Episode Details

Linda Cohn spent 34 years at ESPN, longer than almost anyone, and she left this summer on her own terms with a YouTube show already built. She joins Sage Steele for 76 minutes on what those last years actually looked like: the 2017 suspension after an innocent radio interview, the phone call she describes as bullying, the tweet a boss ordered her to delete, and the 80 percent pay cut she accepted after ESPN closed the Los Angeles studio so that nobody else got to decide how her run ended.

She also explains exactly where she believes the old SportsCenter died, why she was cast aside from NHL coverage after keeping the sport alive on the show for years, and why she never got an answer about any of it. Then the two of them get into what the industry looks like now: why so few women in sports media will speak up on women's sports, why executives who have never sat in the chair keep making the calls, and whether ESPN can ever win back an audience that has already left for YouTube.

Linda Cohn, ESPN, SportsCenter, and life after the worldwide leader. New episodes of The Sage Steele Show every week.

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Chapters:

00:00 - Intro

00:46 - Linda Cohn Reflects on 34 Years at ESPN

04:50 - The Real Linda Cohn & Finally Speaking Freely

10:35 - When ESPN Started to Change

16:07 - Linda's Suspension & Her Experience With John Skipper

22:52 - Politics, Double Standards & Why ESPN Lost Its Way

26:49 - Linda's Emotional ESPN Sendoff & Her Lasting Impact

31:14 - Advice for Young Women Entering Sports Media Today

34:55 - Women in Leadership & How Talent Gets Chosen

42:18 - Sophie Cunningham & Why Women in Sports Stay Silent

48:18 - Billie Jean King, Title IX & Protecting Women's Sports

52:17 - ESPNW, Hypocrisy & When the Culture Changed

55:52 - The Painful Side of Linda's 34-Year ESPN Career

01:01:08 - NHL Coverage, Being Cast Aside & an 80% Pay Cut

01:08:13 - Linda Almost Gets Into a Fight at SoFi Stadium

01:12:14 - Being Called MAGA for Supporting Caitlin Clark

01:17:42 - Can ESPN Ever Win Back Its Audience?

01:22:35 - Final Thoughts & Outro

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The Sage Steele Show is a weekly podcast hosted by former ESPN anchor Sage Steele. Each week, Sage sits down with entertainers, athletes, business people, and politicians to have deep dive personal one on one discussions that enlighten, entertain, and engage. There's a whole big world out there that's not just sports, and Sage wants to talk about all of it.

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