The Press Box - Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on His Party’s Path, JD Vance’s Lectures, and Life as a Point Guard

Episode Date: June 30, 2026

Today on The Press Box, the Press Box primaries roll on with Bryan and Joel being joined by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. They discuss the potential ideological shift in the Democratic Party, the through line for voters that vote for Trump and Shapiro (19:08), lessons from Meek Mill (34:25), and much more. Hosts: Bryan Curtis and Joel AndersonGuest: Josh ShapiroProducers: Isaiah Blakely and Jamie Yukich Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, media consumers, welcome to a special edition of the press box. It's Brian Curtis. It's Joel Anderson. Hello, Mr. Anderson. Is it special because I'm back because I was on last week, or is it special for some other reason? There are many reasons it's special. Okay. Producer Isaiah Blakely is here as well, and part of the reason this podcast is special is because it is the latest edition of the Press Box primary.

Mm-hmm. You've heard us talk to possible 28 presidential candidates like Senator. Mark Kelly and Senator Chris Murphy. Today we talked to another man who might throw his hat in the ring, as they like to say in newspapers, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. We were able to ask Shapiro about many things

from those progressive candidates who won in New York last week to the changing politics at the Democratic Party. We asked him about Meek Mill and we asked him about A.J. Brown. So you enjoy it. Josh Shapiro is the 48th governor of Pennsylvania,

he's running for re-election this fall, which means he's trying to do something his beloved Philadelphia Eagles did not win the big one twice in a row. He's a Cowboys fan, Governor. We start the sports radio style of talk here right off the back. I'm out then. I had no idea he was a Cowboys fan. I wouldn't have joined this. By the way, I'm just curious.

And let me look. When was last time you guys won a championship of Super Bowl? I'm just curious. Clinton administration. Yeah, yeah. All right. But keep talking smack about my birds. We're very happy to have you join us today from Harrisburg, Governor. Thanks for coming on the press box. Great to be with you. I'm serious. I'm a big fan. I'm excited for the conversation. We've got so much we want to ask you about. But let's start with some recent news. Last Tuesday in New York, three progressive candidates won

Democratic primaries. Are Democrats telling their leaders they want the party to move to the left? That's not how I see it. And by the way, I wish we could talk about sports, but I'm happy to talk about politics if you want here. I mean, look, I think what you're seeing all across this country is a whole lot of passion, right? People are fired up. They're showing up. And a lot of that passion is due to Donald Trump's chaos and cruelty and corruption. And a lot of that passion is due to some real pain that we're seeing, right? With prices rising and housing out of just sort of the chaos in people's lives every day, their liberties being restricted. And so I think you're seeing people show up in almost record numbers to vote. Now, look, I mean, I think politicians and people who want to be elected to Congress, mayor, governor, you name it, they've got a responsibility not just to deliver platitudes, but to do real work, to deliver real results to actually get stuff done. My whole mantra here in Pennsylvania's GSD, get stuff done.

And so I think we got to get stuff done. I mean, I will tell you, just like one of the candidates running, since you mentioned New York, I'll respond directly to that. I saw she ran saying she wanted on public safety, just take public safety, for example. She wanted to get rid of prisons, get rid of the border, get rid of police. That doesn't make anybody's life better. I don't agree with any of those things. And I think we've got a responsibility to deliver tangible things to people, including public safety. Here in Pennsylvania, that's what we do. We bring people together, Republicans and Democrats. We get stuff done. We make people's lives better. We give kids a better quality education. We reduce crime. I've got the only growing economy in the entire northeastern part of the United States, created more jobs than all but two states in the entire country. I'm a proud pro-growth governor who's cut taxes seven times to put more money in people's pockets. I think that is the important thing here. What can you deliver for people? And that's what I focus on every day.

You know, so, Governor, and I promise, we will get to talk about sports at some point, I promise. I promise, right? I promise. I promise. Those three candidates in New York, they've been critical of Israel. And so recent polling shows nearly three quarters of Democratic voters, opposed more aid to Israel, and that they increasingly sympathize more with Palestinians than Israelis. And so you've obviously been one of the Dems' most emphatic supporters of Israel. Why do you think yours is becoming the position that's falling out of favor?

