much. It's a great kind insult. Yes.

It's beautiful. It's leaving it to the cosmos to sort it out. That's a less southern bless your heart. This is the Dan LeBatar show with the Stugats. Lucy, you mentioned there might not be 12 teams that are real, really playoff quality, great teams. Who do you see as the worst teams that have a chance? chance to make the playoff the two lost teams maybe even a three lost team who that's a good question um i think you could look at like half the SEC for that i think that maybe my choice right now would

be lSU um because i think their defense which they only have one loss on the season i'm pretty sure their defense is phenomenal but their offense is so stagnant it is so one dimensional they have no run game whatsoever and i think that they are a team that like there is a lot of talent there There's a lot of like, you know, pomp and circumstance with it, but I just don't think they're good enough that their defense is good enough, but it won't carry them when they're on the field 45 minutes a game. I'm going to ask something that would have seen just the most patently ridiculous thing that could be said about football about 10 years ago. But you mentioned James Franklin on the hot seat. North Carolina among offenses in football is 128th of 135. offenses. Is Bill Belichick five games in at North Carolina on the hot seat?

I feel like he has to be. His buyout is like $30 million, I think. I was reading up on it this morning. Up until like December 2027, UNC would have to pay him out the remainder of his contract. That is a terrible football team. Like there's not one bright spot. There's not one good moment. And I understand that it's obviously a transitional year, but like that first drive, that first drive of the season that when Skip Bayliss said that and Colin Cowherd said that they were going to be coached better than any team has ever been coached. It's like remarkable. I knew they were going to be bad. There was never a question where they were going to be bad. I think Bill Belichick kind of came in with this sort of idea that this is so easy. I'm going to go coach in college football

where you don't realize it's the stupidest sport in the world. It's very difficult to be a good head coach here. But I'm going to come into college football. It's going to be really easy. I'm going to prove that I'm such a great exit and O guy and I'm going to get a job in the NFL. That's why if he wants to leave, he only has to pay a million dollars if he wants to go take an NFL job. That hasn't happened at all. They did have a top 10 transfer portal class. Like they did have like a level of talent coming in. It's just very clear that that is just like, that is a like dead football team.

There is no life. There is nothing good happening there is reading up this morning about like, and you have all these outside stuff. You have the stuff with this girlfriend. You have the stuff with that. UNC is not allowed to like mention the Patriots at all even though obviously Drake May went to UNC and it's this whole weird thing going on like parents aren't allowed to contact Bill Belichick players don't have phone numbers of their coaches because it's just such a weird thing like the vibes are completely off and you have a very terrible football team in front of you and

you just simply don't know what to do UNC is another team where if they don't win another game it wouldn't shock me I have something that shocked me today which is Jeremy came in here with a question I have not heard. I haven't heard for too long some trope about has Travis Kelsey been ruined by Taylor Swift, but I think Jeremy turning on Taylor Swift

suggests that perhaps Taylor Swift has been ruined by Travis Kelsey. Look, I'm certainly not saying that Travis Kelsey's causing this. I'm just saying that Taylor Swift album is not good. It's not good.

Taylor Swift's album is bad. Wow. In fact. Elizabeth Taylor. I like Elizabeth Taylor. That's because you're trying to convince yourself you like something. These songs are trite. The lyrics are elementary.

What about Wood? Kiss your mother with that mouth? I mean, Wood. Come on, Dan. And Taylor Swift trying to get into the Sabrina Carpenter game of witty, comedic lyrics, just sort of punching down almost, going down to a level of which she's not supposed to. be. She's supposed to be an eloquent lyricist, Dan. And from everything I heard on this record,

not only were the lyrics kind of, again, trite, but the music was boring. You're going to make a whole big deal about going back to Max Martin and, oh man, Max Martin and Shellback are going to create these big bangers with me again. Roy, give me the music for Lucy's Internet minute, please. Okay, so as Jeremy said, I'm not a Swifty. So, like, I was not really looking forward to this album drop. But I paid attention to the lyrics. I listened a little bit. And the premise of this album was Taylor Swift being like, hey, I have sex. Just so you guys know, I do it. I have sex with my hot football boyfriend. And then it was also her like bullying Charlie X-E-X, which I don't really understand that much, but she like was writing disc tracks in this. She was like, it was like very,

