Pablo Torre Finds Out

Virtual currency is a new cheat code. But when EA Sports tried to squeeze extra cash out of sports fans with so-called "microtransactions" inside its latest-college football title, gamers revolted... and won? Comedian Dan Soder, who's been playing video games with a future NFL coach since childhood, takes Pablo on a journey to the seventh circle of nerddom: What does this phenomenon say about private equity turning fun into an asset? How do we stop sacrificing community for convenience? And is shame still possible?• Subscribe to "Soder"Previously on PTFO:• Share & Madden & Tell with Katie Nolan and Dan Soder• We Smoked All the Athlete-Branded Weed We Could Find

The Heisman? "An American classic." The World Cup? "Uncircumcised." A white-gloved Pablo welcomes back New York magazine's unfiltered, Pulitzer Prize-winning arbiter of taste to evaluate the history of competitive hardware as sculpture — with a curated tour of shiny balls, stolen chalices and one gigantic mystery box.• Previously on PTFO: Athlete Statues, Reviewed by Pulitzer-Winning Art Critic Jerry Saltz• Subscribe to New York magazine for more Jerry Saltz• Subscribe to The Athletic

Why were Taylor Swift's wedding guests and celebrity Knicks fans assigned "risk" scores inside Madison Square Garden's secret VIP database? Who was the karaoke MVP at the wedding afterparty? And would you rather test-drive the "most potent weed beverage known to man" ... or Bill Simmons' colonoscopy? Plus: Guy Fieri, Shaboozey, Polyp George, The Mike Vrabel Sliding Scale of Chivalry, The Blandino Tier and fogging the glass of exclusivity.• Read the follow-up story at WIRED• Previously on PTFO: We Got Inside Knicks Surveillance — and MSG's Deep State Is Stranger Than You Think• Watch Jay Jurden's "Yes Ma'am"• Subscribe to "Casuals with Katie Nolan"(Pablo Torre Finds Out is independently produced by Meadowlark Media and distributed by The Athletic. The views, research and reporting expressed in this episode are solely those of Pablo Torre Finds Out and do not reflect the work or editorial input of The Athletic or its journalists.)

The reason for this re-air is dire: A wrongfully convicted football fan is running out of time — and legal avenues to pursue. When Pablo sat down with Cowboys superfan Charles Flores in January, Flores’ legal team was working on a Hail Mary: petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to review his case — and to consider whether the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals had violated his right to due process. On June 15, that effort failed. Public pressure is all that remains. Which means that the power of Charles’ story is more important than ever. As is the urgency to sign the petition to encourage the Dallas County DA to stop his execution.• Sign the petition to stop the execution of Charles Flores• Previously on PTFO: Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row"The Road Goes On Forever" written and performed by Robert Earl Keen, with permissions from Songs of Universal, Inc., and Keen Productions.(Pablo Torre Finds Out is independently produced by Meadowlark Media and distributed by The Athletic. The views, research and reporting expressed in this episode are solely those of Pablo Torre Finds Out and do not reflect the work or editorial input of The Athletic or its journalists.) (edited) 

After months of rumors, journalist Alan Shipnuck investigates why Phil Mickelson has basically vanished from the LIV Golf Tour — and social media. Leading us down a rabbit hole of hidden misconduct claims and exits from three different golf clubs. Not to mention 19 sources, an off-shore oil pipeline and an ex-friend's ex-wife: Ashley Perez.Read Alan Shipnuck’s reporting at Skratch Golf: https://www.skratch.golf/news/pro-golf/phil-mickelson-misconduct-women-madison-club-bridges-farms-exitsRead Phil Mickelson’s spokesperson’s statement: https://x.com/_davidrumsey/status/2072655169792225420?s=46Read Skratch’s response: https://x.com/_davidrumsey/status/2072696394997981241?s=46

Ex-ESPN president John Skipper was once the most important soccer fan in America. But then he lost the World Cup to FOX — and became a federal witness. So we wanted to know what it’s been like to watch America fall in love with the very tournament Skipper wasn’t allowed to win. And whether federal corruption trials, nine figures worth of commercials and a Trump Tower apartment full of cats can slow the spread of the world’s favorite game.• Donate to the Kyra Fund, which will support research on Glioblastoma, one of the deadliest cancers