Sox Populi - A Chicago White Sox podcast

Available Episodes

5 of 601

Sox Populi Podcast 191 — Checking in with Sharing Sox, our original podcast! — 2025-05-08
Continuing our 600th podcast celebration, Brett Ballantini had the Sharing Sox duo of Leigh and Will Allan on, for the very first time together, the mothership. We attempted to make zero references to the 2025 White Sox, but failed. Still, this is mostly contemporary White Sox-free: Revisiting the first episode, Sept. 9, 2020, and acknowledging that the first on our Megaphone player is No. 8, that October. The first seven Sharing Sox podcasts were with Sports Illustrated and not (yet) on our player The first "true" podcast, then, No. 8, was on Oct. 14, 2020, and it concerned ... the managerial search (that ended with the hiring of Tony La Russa). The duo was shocked and horrified in remembrance of that time, and that innocence Does the duo regret landing on the White Sox as their team to root for? What drove the father-son duo to start the podcast in the first place? Favorite guests on the show How hard is it to continue doing this, both 143 programs and yes, still covering a team with narrow hopes of something better any time soon? The highlights of being able to do this podcast with a family member Please support our White Sox writing and podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Sox Populi Podcast 190 — 600 episodes! — 2025-05-08
To commemorate the 600th Sox Populi Podcast, we had podcasting mainstays Chrystal O'Keefe (Visiting Dugout, Soxy Chicks, Estrogen Power Hour, et. al), Joe Resis (Sox Pop on the Farm) and Melissa Sage-Bollenbach (Ladies' Night) on to discuss the past four-five years of podcasting at Sox Populi and South Side Sox. Brief acknowledgement was made for Sharing Sox (the subject of podcast 601) and Tommy Barbee, our Father Soxivus and co-host of Killer B's, but then we dug into some talk with each host/guest about their respective programs. We bridged our break discussing the connection between our two most revolutionary podcasts, Estrogen Power Hour and Ladies' Night. And in the end, we wound up talking about the "mothership podcast," the catch-all program you're listening to right now. Throughout, host Brett Ballantini got his teeth kicked in, playfully (maybe). A special and enigmatic voice kicks off the podcast! The strange accounting that actually lands this podcast as somewhere around 608 or 610 Brett's habit of bullying (? gulp) some hosts into doing even more for Sox Populi The original name of the pirate radio broadcast, Estrogen Power Hour The most satisfying mothership podcast ever In a longer podcast post than usual, we'll roll the credits for all our podcasts: Mothership Podcast (Brett Ballantini, host) 190 programs beginning Jan. 28, 2020 Sharing Sox (Will and Leigh Allan) 143 programs beginning Sept. 9, 2020 Visiting Dugout (Chrystal O'Keefe, host) 82 programs beginning March 20, 2023 Sox Pop on the Farm (Brett Ballantini, host) 60 programs beginning May 4, 2021 North Side Sox (Sam Sherman and Janice Valenzuela), 23 programs beginning October 2020 Sox Pop Postgame Podcast (Brett Ballantini, host) 20 programs beginning April 13, 2021 Ladies' Night (Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, host) 13 programs beginning March 20, 2024 Killer B's (Tommy Barbee and Keelin Billue) 12 programs beginning Oct. 30, 2020 Sox Pop Pregame Podcast (Brett Ballantini, host) 10 programs beginning Oct. 7, 2021 Dugout Metrics (Brett Ballantini, Luke Smailes, Trevor Lines) 10 programs beginning Dec. 10, 2020 The Big Blurt (Rob Colletti and Bill Meincke) eight programs beginning Jan. 29, 2021 Soxy Chicks (Chrystal O'Keefe and Bayleigh Von Schneider) seven programs beginning March 30, 2024 DISH Deluxe (Brett Ballantini, host) six programs beginning July 17, 2023 Estrogen Power Hour (Keelin Billue, Janice Valenzuela, Colleen Sullivan, Chrystal O'Keefe) five programs beginning May 16, 2021 Live! three programs Time Out! (Di Billick, host) two programs beginning Aug. 1, 2024 Planet White Sox (Brett Ballantini and Trooper Galactus) two programs beginning Sept. 15, 2022 Group Therapy (Sam Sherman, host) two programs beginning April 26, 2022 Explain it to Me Like I'm 5 (Keelin Billue, host) two programs beginning March 8, 2022 Second Hand Embarrassment (Jacki Krestel, host) one program on Jan. 12, 2024 (Don't add them up, the math is a little fuzzy.) Also, the milestone podcasts, at least per our Megaphone player: Podcast 1 Mothership Podcast 1: Janice Valenzuela at Sox Fest, Jan. 28, 2020Podcast 100 Mothership Podcast 42: A Sweep, a Six Pack, and the Power of Strawberry Cheesecake Cannolis, April 26, 2021Podcast 200 Postgame Podcast 8: Goodbye 2021 season, Oct. 12, 2021Podcast 300 Sharing Sox 83: Is That a Rotund Female We Hear Warbling?, Aug. 27, 2022Podcast 400 Visiting Dugout 17: Detroit Tigers, May 25, 2023Podcast 500 Visiting Dugout 45: Minnesota Twins, April 29, 2024 Please support our White Sox writing and podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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1:20:53