you know, the best way I can describe it, which I know this isn't going to hit with you guys, but it definitely was hit with Jeremy. It's when people used to draw mustaches on their finger and they'd be like, hmm, that's the energy of this album. That's exactly right. Thank you. I knew you again. Do you remember that? You're a really great place. Remember the people that got those tattoos thinking that would be a thing like forever and now they just have

dumb mustaches on their fingers? It is so stupid and that is like the entire energy of this album. It is very just like I don't even know how to describe it. And I'm not a big fan of her music. I have it. I don't think she's like a lyrical genius. But I did

write down the lyrics to wood. because I think they're interesting. Is that the one? Is that the one about Travis's? Yeah, it's about Travis Kelsey. Greg, I was hoping you could read them because I don't feel comfortable doing it. Oh, absolutely.

Forgive me. It sounds cocky. He amortized me and opened my eyes. Put it in like, you know, sing it. Yeah, yeah, a little cadence. I don't, I've never heard the song. It's like King of the Road, kind of. Yeah, do it in that cadence.

King of the Road? Yeah, do it in that cadence. You're familiar with the case? Come on. Trailer! Just turn it into a song. Forgive me, it sounds cocky. He amatized me and opened my eyes. Redwood tree, it ain't hard to see.

His love was the key that opened my thighs. Girls, I don't need to catch the bouquet to know a hard rock is on the way. And baby, I'll admit I've been a little superstitious. The curse on me was broken by your magic wand. Seems to me that you and me we make our own look. new heights of manhood i ain't got a knock on wood i mean she named dropped a podcast in her lyrics taylor swift new height taylor swift the greatest song smith of her generation dropping a podcast name and talking about being traumatized you being out on taylor swift is the shock of the day maybe

don't spend your entire time just being a business and mass producing music just to do it and putting four CDs out there with alternate tracks just to make money and grift off of your audience. Like, it's enough. You're just going to be a big business. Do something creative. You sound jealous. I can't believe where I am in the world where Greg Cody, on the same day, Greg Cody's out on the Dolphins and Jeremy's out on Taylor Swift.

Wild. Shocking. What's more shocking? Put it on the poll at Lebitard show. More shocking. Greg being out on the Dolphins. Jeremy being out on Taylor Swift. Any other lyrics from Wood you'd like to read for us because Lucy's too afraid to read the lyrics?

Those were the highlights. I mean, open my thighs. Come on. Not very subtle. Not very subtle there, Taylor. Not very subtle. Lucy, the leaves are turning. Who's your leader in the Heisman House for October?

Man, the Heisman is weird right now, right? I don't know. Dante Moore is what I thought was the favorite at the moment. I'm fine with that. Mike, you're going to love my answer. If we're just doing funsies, if we're just doing best player in college football, you should give it to Ruben Bay. Oh, yeah. Wow. Eleven pressure. Oh, my God. Come on, loose. All right. He's so fun to watch. He's just like football. That's what he is. He's just football. And so this high has been weird. Year is weird because like we don't really have a favorite at this point, Club Nick, Archman, and Gary. Nussmaier have all been disappointing. I think Jeremiah Smith is the best player in college football, but I think Ruben Bain's the most fun. So, like, either of those. The ball has to stop playing him 80 snaps a game.

That's Asinine. It's wild. It's assonite. I love it, though. I'm like, yes, give me all the Rubin Bain. Thank you, Lucy. Good talking to you. Hold on. Actually, before you go, Lucy,

we gave my dad another Taylor Swift song. I am not reading this. Come on. This was a very hypersexual album. Okay, this is not a Taylor Swift lyric. Yes, it is. That's from the new album. The new album is very sexual.

She covered it. I'll do it if you refuse. No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no. The whole point is for Greg to do it. What are you doing, man? Come on. Just make some noises if you want, Greg.

It's fine. You don't have to say the words. King of the road. All, let's go. King of the road, yeah. Take it for a walk. All, do I bleep myself? Yeah, well, if you have to.

Yeah, you can go bleep yourself. All your ladies pop your bleep like this. Shake your body, don't stop, don't miss. All your ladies pop your bleep like this. Shake your body, don't stop, don't miss. Just do it, do it, do it, do it. No. That's enough. That's enough. That's enough. That's enough. That's enough. That's too much.

