Podcast Summary: "Share & Bezos & Tell"

Pablo Torre Finds Out | The Athletic
Guests: Ezra Edelman (Oscar-winning director) and David Remnick (Editor-in-Chief, The New Yorker)
Date: February 13, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out takes a deep dive into the state of journalism, the implications of billionaire ownership in media (focusing on Jeff Bezos and The Washington Post), and the shifting boundaries between journalism, documentary filmmaking, and content creation. Host Pablo Torre facilitates a spirited discussion between Ezra Edelman and David Remnick about the death of the Washington Post sports section, the meaning of "independent" journalism, and the cultural costs of commerce-driven media. The conversation is rich with nostalgia, sharp critique, and a cautious hope for the future of thoughtful reporting.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Death of the Washington Post Sports Section and Local Journalism

• Remnick reveals that Jeff Bezos’s latest media cuts may amount to the "death of the Washington Post" itself, not just its sports coverage, highlighting the loss as a civic and cultural blow (06:48).
• Edelman describes his personal sense of loss as a D.C. native:

  "As far as I'm concerned, it is the death of the Washington Post." – Ezra Edelman (07:18)

• Remnick contextualizes the importance of local sports coverage:

  "Sports, especially locally, is an enormous glue of community... to not understand that is to not understand American life, much less Washington." (08:02)

2. Bezos’s Ownership: Power, Money, and Mission

• Remnick discusses Bezos’s purchase of the Post as "an item of prestige and no doubt power," noting his initial stewardship as positive, but ultimately distant (09:40).
• The guests question whether the Post’s shift toward transactional coverage with the government is journalistic capitulation for business interests, citing Bezos's business and political needs:

  "His main business... is Amazon... Would they have gotten that [$7 billion tax break] if Bezos had not proved so pliable?" – David Remnick (12:05)

• The “Democracy Dies in Darkness” motto is critiqued as meaningful in sentiment but “a little gothic” as branding (13:02).

3. What Counts as Journalism or a Documentary Anymore?

• Edelman and Remnick debate the dilution of standards in both journalism and documentary filmmaking:
  • "Everything's a documentary now. Much like everyone who has a microphone is a journalist." – Pablo Torre (19:51)
  • Edelman attributes this erosion to the commodification and self-curation of narrative by celebrities and athletes.
• Remnick draws a historical parallel to the glorified, if biased, NFL Films of his youth, and laments how access and independence have sharply declined (23:04).
• The discussion turns to present-day streamers’ flood of “hagiographic” (overly flattering) content under the documentary label (21:24).
• Edelman, as a filmmaker, shares skepticism about compromising artistic and journalistic independence for access, describing industry pressure to "grow up a little bit" and accept transactional filmmaking:

  "What happened to actually having some level of independence between a subject and the filmmaker?" – Ezra Edelman (28:50)

4. Access, Control, and the End of Independent Journalism

• Remnick shares a “LeBron James” story illustrating the shift: even prominent journalists are declined access in favor of athletes' self-controlled messaging (25:01):

  “If we want to get our message to our fans... it's done. If we want to tell our story, we'll call the ghostwriter of the moment... What they don't want is the intermediary of a writer or a filmmaker of any independence. That was the end of that.” (25:36)

• Edelman reflects on the impossibility of returning to times when journalists actually interpreted their subjects, rather than merely transmitting PR:

  "The subject is often not the best arbiter of what is interesting about them. And I feel like... that is such a remarkable loss." – Pablo Torre (32:47)

• The guests highlight the particular candor and vulnerability still offered by boxers and some fighters, in contrast to media-trained athletes in other sports (38:40).

5. Nostalgia for Old Journalism and Culture

• The panel reminisces about the giants of postwar sportswriting (Shirley Povich, Tony Kornheiser, Michael Wilbon, etc.) and their institution-building role (34:10).
• Remnick shares a favorite Povich story and laments how “an editor is only a mouse training to be a rat,” a quote that continues to haunt him (36:44).