Sox Pop on the Farm 60 - First-month review — 2025-05-05
Somehow it's been more than 10 months since our last Farm podcast, so we returned with authority — namely, three authorities (Joe Resis, Kristina Airdo, Hannah Filippo) and a host (Brett Ballantini). We spent an hour covering each affiliate ... yes, even the Winston-Salem Dash: An assignment for the missing Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, and a last chance to escape for our newest minors writer, Hannah Kannapolis highlights, including the dynamic Javier Mogollón (proper pronunciation please), the promoted Braden Montgomery and the anomaly, Lyle Miller-Green ... plus the ascendance of Christian Oppor In Birmingham, specifics include William Bergolla, Rikuu Nishida and Wilfred Veras, but heading to the break a quick round: Do either Hagen Smith or Noah Schultz see Charlotte or Chicago this year? The Libertyville Connection Charlotte talk centers on the good (Tim Elko!) and bad (Colson Montgomery) Dash talk was brief but c'mon, Jeral Perez (again, pronunciation please) is playing like the BEST prospect in the system Please support our White Sox writing and podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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1:11:10
Visiting Dugout Episode 82 — Kansas City Royals — 2025-05-05
Friend of the pod Kevin O'Brien is back to talk to Chrystal about a division rival — the Kansas City Royals. After winning a series against the Houston Astros (thanks to the rain!), the White Sox embark on a four-game series against Bobby Witt Jr. & Co. Tune in to hear what Kevin said about the Royals and how this series might play out. Here is what we talked about: What's new with the Royals Rating the offseason The slow start from Kansas City How he feels about the season going forward Pitching matchups Cole Ragan's unsuccessful first Tommy John surgery that led to a second surgery Keys to winning the series Who is hitting the ball right now -- potential threats to the White Sox Fears heading into the series Is the American League Central wide open? The Colorado Rockies Aaron Judge, of course Pete Alonso and the Mets are good The battle of staying healthy The Giants and Oracle Park You can follow Kevin on Bluesky and Twitter. I would also recommend checking out his work on Pitcher List, The Royals Reporter, and his new podcast Crown Talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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34:32
Sharing Sox Podcast 143 — Give Luis his freedom! — 2025-05-03
Recording on the day after Luis Robert Jr. stole a grand slam and then knocked in four runs himself, duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and (while he’s in a play in Cincinnati) Ohio Valley correspondent, Will, call for the White Sox to trade Luis before another game is played, taking whatever a contending team will offer. Said urging by people who are very much his fans is not just so the Sox can perhaps pick up a decent prospect, or at least a top-of-the-line parking lot attendant, but to free Robert from captivity and let him play in meaningful games where his immense skills can be useful and he can enjoy the game. This won’t happen, of course, but at least we were pulling for you, Luis. On the bright side, the duo cover the excellent appearance of Edgar Quero and the post-adjustment success thus far of Miguel Vargas, and what appears to be a pleasant abundance of catching talent. This being the White Sox, the bright side on position players is limited, so the conversation ventures to the darker aspects, of which there are many, most notably Andrew Vaughn. Five years in, the excuses for Vaughn’s weakness (now 0.0 bWAR for his career), while often valid, are wearing thinner than a Swedish pancake, so the question is asked, “Why won’t they give Tim Elko a chance?” Elko is tearing up Triple-A ball in Charlotte, so why not find out if he’s strictly a AAAA player, or if he can hack it in the majors? He can’t be worse than Vaughn defensively, because Charles Comiskey himself would be better, even while deceased — and maybe he can hit. Otherwise, there is disagreement over whether to let youngsters take over and sit the 30+ has-beens or never-weres when they’re off the IL, and much praise for the excellent performance of the young starting pitchers. Will even ventures into the possibility the team could be adequate by 2027 or 2028. Oh, yeah — Will also has a rant against the Colorado Rockies, for apparently trying to destroy the White Sox record for ineptitude just one year after it was set, leaving Sox fans nothing to strive for this season. Please support our White Sox writing and podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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