with Democrats? Well, respectfully, and I know you don't intend to do it, but don't put words in my mouth. Let's be clear. I've emphatically supported Israel as a nation, and I've spoken out emphatically against the leadership of Israel. And by the way, that's been true for years and years and years. I think Netanyahu, the leader of Israel, is taking Israel down a really dangerous path, has isolated Israel in the world community. And I think that that really creates national security risk for the United States. I view all foreign policy, whether it's Israel or anywhere else, pardon me, through the prism of what makes America safer, what makes America stronger. And I think that Netanyahu has made things less stable in the Middle East. Now, Hamas has contributed

to that, obviously. They're a terrorist organization who's destabilized the region. agent murdered 1,200 Israelis after October 7th. We can't have Hamas in charge. I hope the Israelis choose a different leader than Netanyahu. And my ultimate hope, and this is something I've wanted for more than a decade, is to have Israel and a Palestinian state, not led by Hamas, living peacefully side by side, so that there is dignity for people on both sides of the borders. So when parents like me, I'm a father of four kids, I would have a father of four kids, I would have

I want my kids to grow up to be anything they want to be. I want an Israeli kid and a Palestinian kid to grow up with endless opportunity. We don't have that now, and we've got to work toward that. I think that's in America's national security interest. Governor Donald Trump, for all that we might say about him, is very good at coming up with simple, memorable bumper sticker messages. What do you think the Democratic Party's bumper sticker message should be for the midterms? I'd like it to be GSD, which is my bumper sticker message.

Get stuff done. Depending upon what crowd I'm in in Philly, I might use a different word for S. But I really think government can be a force for good in people's lives. But that's if we deliver things. That's if we make people's lives better. If we don't just talk about stuff or attack other people but find ways to come together to make progress. That's been my bread and butter here in Pennsylvania. that's what we do. And I think that's what people are desperate for. Government making their lives

better. And unfortunately, we don't see that now. As for Donald Trump's bumper stickers, remember, they might sound good come election time, but he's delivered on absolutely none of them. None of them have come to fruition. Donald Trump has made things more chaotic, more corrupt. He has made people's lives worse off. Here in Pennsylvania, he's ripped away health care from over half a million people. 140,000 people in Pennsylvania lost snap. That's food assistance. And it was all to give a tax cut to the people at the very, very top.

And so I don't know what was on his bumper sticker for that. But what I do know is that Donald Trump has made people worse off here in Pennsylvania. And every single day I'm working, I'm making people's lives better. It is a challenge. Every day it's hard. But we're working together to get stuff done. So you listed a lot of things, right? I mean, that are going wrong with America.

But, I mean, I think it's not like any of this was totally unpredictable because we saw what the first term was like, right? But why do you think voters continue to support him in his policies and even the candidates that he endorses? Like, I'm a Texan. He supported Ken Paxton. Ken Paxton runs away with the GOP primary down there, right? So, like, what do you think is going on there?

I think there's a real difference between supporting a guy like Ken Paxton, who I know and worked with and have lots to say about if you want to go down that road. But it is one thing to support a candidate in a Republican primary with a limited voter turnout and a whole other thing to look at his standing amongst a general electorate. I mean, I think what is clear from all the numbers and what I would say probably Republican and Democratic folks in politics would widely agree on is that the Republicans who have embraced Trump, who have enabled Trump, who have looked the other way when Trump's corrupt policies have violated the law, they're the ones who I think are going to have a very, very rough November.

So one thing to get your candidate across the finish line in a Republican primary, if you're Donald Trump, with a low turnout, it's a whole other thing. When we've got a national referendum on Donald Trump, these midterms, and you've got big turnout, I think you're going to see very different results, and that is the candidates that align with Trump, the candidates, Trump's four, people like, people like my opponent, you know, all in on the MAGA agenda, those are going to be the people that go down to crushing defeats. You peaked our interests. What were your interactions like with Ken Paxton? You know, it's interesting. I worked with Ken along with the, I was the Attorney General, and I worked with Ken back on the opioid settlement when we're trying to hold those opioid companies accountable. And, you know, we obviously had different political views, but we were able to find ways to work together.

