Josh Levin
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joshuablevin.bsky.social
Josh Levin
@joshuablevin.bsky.social
Host of Replay Booth. Host of Slow Burn seasons on David Duke and Fox News. Creator of One Year. Author of NBCC winner THE QUEEN. https://www.josh-levin.com/
Pinned
I'm thrilled to announce the pilot episode for a new sports history podcast called Replay Booth. The pilot, "Wilbur Huckle for President," is live now. If you liked Slow Burn and/or One Year and/or Hang Up and Listen, you'll love this www.replaybooth.show/p/replay-boo...
www.replaybooth.show
Reposted by Josh Levin
One of the three extant buildings from Storyville, the famous red-light district in New Orleans, is facing demolition. I found that it'd been a Black bar, making it the only link to the community of color that lived and worked on the backstreets of the district.

acloserwalknola.com/places/joe-v...
Joe Victor's Saloon - New Orleans Music Map
Joe Victor’s Saloon is one of only three extant structures from Storyville, New Orleans’ fabled red-light district, which was integral to the development of jazz in the early 1900s. The business was l...
acloserwalknola.com
December 22, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Reposted by Josh Levin
Just in time for the holidays, a feature story on the 1977 Xmas party that changed the marijuana legalization movement forever. There was a rock band, strobe lights, a juggler, silver trays full of joints, and an allegation that Jimmy Carter's drug czar did cocaine ...

slate.com/news-and-pol...
Donald Trump Just Brought a Long-Sought Policy Goal Closer Than Ever. It All Might Have Been Different Without One Night in 1977.
A scandal followed—and, five decades later, no one agrees on what happened.
slate.com
December 23, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by Josh Levin
Holy %$##*%^&. A @newyorker.com essay by Louis Menand about my book
Is the Dictionary Done For?
The print edition of Merriam-Webster was once a touchstone of authority and stability. Then the internet brought about a revolution.
www.newyorker.com
December 22, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Now that this story has been published, I grant permission to all NFL teams to pursue a 36-23 scoreline today.
I wrote for @theatlantic.com about the NFL's baffling scoreboard mystery: Why has a game never ended 36-23? Join me (via gift link!) on this @nflscorigami.bsky.social quest w/help from @jonbois.bsky.social, Dave Mattingly, some Scorigami-loving academics, and more www.theatlantic.com/science/2025...
No NFL Game Has Ever Ended in a Score of 36–23
A scoreboard mystery
www.theatlantic.com
December 7, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Dave's Scorigami spreadsheet is incredible stuff docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
December 5, 2025 at 4:16 PM
I wrote for @theatlantic.com about the NFL's baffling scoreboard mystery: Why has a game never ended 36-23? Join me (via gift link!) on this @nflscorigami.bsky.social quest w/help from @jonbois.bsky.social, Dave Mattingly, some Scorigami-loving academics, and more www.theatlantic.com/science/2025...
No NFL Game Has Ever Ended in a Score of 36–23
A scoreboard mystery
www.theatlantic.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by Josh Levin
Today's article pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @joshuablevin.bsky.social & @defector.com! (H/t @barryyeoman.com)

Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe

defector.com/wilbur-huckl...
Wilbur Huckle For President: Solving A 61-Year-Old Mets Mystery | Defector
Earlier this year, on a cold Sunday in January, I walked into an antique store in a Washington, D.C. suburb. When I go to a shop like this one, I’m not looking for chairs or lamps. My interests are a ...
defector.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Reposted by Josh Levin
Big breaking news at Bounces:

Serena Williams has applied for reinstatement to tennis, adding herself back into the tennis anti-doping program to set herself up for a comeback to competition in 2026.

Read all the details here:

www.benrothenberg.com/p/serena-wil...
Breaking: Serena Williams Is Preparing to Return to Tennis
The 23-time major singles champion has filed paperwork that sets a 2026 comeback to professional tennis in motion.
www.benrothenberg.com
December 2, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Reposted by Josh Levin
Here’s my oral history of CREED, the movie not the band. With help from Ryan Coogler, Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson, and many more. www.theringer.com/2025/11/25/m...
If I Fight, You Fight: The Oral History of ‘Creed’
Ten years ago, Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan cemented their partnership and pulled off a million-to-one shot, bringing the ‘Rocky’ franchise into a new era
www.theringer.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Reposted by Josh Levin
"The Moscow crew shipped off all those pizzas and 20 cases of Pepsi to the parliament building, to fortify Yeltsin and his supporters against the coup. Antoniadi had inserted Pizza Hut into a political crisis." —Kelly Jones & @joshuablevin.bsky.social for @slate.com
In 1990, One of the Great Forgotten Acts of American Subterfuge Unfolded. It Involved Pizza Hut.
A delicious caper of vodka bribes and world-altering salad bars.
slate.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Reposted by Josh Levin
New:

On 1xBet, the strange and shady company which has become rapidly more visible across tennis in 2025 despite *many* reasons for tours, tournaments, and federations to steer clear of its mess.