Not enough. Thank you, Greg, for participating. Thank you, Lucy. Where are you off to this week? Oh, we're going to Auburn. I'm very excited. Auburn, Georgia. I heard it's very fun there. We're going to get lemonade. That's what they have there. Lemonade. Oh, there, huh?

These are not Taylor Swift lyrics. You guys tricked Greg, Cody. You gotta put your neck into it. Don't stop, just do it, do it, then roll your tongue. This is not Taylor Swift. She would never do such a thing. Is anyone saying that Travis Kelsey has ruined Taylor Swift? Is anyone...

Jeremy said it. Nope, not me. I'm the last person to say that. I'll just say she ruined herself. Why are you pointing at Jeremy, Mike? He did that. Because it was Billy. Well, I mean, Jeremy, you being out on Taylor Swift.

If we can move on from this, but I really didn't believe that she could do something so poorly that you would turn on her. I have not heard a whole lot of people publicly turning on what is the most commercially successful artist there is. It's the commercial, Dan. It's the fact that these last few albums, you had to almost, look, there were some good songs on on Midnights and there were some decent songs on Tortured Poets Department, the last two albums. but there was a lot of like needing to convince yourself that these were hits. There was a lot of, all right, well, once I give it another listen, once I give it another listen, I'll grow to like it.

Once it's all over the radio, it'll be great. Once I hear it, that hook once again, it'll get stuck in my head. That's not what it's supposed to be with Taylor Swift, Dan. You're supposed to be able to listen to the music and enjoy it right away. And you're supposed to be able to listen to the lyrics and think that they're top tier right away. And it just feels, and I've been talking about this for a little while, that this mass production of music, the need to release a new album every year, the need to have individual CD and tape and bonus record sales,

every time that another female artist is climbing in the charts, it's, hey, let me release a new version of this so that I can make sure I'm not unseated from the charge. Get the vinyl exclusively at Target. Right. It's just, you're a billionaire. You don't need to be playing the victim within your lyrics anymore. Like, evolve, and there was such an evolution with folklore and even Evermore in the songwriting that to have these steps backwards, particularly with this record, be happy. You can be happy.

Make bangers. That's what you're here to do, right? Jeremy, have the critics agreed with you, or has it been favorably received? I don't know. It's mixed. There are some critics that have come out and listen to the album and wrote non-favorable reviews. It was interesting that Rolling Stone at midnight, the moment it was released, had 100 out of 100 rating for it. I wonder how that happens.

To me, it just seems like it's okay to have a miss. If Taylor comes back with something innovative the next time around, I can be one back, no different than I'm sure there are other fans are. But even Swifties, like real swifties on the internet are like, how are we supposed to continue to defend this? A lot of these songs sound like the songs that people make to make fun of Taylor's. Swift. There's also, you know, people who put out videos where three or four of the songs sound like songs by other people. Oh, there's a song that completely rips off. A Jonas Brothers song. A Jonas Brothers song. I saw Luis Miguel. Come on. It's hard to remain popular commercially for a long time and usually the way that people remain popular commercially is by staying commercial. Rare is

the Kendrick Lamar that gets to be somebody who becomes a mainstream alternative without becoming commercial. Like how how is she going to have? You did have the biggest song of the year last year. No, I know, but I'm saying that it's rare. It's rare that someone gets to stay authentic without being accused of selling out as you keep

making stuff because you have to keep the machine going and keep money going. With Amex Platinum, access to exclusive Amex pre-sale tickets can score you a spot track side. So being a fan for life turns into the trip of a lifetime. That's the powerful back

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feels like progress, not another wrong turn. Visit camh.ca to help us forge a better path for mental health care. Don Lebertard. I want to talk to Hannah the astrophysicist and I want to make bets with her. She's so smart. Not Ian. I want to, no. No, see, this is what I want to do with our show. No, not, no, don't let Billy's team of dumb demons

spew all over the bottom of this company and piss all over the show. No. Stugats. Ian broke down everyone that was drafted on the, offensive line, except centers because the Jets didn't need one. Let's have Ian, go against the astrophysicist, head to head, and let's see, let's put some money on it. You're informed idiot or Lucy's actually smart person who doesn't know anything, but at least

we're going to choose an astrophysicist and not Taylor's roommate who's not named Ian. This is the Dan Levitar show with the Stugats. The Chiefs last night fall to two and three, but play the kind of game, I think, that most people would look at and say, well, if they're that, I believe they'll beat most teams in the league. The news we have not gotten to today, I'm going to put news in quotes. LeBron James yesterday had everyone feeling like, and this part, you know, I love that Phillies Dodgers game so much. I love that ninth inning. There was so much cool baseball stuff in that ninth inning. I watched.