And then the 2020 election happened. And that's when Ken started lying about the voters in my state. That's when he started sucking up to Donald Trump. It was almost embarrassing to watch a grown-ass man groveled like that and beg for Donald Trump's attention and love. And when he filed a lawsuit and tried to get the Supreme Court of the United States to throw out the votes of Pennsylvanians back in 2020 simply because the guy he was sucking up to legitimately lost, I went to the Supreme Court, I won, and frankly, I think Ken Paxton participated

in a campaign of sedition in that case, and he lost. He is a man who is not bound to any core other than trying to put his finger in the wind, see where Donald Trump is that day, and go in that direction, and I hope the good people of Texas don't reward his fealty with the United States Senate seat instead support James Talleyico. Governor, I'm sure you're familiar with the 2024 autopsy that was done by the DMC. Did you agree with the underlying conclusion, and for those folks that don't know what that was, it was like they just talked about an over-reliance on identity politics, a failure to address, working class economic concerns and a failure to support Vice President Harris and to mount

an aggressive campaign against Trump. So what did you make of that autopsy? I mean, I'll be honest. I didn't really take the time to read the whole thing. I read a bunch of accounts of it. I'm not sure I'm the expert on the autopsy. I know I worked my butt off here in Pennsylvania and, you know, teamed up with other swing state governors to try and help the Harris Wall's ticket. and I wish the results would have gone the other way. I'm choosing to look forward. I'm choosing to look forward to these midterms. I'm choosing to look forward to serve the people of Pennsylvania.

I'm choosing to look forward to build a Democratic Party that is results-oriented and that's focused on making people's lives better. Well, wait a minute. Don't you think it's important, though, to, I mean, to investigate the reasons why I didn't work, because how do you move forward? I mean, right now there already seems to be a schism in the party. right? Like you've got the Mamdani wing over here and there's a more centrist language. You know, people are saying, ah, you know, we don't want to be considered socialist or

communist or whatever. So like, how do you move forward without acknowledging the things that wrong? Yeah, and I don't think you and I are saying everything. I think it's fine for folks to look back at the DNC. I think it's fine for them to try and discover what went wrong. I don't think that autopsy was it. But I think that's fine. I'm just telling you for me, the energy I have in my day is trying to make people's lives better in Pennsylvania today. It's about electing Democrats up and down the ballot these midterms and focused on being a check to Donald Trump's chaos, cruelty, and corruption. As for looking forward to kind of the heart of your question, I think our party has to have a battle over what our ideas are, what we stand for.

And yeah, part of that is going to, I guess, be reactive to 2024, but that should only be a tiny part of it. I think we need an affirmative agenda, and I think we've got to focus on how we make people's lives better going forward. And I would also argue this is a healthy, long overdue thing for our party to have this battle. At times it might get a little bit messy. But at the end of the day, we have to coalesce around policies that maybe aren't left-wing or center or center-left or whatever. It's a little piece of lots of different things. But all together, it creates a party that is broad-based, and it creates a platform that's going to make people's lives better as we go forward. What do you make of the way Donald Trump has wrapped his arms around

America's 250th birthday? You know, look, I don't think patriotism should be personal or partisan. I think patriotism should be about all of us, about we the people. You know, I'm privileged to serve as the governor of this Commonwealth, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, where we have every major event this year to celebrate America 250. You know, we had March Madness. We had the NFL draft. We had the PGA championship. We're literally in the midst of being a host city for the World Cup. Couldn't be gone better. We've set records at every single event, and they've been safe and secure, and we're grateful for law enforcement for their work there. As soon as the World Cup exits the stage, we're going to have the MLB All-Star game, and then I work particularly hard to get

UFC 330 and Philly, all of these events, because I believe sports is a way to bring people together. It is a way to have conversations with your neighbor. And yes, it is also a way in this important year, the 250th year of the birth of the greatest nation on the face of the earth, to celebrate with your neighbor and to make it about something bigger than oneself, to not make it about a particular party, but to make it about all of us. And so I'm excited about all these things, and I've been working incredibly hard here in Pennsylvania to invest in those events that create those opportunities for all of us to come together. I want to ask you about the war in Iran, which may or may not be over.

Back in February, you criticized Trump's decision to go to war and the way he went to war. How should we think about the war now? I mean, it's clear the war is not over, right? Just to put a finer point on your question. But let's go back to the beginning. Donald Trump decided to go into a war without explaining it to the American people and without explaining what the goal was. If you don't know why you're going into a war, or by the way, into any other situation,

you sure as hell don't know how to get out. And what we have seen now is Donald Trump and his enablers have made things way worse. Let me dissect this for you. We exchanged an 80-something-year-old Ayatollah for a 50-something-year-old Ayatollah, who is far more extreme. The Strait of Hormuz, where a whole lot of energy flows through, was wide open to international commerce. It is now restricted. The Iranians are collecting a toll if something goes through. And worst-case scenario, what they're doing is they're firing on container ships and other commercial vessels.