Lots of odd details here, free for all to read at Bounces:

www.benrothenberg.com/p/1xbet-tenn...
Bottom Dollar
On the shady practices of 1xBet, and its rapidly growing presence across tennis.
www.benrothenberg.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Slow Burn/Fiasco/Backfired's @leonneyfakh.bsky.social: "I loved the episode and getting the newsletter a week later felt amazing as it tuned me into various little details that had stuck with me subconsciously. Alas I have basically no social media presence left so I don’t know how to tell anyone."
In the Replay Booth newsletter, I've got a cornucopia of goodies for all the Huckle-heads out there: some great photos, a questionnaire he filled out in 1966, multiple unauthorized Wilbur Huckle baseball cards, and more!

www.replaybooth.show/p/every-week...
Every Week Should Be Wilbur Huckle Week
Thank you for subscribing to the Replay Booth newsletter, where I’ll be sending updates on a podcast series that—according to the Guardian, in our first published review—has “the same sense of cheerfu...
www.replaybooth.show
November 13, 2025 at 4:02 PM
In the Replay Booth newsletter, I've got a cornucopia of goodies for all the Huckle-heads out there: some great photos, a questionnaire he filled out in 1966, multiple unauthorized Wilbur Huckle baseball cards, and more!

www.replaybooth.show/p/every-week...
Every Week Should Be Wilbur Huckle Week
Thank you for subscribing to the Replay Booth newsletter, where I’ll be sending updates on a podcast series that—according to the Guardian, in our first published review—has “the same sense of cheerfu...
www.replaybooth.show
November 13, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Reposted by Josh Levin
The first eppy of Replay Booth, @joshuablevin.bsky.social’s new sports history podcast, is sensational. Highly recommended! I can’t wait to hear more.
I'm thrilled to announce the pilot episode for a new sports history podcast called Replay Booth. The pilot, "Wilbur Huckle for President," is live now. If you liked Slow Burn and/or One Year and/or Hang Up and Listen, you'll love this www.replaybooth.show/p/replay-boo...
www.replaybooth.show
November 9, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Thank you to Gwilym Mumford of @theguardian.com for this shout-out for Replay Booth. Listen now! pod.link/1462685560/e...
November 7, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Reposted by Josh Levin
An incredible story about the stuff guys used to do to entertain themselves before there was posting on the internet: defector.com/wilbur-huckl...
Wilbur Huckle For President: Solving A 61-Year-Old Mets Mystery | Defector
Earlier this year, on a cold Sunday in January, I walked into an antique store in a Washington D.C. suburb. When I go to a shop like this one, I’m not looking for chairs or lamps. My interests are a l...
defector.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Reposted by Josh Levin
I mean, you really should. Even if you don't like sports, but especially if you do.
You should also listen to the pilot episode of Replay Booth, "Wilbur Huckle for President," and sign up for the Replay Booth newsletter! pod.link/1462685560/e... www.replaybooth.show/p/replay-boo...
pod.link
November 6, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Reposted by Josh Levin
Replay Booth is a perfect podcast for Josh and warms my gerontology heart.
You should also listen to the pilot episode of Replay Booth, "Wilbur Huckle for President," and sign up for the Replay Booth newsletter! pod.link/1462685560/e... www.replaybooth.show/p/replay-boo...
pod.link
November 6, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Grateful to @defector.com for publishing a print version of my Replay Booth episode on a 61-year-old Mets mystery and for commissioning an illustration of Mr. Met with a pipe and magnifying glass defector.com/wilbur-huckl...
Wilbur Huckle For President: Solving A 61-Year-Old Mets Mystery | Defector
Earlier this year, on a cold Sunday in January, I walked into an antique store in a Washington D.C. suburb. When I go to a shop like this one, I’m not looking for chairs or lamps. My interests are a l...
defector.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:18 PM
This is fabulous. A custom Wilbur Huckle Topps card!
Mets fans! Go down the Wilbur Huckle rabbit hole with @joshuablevin.bsky.social in the first episode of his new podcast Replay Booth. Very fun mix of pop culture history, politics and of course the Mets. A little more from me at Faith and Fear, featuring an honest to goodness Huckle custom card!
A Night in the Huckle Rabbit Hole « Faith and Fear in Flushing
www.faithandfearinflushing.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Reposted by Josh Levin
A truly Metsgasmic listening experience.
I'm thrilled to announce the pilot episode for a new sports history podcast called Replay Booth. The pilot, "Wilbur Huckle for President," is live now. If you liked Slow Burn and/or One Year and/or Hang Up and Listen, you'll love this www.replaybooth.show/p/replay-boo...
www.replaybooth.show
November 5, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Reposted by Josh Levin
I was a HUGE fan of One Year and Slow Burn so really thrilled to have Josh back doing podcasts, and this one is about sports history, the best topic!!
I'm thrilled to announce the pilot episode for a new sports history podcast called Replay Booth. The pilot, "Wilbur Huckle for President," is live now. If you liked Slow Burn and/or One Year and/or Hang Up and Listen, you'll love this www.replaybooth.show/p/replay-boo...
www.replaybooth.show
November 4, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Reposted by Josh Levin
This was a fun story, well-told. The best part is that almost every bit has a surprise to make it about 50% more interesting than it already was. Very glad to have Josh Levin in podcast form again, and reminded me to go back and listen to One Year episodes I might have missed.
I'm thrilled to announce the pilot episode for a new sports history podcast called Replay Booth. The pilot, "Wilbur Huckle for President," is live now. If you liked Slow Burn and/or One Year and/or Hang Up and Listen, you'll love this www.replaybooth.show/p/replay-boo...
www.replaybooth.show
November 4, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Went back on ye olde Hang Up and Listen with @alexkirshner.com,
@benlindbergh.bsky.social, and @lindsaygibbs.bsky.social to talk about my new podcast Replay Booth and do an afterball about one of the most delightful fan clubs in baseball history slate.com/podcasts/han...
Did We Just Watch the Greatest Game 7 Ever?
The final game of the World Series had every Hollywood moment you could want.
slate.com
November 4, 2025 at 4:35 PM