New podcast creates a safe space for athletes to share political opinions

Emily Austin has mastered the art of mixing both sports and political talk into a career.

The 24-year-old has interviewed President Donald Trump and Jalen Brunson, and she lends her expertise to her own podcast, “The Emily Austin Show.”

The podcast dropped Tuesday, and her first guest was former New York governor-turned-mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo. Other episodes will feature Mitchell Robinson, Ryan Garcia and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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“It was never my intention to get political, but sometimes duty calls, that’s what I tell people,” Austin said in a recent interview with Pakinomist Digital.

That duty was while attending Hofstra University, she realized she “can’t live under another Biden presidency” while not allowed on campus because of her vaccination status. At the time, however, Austin already had a successful NBA podcast, “The Hoop Chat,” which she used to her advantage.

“I was just really tired. At this point I had to do something about it because I recognized that I had a platform and what’s the point of having a platform if you don’t stand up for something you believe in?” Austin said.

So she decided to take her love and expertise for sports in her back pocket and become a political commentator, mixing sports when necessary.

Emily Austin’s first guest on her new podcast was Andrew Cuomo. (Emily Austin)

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“What I’m glad that came out of the podcast is that everyone is asking me ‘How do you stay political and stay in sports?’ What I’ve come to realize is that every person on my podcast who is an athlete also has their own political opinion, Austin said. “And a lot of them agree with me and a lot of them don’t. But at least we have the relationship to have a dialogue about it.

“You don’t know how many NBA players I’ve interviewed who are MAGA and they’ll never feel comfortable coming out. I try to encourage them, just like your teammates are okay with being a Democrat, you have to be okay with disagreeing with them and being a Republican. There just needs to be a safe place for people to have their political opinions.”

Bringing the athletes’ political views to the fore isn’t even Austin’s end goal, she said. All she wants is comfort to be able to discuss issues regardless of which side of the coin an athlete or any politician is on.

Austin wants sports and political figures on his podcast. (Pakinomist)

“If the conversation stays strictly on sports, so be it. But if, let’s just say, I have a guest coming in who wants to announce that he voted for Trump and it’s going to break the internet, then that’s going to happen,” Austin said. “So it’s really just like a safe space for dialogue that covers everything without limitations. I don’t want anyone to feel like there are any boundaries or any lines that can’t be crossed. Whatever needs to be said will be said on ‘The Emily Austin Show.'”