They've destabilized the entire Middle East region. A whole lot of folks there are looking around wondering, you know, what's next? You know, is their town going to be hit next? Is their base going to be hit next? The president exposed tremendous weaknesses to our adversaries like China by moving a whole lot of defensive munitions, by moving a whole lot of armaments into the Middle East, into that theater. we left ourselves vulnerable in other theaters.

And the Chinese have taken note of that. And in a world order that requires us to work with our allies, Donald Trump thumbed his nose at our allies, didn't let him know what we were up to, and then demanded that they participate in the end, of which very few did. And so we are more isolated in the world. The world is more dangerous. And the world is a whole lot more costly because of Donald Trump. just go to the gas pump.

And you'll see gas prices have risen only because of Donald Trump's war of choice in the Middle East. He didn't know why the hell he went in and he sure as hell doesn't know how to get out. To your point about that isolation, I mean, Vice President Vance said Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel

at this moment in time. Do you agree with him? I'm not going to be lectured, nor should anyone be lectured by J.D. Vance he thinks about ally ship. J.D. Vance campaigned for a dictator in Hungary, literally left America to go campaign for a dictator in Hungary. He went to Germany and he campaigned for the AFD party. That's basically the Nazi party. He gave a speech at the, I believe it's the Munich Security conference, chiding our allies, chiding democracies, and instead trying to curry favor with dictators.

This is not a guy that any of us should be lectured by when it comes to foreign policy. J.D. Vance in many ways is even more dangerous than Donald Trump when it comes to foreign policy. So you can't tell me on the one hand that you're a friend to Israel and the Jewish people, and on the other hand, you're going and you're propping up the Nazi party. It's all BS from J.D. Vance. Let's talk about politics, Governor. You must run into Pennsylvania. How about sports, Scott? We'll get there, I promise. You must run into Pennsylvania who voted for Donald Trump once or twice or even three times and also voted for you. What's the through line there? You know, I've been on the ballot three times. Donald Trump's been on the ballot three times,

statewide in Pennsylvania. I've won all three. He's won two of three. And in every election, I've run in, I've set a record for the most number of votes in that election. And typically it's been, obviously, with widespread support amongst Democrats, a lot of independence, and a good chunk of Republicans who voted for Donald Trump, too. We have profound differences. Those people voted for me and voted for Donald Trump on various issues. But what they know about me is that I give a damn about them. I give a damn about their communities.

I show up. I treat them with respect. And I deliver real results for them. So while we might choose someone different for President of the United States, we might have different views on civil liberties, on a woman's right to choose, you name it, we do understand, I do understand that I have to be a governor for all people in Pennsylvania. And I have a responsibility to deliver for them on what they've seen from me as Attorney General and as governor is a governor that gets stuff done for them and treats them with respect.

you know and you've mentioned this before in interviews and in your book where we keep the light that we're better than this which is that and i mean is that and i take that to mean is that we're better than this era of trump right and uh i saw your interview with our friends van lathan and rachel lindsay uh yeah they're great yeah yeah well i don't know about van but that's a that's a little thing no but but but um tell me you said that please please do please do but and and van even said he said well, are we? And you pushed back on that, right? And so I kind of want to dig in a little here because how many times would voters have to support Trump and his preferred candidates and policies before you felt differently? You know, it is a fair question. I will just tell you that the reason

why I keep coming to the conclusion that we are better than this is because the privilege of what I get to see every day across Pennsylvania. By the way, people vote over the vote. for Trump, people who didn't vote for Trump, but regardless of who they voted for, they do care about their neighbor. They want their communities to be better. They want to help the kids with special needs in their area get ahead and get to the Special Olympics, a place where my wife just was supporting on and cheering on our team. They want to make sure that the kids in that neighborhood are safe and that they can grow up to have real job opportunities in those communities, whether Democrats or Republicans. I just, what I see

every day is the goodness of people. And I think just to kind of put an exclamation point on this, I mean, you all know what happened to my family and I roughly a year ago when we were attacked at the governor's residence. Some arsonance broke in and through Molotov cocktails around the residents exploded about a third of the residence and was hunting me down to try to kill me while I slept. And I will tell you that from that moment of extraordinary darkness, all we received was light. All we received were prayers of people of all different religions, all different faiths, coming together to pray for us, to lift us up, to be there for us. That's what I see in tough times and in good times in Pennsylvania. That is what I see. That's been my experience.