6. Data, Metrics, and Editorial Judgment

• The group critiques the rise of "data-driven" editorial decisions, arguing this approach kills surprise and thoughtful judgment:

  “If I were to just publish the things that I knew would do well in terms of clicks, we would be a very different magazine.” – David Remnick (43:48)

• Edelman and Torre both advocate for the creation and protection of “premium things,” media offerings unpredictable and distinct from commoditized digital content (47:40).

7. Hypocrisy, Complicity, and the Limits of Purity

• Edelman and Remnick discuss the impossibility (and futility) of absolute purity in the modern commerce-driven ecosystem (“I buy my books on Amazon, too.”), echoing personal contradictions and broader societal ones (48:28).
• Remnick says:

  “Unless you're a Carmelite nun, unless you live entirely apart from modernity... sooner or later you're paying.” (49:34)

• Edelman worries:

  "It's then the normalization of that happens where you... accept... all this that gets put out, I can't not consume it because that's what's there. And I'm like, no." (50:23)

8. Refusing Despair and Embracing Hope

• Remnick draws on New Yorker climate columnist Bill McKibben, emphasizing that "despair is the most useless emotion of all... I really do refuse the kind of despairing mode, because what good is that?" (53:23)
• Torre quips:

  "I think that's a better slogan than democracy dies in darkness. I refuse the despairing mode, because what's the use in that?" (54:02)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Sports as Community:

  "Sports ... is a glue of community, conversation, commonality in a world that's riven with conflict. And to not understand that is to not understand American life, much less Washington." – David Remnick (08:02)

• On Billionaire Ownership:

  "What happened with Jeff Bezos is that he bought the Washington Post for $250 million, which to him is chump change. Half the price of his boat. Not kidding." – David Remnick (09:10)

• On Modern 'Documentaries':

  "There are all kinds. ... The streaming services are filled with so-called sports documentaries that are hagiographic in the extreme." – David Remnick (21:26)

• On Losing Independence:

  "What happened to journalism? ... there is a contract ... between a subject and the filmmaker. It changes the dynamic in terms of what gets done and how it gets done." – Ezra Edelman (28:50)

• On Editorial Judgment:

  "If I were to just publish the things that I knew would do well in terms of clicks, we would be a very different magazine." – David Remnick (43:48)

• On Nostalgia and Loss:

  "There is a worldview... Shirley Povich was a person who wrote about race in America and actually educated people and took a stand." – Ezra Edelman (34:10)

• On Resisting Despair:

  "Despair is the most useless emotion of all ... I really do refuse the kind of despairing mode, because what good is that?" – David Remnick (53:23)

Key Timestamps

• [01:44] – On the show's new studio and self-effacing banter
• [06:48] – The Washington Post sports section and Bezos’s devastating cuts
• [08:02] – Sports as community glue
• [09:10] – Bezos’s purchase of the Post; billionaire owner problems
• [13:02] – Critique of "Democracy Dies in Darkness" and branding journalism
• [19:51] – The messy boundaries between documentaries, journalism, and content
• [23:04] – NFL Films, hagiography, and the loss of access to real stories
• [25:01] – Remnick’s LeBron James anecdote and the death of the independent profile
• [34:10] – Reminiscing about Shirley Povich and the depth of past sportswriting
• [43:48] – Dangers of data-driven editorial decisions
• [48:28] – Discussion of hypocrisy and navigating a compromised marketplace
• [53:23] – Rejecting despair as a viable mode for critics and creators

Tone & Style

The conversation is rich, erudite, self-effacing, and sometimes mournful, but also shot through with humor, intellectual rigor, and a determined refusal to accept defeat. Each participant is self-aware—sometimes to the point of self-mockery—about their role in the media ecosystem. There's a thread of hope, or at least insistence on not succumbing to cynicism.

Takeaway

This episode offers a searching, spirited meditation on what is lost as media consolidates power, journalism becomes commodified, and narrative control shifts ever more towards the subjects themselves, raising existential questions for documentary filmmakers and journalists alike. But, as Remnick and Edelman note, refusing despair—and remembering why open, independent inquiry matters—remains vital.

For those interested in media, sports, and cultural criticism, this episode is essential listening: as thought-provoking as it is entertaining, rigorous as it is nostalgic.