It had the sound, Dan. I'm in. Hard ball. Castellanos's slide that swing at the end on a bad pitch where he makes it to second. But then the Dodgers erase him by playing such simplified baseball with a wheel play that you just hardly ever see a work in the biggest spot where they get Castellanos at third because they don't pinch run for him because they want to. keep him in the game and he's a little slow and the difference between him being safe at

second and him being out at third is and a play at the plate like these these seasons are swinging on on inches that are super interesting but when lebron james tweets out something cryptic did you guys immediately think it was an ad or a play for commercial success since we're speaking about how it is that people become less popular or cornier. I saw, I lived long enough to see Michael Jordan be someone people were making fun of for his dad genes. LeBron's the oldest player in the league. He's become, there's some dad cornyness there while still being great and still being popular. How did you guys receive immediately the news that he was tweeting cryptically that seemed like it might be for an advertisement today? Well, a lot of the

instant reaction was, is he retiring? Is he hinting that he's going to retire? But this is, LeBron's done this for years now. I think as he ages and his epic career ebbs, he's getting more and more hungry for attention, to be honest with you. I think he'll do anything to be the center of attention as he's now barely hanging onto the top 10 in NBA's best players. Did you guys actually think he was, anyone actually think he was retiring? I thought that there would be news coming. Yes, I got fooled by it. How do you think he's going to announce it when he actually does retire? He'll say it the year

before. Kind of like this. This is my last run. Yeah, I mean, it's not outside the realm of possibility that it could be a corporate sponsored retirement announcement. Because I do think, to the point made back here, is, yeah, I think LeBron's a kind of guy that wants a year long goodbye. So he's

definitely going to announce it ahead of time. It would be really surprising if he just goes quietly into the night. Rob Palenka, the general manager of the Lakers, said something. I found surprising in that he put his name on, LeBron will get to retire however he wants. He has earned that. Now, I heard the craft say that too of Tom Brady,

and then they ran him out of town. So I don't know that the words mean very much. But Palenka did say he gets to do it his way. Are you guys expecting an announcement today that is LeBron is going to retire at the end of this year brought to you by Amazon Prime? Is that what you guys are expecting? I would handicap that at like plus 400.

I think the clubhouse leader right now is this is just some kind of Amazon tie-in. And that's not my own guess. That's just me reading what's on social media where people feel very strongly about this. It did, I did find it curious, though, to see him wearing like the red and white checkered shirt again. And, oh, like, we can now lean into the decision. This is something that we reflect back on. It's like, hey, remember that when he was just destroyed for. doing that thing. I can't believe that he is at the point now where he's like, let me tap

back into that well and let's have fun with it. What is the cost of being lame in popular culture? I'm asking you guys seriously. Like being someone who's... Asked White Howard. If it's this craven, if it's indeed either sponsoring his retirement announcement, or just teasing you because we know that the greatest currency today is, how do I get more attention? We were talking about this yesterday as it related to Michael Irvin and Dion Sanders and last acts when you've spent 30 years being someone who knows exactly how to get attention, craves it, feeds off it, and needs it as nourishment at the end, because it seems to me ridiculous what you guys are claiming, that people like Aaron Rogers and LeBron James would

need yet more attention than all the attention they've already gotten. My question is, who's the other guy in this video? Because if this was serious, he would have gotten a journalist to do it like he did the first time with Jim Gray. Like, I have no idea what this guy is. I don't know either. It looks like Richard Jefferson from here, but I'm looking at it from a great distance here. So I don't know who. No, that's not Richard Jefferson.

Wow, why is he sitting down with James Franklin? That's curious. Is that Ben Kingsley? I can't tell them. Wow. Some bald people, some bald people. That's a good profile. I like that.

mixing it up so we can't be accused of stereotyping here. Is that Cory Brooker? Corey Booker! Yeah, that's a good one. Great guess. Maybe he's going into politics. There you go. So you guys think this is just going to be something lame? Does it cost him anything to be this person?