And I will tell you, I'm going to keep bringing it back to sports because it's something I care about. You go and you visit one of these FIFA fan fest for the World Cup or, or, or or you go out to a Phillies game, just a regular Phillies game. Fills are hot, by the way. And you just kind of talk to folks in the stand or you talk to them at the fan fest. And people are kind to one another. They're decent.

They're good people. And they're looking out for their neighbors. Foreigners who were here for the World Cup, several of them have come over to me as a governor and said, geez, I wasn't expecting you to be nice, given what we see from your president every day. So while I realized Trump sort of dominates, the headlines and he sort of dominates the discourse every day.

What I'm privileged to see just below that surface, even though it doesn't get as much attention, is goodness, is decency, and as people coming together, look out for their neighbors. That's true, but if you were, say, Haitian, right, or, you know, on the Iranian soccer team, right, and you can't even reside here in the States, or if you're Muslim, right, or Jewish.

Or, like my mom, who grew up in the Jim Crow South and frets to me all the time, this feels a lot like what it did when I was a kid. Like, they don't feel that, you're right, you know? It does, and I'm not diminishing the challenges. Look, I'm not, I can't look past the fact that the Voting Rights Act was eviscerated by the Supreme Court because they said,

we're not going to focus on race, right? That's what they said? And then, what was it, a week, two weeks later, where they said, we're going to throw Haitians out because of what they look like, right? Like, I get that. I get how awful it is what we are seeing from Trump's enablers and from Trump. I'm not minimizing that.

And I'm fighting back against that. But I was responding to your question before that I don't think Trump is reflective of the goodness of what I see from people day in and day out. So I hear you. And I hear the points your mom's making. And you're right when it comes to how our politics are, how our governing is. one of the reasons why it's so important to get out and vote this year. But what I'm saying is I think people beneath that are way better than what our commander-in-chief demonstrates each and every day. What do you think happens to the Republican Party after Trump leaves office?

I think it's a really interesting question, right? J.D. Vance obviously wants to try and continue on with Trumpism and making sort of MAGA the party. There will be others who try and force the Republican Party to go back a little bit more to the days of Reagan and Bush and that era. Look, I don't know. I'm not an expert on the Republican Party, but I will tell you, they are going to have a battle on their hand where they're going to continue the chaos and the cruelty and the corruption of Donald Trump or they're going to try and move in a different direction. I told Jen Saki last week that you were at least open to the idea of increasing the size of the U.S. Supreme Court. What's the case for expanding the court, given everything that's happened? Yeah, what I said.

is, I think everything's got to be on the table right now. I think we need dramatic reform in this country. And the court is one example of that. And I cited that in the context of me pointing out the fact that I think one of the worst decisions the Supreme Court has made in the last, you know, 50 years was giving absolute and total immunity to a president of the United States. And so when you have a president that is not grounded in ethics and integrity, and instead occupying the office as Donald Trump does every day, that's a recipe for disaster. And so what I was saying is we need anti-corruption laws in this country. And arguably, we may need to amend the Constitution of the United States.

It's happened 27 times before. We may need to look to do it at 28th time to rein in the corruption of an executive. And we need to look at all things. Everything needs to be on the table, including the court. You know, I'm here in Pennsylvania, the birthplace of democracy 250 years ago. And one of the things our framers was so worried about two and a half centuries ago, Madison wrote about this was that an executive would have too much power, that they would act as a tyrant. We now see an executive utilizing too much power and a Supreme Court that has enabled that,

and that has made us worse off. You know, I want to ask you this, and I want you to be honest what it's going, all right? So, you know, you're sitting in Harrisburg or Philly. That's true. That's true. That's true. Sitting in Harrisburg, Philly, you know what I'm saying? You just got a little time to yourself.

Reading? Redding. I've mispronounced Redding twice. I'm sure our listeners won't be surprised to know before you came on. I've been there, but I just, for the reason, I forgot how to say it. But do you ever think about how things might have been different if you were on the ballot in 2020? No. You know, I thought it was a privilege. I wrote about this in my book. It was a privilege to be considered. It was an honor to be considered. But, you know, after I met with Vice President Harris and

came home that night, talked to my best friend in the world since the ninth grade, my wife of 29 years, talked to our four kids, it became clear to me that that was not the best way I could serve. And I called the vice president that night about, you know, roughly 48 hours before she made her decision and just said I didn't want to be considered, you know, to be on the ticket with her. But then I turned around and I worked my tail off to get her and Tim Balls elected here in Pennsylvania and across the country did everything in my power to help them. And look, obviously we know what happened there. But it was not the right position for me, but I did everything I could to help them. You didn't think that even after Trump won PA by fewer than two

