Podcast Summary: Smalltown Baseball Indie Comedy 'Eephus'

Podcast: All Of It with Alison Stewart (WNYC)
Episode Date: February 16, 2026
Guest: Carson Lund (Writer, Director, and Editor of "Eephus")

Overview

This episode dives into "Eephus," an indie comedy about a group of amateur baseball players in a small New England town as they play one final game on their soon-to-be-destroyed field. Host Alison Stewart talks to filmmaker Carson Lund about the movie's unique rhythm, community themes, intentional details, and its reflection on American masculinity and change. The film earned two Independent Spirit Award nominations, including Best Editing.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Significance of the "Eephus" Pitch and Film Title

• [01:16] Carson Lund explains the origins of the Eephus pitch—a rare, radically slow baseball pitch that disorients batters.

  • “The Eephus pitch is a slow, lobbed pitch that is so, so much, so radically slow relative to the other pitches that are thrown that it catches the batter off guard and reorients their sense of time.”
  • Its name comes from Hebrew (“efes,” meaning “nothing” or “a void”), fitting its status as a "nothing pitch."

• [02:11] Lund sees the film as a parallel to the pitch:

  • “I think that the film is, in its own way, a slow, lobbed pitch that helps you kind of rethink your relationship to the passing moment and makes you more present.”

Ensemble Cast and Collective Storytelling

• [02:56] Stewart points out the absence of a central protagonist.
• [03:16] Lund discusses his intention for a collective narrative:
  • “It is the story of many. That’s why. Because everyone's kind of having the same realization…they have to say goodbye to this ritual and with it, a version of themselves that they all share on that field.”
  • The field acts as a “refuge” and “escape”; the New England tone is embodied by “avoidance and cracking jokes and trash talk.”

Authentic Casting Process

• [04:03] Lund describes casting as partially remote, sourcing locals from Boston and New England, often over Zoom:

  • “I had to kind of ask them to throw a pitch on a Zoom call. So I had a sense of their experience with the game.”

• [04:39] Lund highlights his desire for authentic, lived-in faces:

  • “A sense that someone has lived. Lived a life, you know. And I think those faces—we've kind of lost them from the screen.”

Regional Details and Nostalgia

• [05:22] Lund celebrates regional quirks (e.g., triangle-shaped manhole covers) and local references (Adler’s Paint from Providence):

  • “We’re also interested in those details, the regional details, the things that are very specific to the New Hampshire town where I grew up.”
  • “I try to load the film up with all these details that I remember from the 90s in New Hampshire.”

• [05:58] Lund laments the loss of specific “space and time” in filmmaking:

  • “Everyone seems to shoot in these, the same locations because they're tax hubs...So you don’t know where any movies are set anymore.”

Why the Ballfield Becomes a School

• [06:38] Lund defends the choice of a school (rather than, say, a mall) replacing the field:
  • “I think it would have let the characters off the hook too much…by making it something that's positive for society…it makes them have to wrestle with the fact that we're always dealing with change in our lives.”

Male Friendship, Leisure, and Modern Life

• [08:00] Stewart cites an Indiewire review about the film’s portrayal of loneliness among American men.

• [08:00] Lund reflects on the diminishing options for adult community and leisure:

  • “We’ve lost a lot of opportunities for this kind of leisure activity…These characters may not be able to find a new outlet for their friendship.”
  • He discusses the value of “third spaces” (not home, not work) and their decline:
    • “I've certainly watched over the course of my life as people have found less and less time for this. I have found less and less time for this. This is why I joined a rec league.”

• [09:00] Lund shares his lifelong involvement with baseball and how rec leagues contrast the pressures of youth sports:

  • “It was more about the passion for the game and about sharing that passion with others rather than trying to ascend to some next level.”

Lessons from Making "Eephus"

• [10:24] Stewart congratulates Lund on his feature directorial debut.
• [10:24] Lund on takeaways for future projects:
  • “I learned that you always need more money and more time…But I've always been working on low budgets as a filmmaker ever since I was a kid.”
  • Emphasizes the value of creative collaboration:
    • “We made an incredible chemistry on this film that I want to sustain going forward and work with these same people.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Carson Lund on the film’s point-of-view:
  • “The field is a refuge, it’s an escape for them. So they’re all having to come to terms with that in a similar way.” ([03:16])
• On regional specificity:
  • “I like this profusion of details in the movie that just sort of washes over you and gives you a real sense of space and time...” ([05:58])
• On the value of third spaces and communal rituals:
  • “Maintaining group friendships, it takes effort. And that effort sometimes falls down the pecking order when you have many other things going on in your life.” ([08:00])
• On filmmaking and collaboration:
  • “One of the things that was maybe reinforced, solidified by this film was to just keep working with…the friends and the group of people that I’ve grown to love working with.” ([10:24])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:16 — What is an Eephus pitch, and why the name?
• 02:56 — Structure as an ensemble piece and purpose of group narrative
• 04:03 — Casting process and authenticity
• 05:22 — Obsession with regional detail and local flavor
• 06:38 — Why the field is being replaced by a school
• 08:00 — Reflections on male friendship, loneliness, and rec leagues
• 10:24 — Lessons from directing and plans for future projects

Tone & Language

The conversation is warm, reflective, and insightful, with a distinct reverence for community, nostalgia, and authenticity. Lund’s answers weave personal experience and philosophical musings, while Stewart’s questions invite depth and specificity.

Summary for New Listeners

This episode of "All Of It" offers an intimate look at "Eephus," an indie film that humorously—and tenderly—captures the rituals, bonds, and transitions of a small-town baseball team. Carson Lund shares how the film celebrates overlooked moments, local details, the meaning of community, and the poignant reality of growing older and saying goodbye. The discussion is especially resonant for anyone interested in independent film, regional storytelling, or the subtle ways sports can reflect our changing social fabric.