Dude, did you see that Nike commercial that he had? Bill Simmons posted it out there and he's like, man, this is pretty cringy. And I watched it. I'm like, wow, this is really cringy. The things that he's saying and still playing some of the same notes, like he did it. It's like Jeffrey Bezos, you did it. LeBron, you did it. You don't need to keep scoring points a little bit.

And to your earlier point about what does being corny cost you, man, I know his play has done a lot with it, but if Russell Wilson was just a little bit more chill in the latter stage of his career and didn't have these videos that just made him seem like culturally off. Well, let me for a moment talk about sort of the importance of marketing. and brand management and the way that Tom Brady and Derek Jeter and Michael Jordan did what they did. Michael Jordan, most specifically. He had such a giant creative marketing arm around him that could get Spike Lee to do the commercials that he never became lame because we didn't have all this access to him that we have

for what is America's greatest internet athlete. Like LeBron James, we've had too much access to him. And so invariably, he's going to age right in front of us if it's not all being done by Spike Lee and an economy of marketers who know exactly how to do this. I don't know where Wyman and Kennedy went, but ESPN's popularity dropped immediately when they stopped doing the commercials because of how important it is to craft this stuff around economies that are already popular in a way that has so much touch and grace in it that you, don't see the lameness because it's a note off, because it's so craven. And the way Michael Jordan specifically did it with Nike and with marketing arms that made sure, Michael, just don't say anything. We'll do it all. Just stand in the commercials and be cool and don't wear the dad jeans. Just we'll do everything to make sure that the people never get tired of how cool you

are. We have too much access. And to this person, we've had too much access. And he's spent the last 10 years with so much power that no one can tell him anything about how things look. He's going to make his own choices. There's no way that anything happens that LeBron's not totally good with. And I understand why LeBron would treat his people very well and trust his people very well because to date they've done well by him in terms of making sure that he stays publicly relevant. I think LeBron has asbestos to all of that at this point. He is his own brand. I think the brand management is brilliant, and he's bigger than whatever the outside opinions are. Asbestos?

I don't think that's how you use that one for a second time today. No. Asbestos? Asbestos means you have insulation against the flames, right? Okay. I guess you're right. Wow. He's a writer.

But, yeah, I mean, different connotation. Proceed. Okay, but what I'm getting at is a lot of people thought he hit an off key by alluding to the decision two, because the decision one was really criticism. He doesn't care. I think he's self-deprecating in a way that's good, and I would use as an example of the TV commercials he does with Kevin Hart, where one of them says Kevin Hart is saying to him, they want somebody who can run the 40, not somebody who is 40. And it's funny, and it's playing on his age and the fact that he's at the end of his career. I think everything he does is good. I think he's beyond, not beyond criticism, but beyond it affecting him in any way. everything he does is good everything he does is good LeBron James has had

very close to an impeccable career in my opinion okay he has not been sullied by any significant controversy I have an idea I think he's been one big one

what was it China Space Jam too well okay China if we're going to go to China then we implicate the entire NBA okay if we want to do that Let's get everybody. Please. With Drafking Sports,

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It's been a partner of this show since I was 10 years old. And it's been around for 50 years, and they've been a part of our show for almost 20. We're approaching incredible partner status with Miller Light. I mean, to think that people were celebrating at my bar mitzvah with Miller Light as they were a partner of this show is pretty incredible. You're talking about the moments that are made better by making those times, those special times, Miller time. Jeremy, there's nothing like cracking open Miller Light with your crew. This football season, it's especially true. Whether it's a touchdown you didn't see coming or just arguing about fantasy lineups, you already know you're going to lose. Miller Light has been the taste you can depend on for 50 years,

brewed for flavor with simple ingredients, rich toffee notes, that iconic golden color, and here's a kicker, Jeremy. What's that? It's just 96 calories. I still can't believe that. We say it every week. I can't believe it. It's just 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. It's the original light beer since 1975 and still hitting different five decades later. Miller Lite, great taste, 96 calories. Go to MillerLife.com slash Dan to find delivery options near you, or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere. They sell beer.

It's Miller Time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories, and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.