points? Like, really? I mean, look, you know, I don't know how it would have turned out. I just know that the vice president needed someone to serve as her vice president in a way that, quite frankly, just didn't fit with, you know, with where I was. This spring, denim gets a softer, lighter update. Introducing Old Navy's drapey denim wide leg, a new fit that moves with you. It's everything you want denim to feel like for summer. Easy, breathable, and effortlessly cool. With a fit that creates natural movement and a wide leg that feels modern, not overwhelming. Plus, that signature, wait, for this price, moment. Old Navy's drapey denim wide leg. Some sports questions for you. Once upon a time, here he goes. You were a point guard. And by the way, guys, I'm just kidding around.

I'll answer whatever questions you have. I just happen to love sports and love to talk to you about it. But go ahead. You were a point guard, a five-foot, eight-inch point guard, who tried to walk on to the team as a freshman at the University of Rochester. Yeah. When you were 18, what did you think your upside was as a basketball player? Yeah, so you're really, you're starting the sports questions kind of at a low point. Really, thank you for that.

You didn't start my high school basketball championship. I didn't think I could walk on to any team in my freshman year of college. So even the belief is something there. Yeah, I mean, look, in high school, we were really, good for like one year. And I was quick and I could shoot and I could pass. This is before the game, before Steph Curry changed the game and everybody was shooting from, you know, the logo. And I thought I just had this way of, the game could like slow down for me. I could like see what needed to happen. I was a really good distributor. I was a far better distributor than I was

a score. And then went to college, tried to walk on to our team. And, you know, you have that whole preseason, right? So I'm playing the whole preseason. And I was probably playing better than I ever was in high school. I worked out all summer. And I could just feel everybody was faster than me. Everybody was bigger than me. Everybody was stronger than me. And that sort of ability I had in high school where the game would slow down, I could distribute. Man, they saw right through that. And they could stop me. And we got to the last, like, day of whatever preseason went before the, the first game, and coach called me into his office to tell me I had been cut from the team and thanked me for my effort. Man, I was crushed. I will tell you, there was a postscript to this.

Jay Wright, the legendary Philanover basketball coach, who's a friend, Jay was actually the assistant coach on my college team the year before I got there. So I didn't know Jay back then. And Jay knew this story. Jay called the coach that cut me and the coach said in a normal year, we wouldn't have cut Shapiro. He worked hard. He was really good. But we were stacked that year. And they ended up going on to the final four that year. So I, you know, Division three. So I couldn't compete with that. But at least whatever it was, 30 years later, I walked away knowing, maybe in a different situation, I could have made that team. Wait, well, give us a comp then, which again, because you said you're more of a distributor. So you weren't a Jalen Brunson.

kind of guy. So what's, who did you think you played a little bit like? You know, I'm going to, it's a deep pull here. Moe cheeks on the Philadelphia 76ers. Moe would be the guy. Yeah, you might score eight or ten points a night, but he'd have those 10 assists. But the thing that Mo always understood was when his team needed that basket, you know, the lay up down the lane, he'd get that or when they needed to get it to the big man in the post, he'd get that. And so that was kind of the game I had. Now, games totally different today. There aren't those mocheeks like point guards anymore.

You know, kind of everybody plays every position. And so I don't think I could, you know, play in this game today, even back then. And even when I coached my kids, we're blessed with four kids. I've coached all of them in basketball. I'm the guy when my kids are, you know, on a fast break down the court. In my head, I'm still like, get it to the foul line, bounce pass for someone to make a layup. And my kids are stopping for three on a fast break and shooting. And I'm like on the sideline going, oh, and then they make it.

I'm like, great shot. So I think the game, yeah, the game's just so different now. And I am certainly not built for the modern game. You've been to three World Cup matches at the link. I think you're more like us, more of an American football, basketball guy than a soccer guy, naturally speaking, what level of soccer literacy have you attained over the last few weeks? By the way, a lot more over the last few weeks than the weeks before that. And my kids joke with me.

They're like, Dad, you're not an expert on this. But I'm like all in. I'm crazed about this. And, you know, just trying to keep up. I will just tell you, like, I've been there to promote the city, Philadelphia, Commonwealth, and Pennsylvania. We've welcomed business leaders. We welcome world leaders.

