Super Bowl special: Why football kind of matters, with Chuck Klosterman (kind of)

About this episode

Rolf Potts discusses the significance of football and sports fandom with guest Michael Weinreb, exploring various cultural and experiential aspects of the game.

“I wish I loved sports, and particularly football, a lot less than I do. It consumes too much of my memory and too much of my time.” – Chuck Klosterman In this episode of Deviate, Rolf talks about why he's talking to Chuck Klosterman's former roommate Michael Weinreb about Chuck's book Football, rather than Chuck himself (2:00); football-themed video games, and the difference between emotional and analytical sports fandom (7:00); Pico Iyer's appearance in the movie Marty Supreme, how podcasting has changed the landscape, and how streaming video has become the standard way to watch even high school football (17:00); why going to football games in person is a "pagan" experience of games that is completely different than watching them on TV, and how there's a travel parallel in experiencing distant places in person (24:00); how important the season and the weather is to the experience of football at both the experiential and metaphorical level (32:00); what might become of football, and why it persists as the object of fandom even by people who've never played it (39:00). Michael Weinreb (@MichaelWeinreb) is the author of three sports books, including Game of Kings; Bigger Than the…

People in this episode

Host: Rolf Potts

Guest: Michael Weinreb

Topics covered

• football
• sports fandom
• cultural commentary
• podcasting
• experiential travel

Keywords

• football
• Chuck Klosterman
• Michael Weinreb
• sports culture
• podcasting
• fandom
• experiential travel

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: ESPN, The New York Times, Grantland, Rolling Stone, The Athletic, The Ringer

Books & works: Football, Game of Kings, Bigger Than the Game, Season of Saturdays, Marty Supreme

More episodes of Deviate

• Designing a creative life on your own terms (with Cedar Van Tassel) · June 2, 2026 · 54 min
• What movies (do and don't) show us about places before we travel there · May 5, 2026 · 42 min
• Exploring the idiosyncrasies of male friendship, with Andrew McCarthy · April 8, 2026 · 51 min
• Debunking the mythology of BEFORE SUNRISE, with co-writer Kim Krizan (in Paris) · March 10, 2026 · 38 min
• Time is your truest form of wealth (and travel helps you embrace your riches) · January 8, 2026 · 58 min
• Kansas Never Plays Itself: How movies lie when they take us places · December 16, 2025 · 1h 14m