I hosted, you know, the prime minister of Curisal the other day in Philly. Like, this has been an amazing opportunity for Pennsylvania from a business growth, from a community growth perspective. And I've gotten to see a little bit of soccer. And, I mean, these guys are just next level. It's incredible what they're doing out there. And, you know, we'll see what the U.S. team can do here. Hopefully they can surprise some folks.

You know, Governor, I don't mean to bring you into our bullshit here. But, Brian, what's your favorite meek mill song? Oh, man. I'm a boss. Is that count as a... Okay, yeah, that's his first single. Okay, I get you. Okay.

And I know Governor Spears is probably a little bit more friendly. Since I know, Governor Spiro, you met Meek Mill through your friend, Michael Rubin, for people who don't know, CEO of the fanatics. And in a previous interview with the aforementioned Van Lathen and Rachel Lindsay, you mentioned that having Meek in your life has helped you to become a more compassionate person because of what he's taught you over the years. What does Meek taught you? Yeah, you know, I was attorney-in-year-old.

when Meek was thrown back into prison for, I think, memory serves me, it was two years for a BS probation violation. And Michael Rubin, our friend, and Mike's been my friend for 20 years or so, called me to say, you know, Meek just got screwed. We need to help. You know, I mean, you can imagine how we felt coming out of that courtroom. And I'll be real with you. like attorney general, chief law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania at that moment,

and immediately, I believe my friend Michael, I love my friend Michael, but immediately I thought Nat Meek must have done something wrong. Like I immediately went there. And the more I learned, the more I dug in, the more I saw that he really got a bum rat, the more my eyes were open to some of the failings of our system. And I challenged Mike and others who were working with, Robert Kraft, Jay-Z, a whole bunch of folks who worked on the Reform Commission who I've come to know through this process. I challenge them to not make this just about Meek Mill, but to make it more broad about people who you and I have never heard of, but who are equally getting screwed in the system. They just don't have a legion of fans to help them out. And so we have been able to take his pain and turn it into real purpose.

I sign on this desk here sweeping a sweeping new law to change our probation laws in this Commonwealth. So the kinds of things that happen to me can't happen to others. I've been more compassionate when it comes to second chances. I have the power with this pen to grant partons and clemency. And I've granted more at this point than any other governor has because I do believe in second chances. I believe in public safety. I believe in policing in our communities to look out to protect people, but I also believe that you shouldn't be defined by your worst day in life. You should have

an opportunity to overcome that if you put the effort in to do that. And I think Mink has really helped me understand that more. And I appreciate the friendship that he and I have developed through it. And by the way, he's also taught me a little bit about music too, because I joke with him. I really didn't like his music when, before I got to know him. Wait, do you want to, do you want to give us a favorite meek song too? I mean, it's got to be dreams and nightmares. It's like our anthem. There you go.

That's right. The Eagles came out to it at the Super Bowl and everything. So there you go. I'm surprised you didn't say that, Brian. That's what I was going to say, but I wanted to defer to the governor there. Governor, one final question. Yeah. I read that you and I are part of a notable group of Americans who have called into sports

radio stations to share their opinions. Oh my gosh, yes. You've done so under the name Josh from Juniata. This is a county and central Pennsylvania Juniata? It is, but it's a neighborhood in Philly. It was more of that. That's where the alter ego comes from? Yeah.

Okay. So we'd like to get a visit if we could from Josh from Juniata. I'll give you the premise here. You are calling in about the Eagles' recent trade of wide receiver, A.J. Brown. Yeah. For those who might be coming to this podcast for politics, the Eagles got a first-round pick, but it wasn't until 2028. So here we go.

Let's go to the phones. Josh from Juniata, you're on WIP. In Howie we trust, baby. I think Howie Roseman is the best GM in all of sports. He understood it was time for AJ to go. He was a problem in the locker room. Look at the deal he pulled off to take Mackay Lemon. By the way, from the Pittsburgh Steelers on draft night.

He shored up our offense with a better offensive coordinator than we had. And I still think our ability to go compete for a Super Bowl this year is certainly in hand. A big reason for that is Howie and the moves he made. We will not miss A.J. Brown. Mackay Lemon is going to be a star. Man. Somewhere, Angelo Cotaldi is smiling. Yeah. And by the way, I got to tell you, Josh from Juniata, although not under that name, started when I was like an 11, 12-year-old kid. I mean, I had the radio, listened to 610 WIP, Growing up, that was our sports radio station.

And I would listen and I would call in. When I got to get through, it was like amazing that I got to get through and share my thoughts, my anger, my frustration, whatever. That's typically what a Philly sports fan will do. And I've just like just sort of kept doing that throughout my life. So to be clear, when I call Josh from Junior. They know it's me. I'm not trying to fool anybody.

But I just want to be able to get on, talk about sports, not frankly talk about politics or governing. and just be a fan. That's how I grew up, and that's who I am. Brian, I got to ask one last question, Dave. Favorite Philly athlete of your life? Oh, man, that's tough. I mean, there's a few I'd put on Mount Rushmore,

but probably not. You can give them Mount Rushmore. Yeah, I mean, I'd put Dr. Jay on there, and I got to be with Dr. Jay. Actually, a few weeks ago we were together, and I still like, I feel like I'm a little kid around Dr. Jay, right? So, Dr. Jay, Mike Schmidt, AI, you know, I mean, it's, we've had some extraordinary

people. Remember, when I grew up, right, our teams were really good for a few years in my life when I was a kid. And then we sucked for like decades, right? So that was the down period. And now all of a sudden, we have kids, Laura and I have kids, and all of a sudden, Philly Sports teams are great again, right? And so I keep telling my kids, I live through the lean years so you could get back to competing for a championship, you know, pretty much every year. I noticed you didn't give an eagle, by the way. You didn't list an eagle. That's probably very hard. I could. I mean, there's so many. Look, Reggie White, the minister of defense. I mean, pretty, pretty extraordinary guy. I mean, there's so many, you know, so many folks to put on there. And look, I also happen to be a huge

fan of Jalen Hertz. I know he gets a ton of hate. But I mean, this is a guy who, I know he got injured and ultimately, it was Nick Foles in Philly Special that won the first, but he led the birds back and won a Super Bowl a couple years ago. He's been consistently great. I don't think you can put someone on a Mount Rushmore who's still playing, but I think that guy deserves a lot more respect than he gets. And I've not been around an athlete who prepares and is as much. mentally tough as what I see from Jalen Hertz right now. I mean, it is extraordinary to see how tough he is and how locked in he gets. And I think there's a lot of people can learn from the way he prepares and how discipline he is. Governor Josh Shapiro, as they say on sports radio, we'll hang up and

listen. Thanks so much for coming on the press box. Great to be with you guys. Thanks for having me. Back with Brian and Joel in the postgame show. Joel, what stood out to you from that interview? Man, he's really good. The thing is, I kind of wanted to follow up on Israel, but he, I feel like because he gets asked that question a lot, he's developed enough answers that you don't get into whether or not, you know, the apartheid state or any of that, you know, genocide. Like, he's really great at that kind of stuff.

And he seems like a very personable guy. Like, you can understand how he's won three statewide elections in Pennsylvania. What do you think? Little punch you with us today. Yeah. Happy to come back and debate with us on various things, including the way we asked some of the questions. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, you know, I don't mind it when people get like, hey, I want to ask that or you didn't say that. You didn't say that. You know, that's not exactly what I say. That's good, I think, right? One answer that stood out for me was when he talked about J.D. Vance and you had asked him about Vance's comments about Israel.

And he said something like, who would J.D. Vance to lecture us about this, about allyship, I believe, was the word he used. that felt like a possible preview of the 2028 presidential election. You got to get your shots off now, right? So, yeah, like, he's got to face up against him. Yeah. Also, you know what? I also thought his, like, he's not going to get dragged into dissing, like, the

Mamdani wing of the Democrats, right? Like, I mean, I think that's an older, an older base or an older type of politician that is going to be lashing out against the voters that might lean a little towards the Democratic Socialists. It doesn't seem like he's going to be playing much of that game, you think, right? Well, it's also a question you ask. It's like, what's the value of playing it at this point in time? Yeah. You know, he's made comments about those New York elections before. But if he talks about, look, there's going to be a debate about this, what the Democratic Party should stand for, at least what its 2028 nominee should stand for. And if he runs for president,

as we expect him to in a couple of years, he can have that debate within a presidential campaign. rather than now, right? Yeah, legislate now, right? Why, you know, run people off or, like, create a lot of headlines for no reason at this point, so yeah. All right, that's the press box. He's Joel Anderson.

I'm Brian Curtis. Productions Magic by Isaiah Blakely. Coming up on the press box, David and Joel, back in their usual spots. Joel, I'll see you this Thursday with more lukewarm takes about the media. Looking forward to it, buddy.