Best Placement Theory Podcasts (2025)

1
The Let Them Theory 19:01

8h ago19:01

19:01

Jill talks about the Let Them Theory and how it can be applied by gym owners, athletes and parents. This is a great tool to help people accept anything outside of their control and to move forward in a positive, constructive way. Link to the Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins: https://www.melrobbins.com/book/the-let-them-theory/…

1
Inside All-Star Open Houses 18:17

9d ago18:17

18:17

Jill discusses Open Houses: Why should a gym run an open house? Why should prospective cheerleaders go to one? What are the benefits from everyone's perspective.By Jill Markley

1
From the Fringe Web to Real Life: How Seriously Should We Be Taking Conspiracy Theories? 28:36

13d ago28:36

28:36

Back in December, we did an episode about Pyrra, an AI-powered software that tracks sifts through the far corners of the internet – in some places you probably haven’t even heard of – to see what narratives are emerging from the people who post there. A lot of these are conspiracy theories, and also violent threats. This week, we check back in with…

1
Evals - Preparation & Placement & Crossovers 29:28

16d ago29:28

29:28

Jill talks about how athletes should decide on being Prep vs Elite, and how to prepare for evaluations.By Jill Markley

1
Rümeysa Öztürk is Locked Up for an Op-ed: An Urgent Summit with the Student Newspaper that Published It 1:19:34

20d ago1:19:34

1:19:34

Where better to huddle up and discuss what to do about Rümeysa Öztürk and the chilling effect that is happening in journalism than on campus at Tufts University with the student journalists at The Tufts Daily? This week Brian and Question Everything co-host a live event with the editor-in-chief and associate editor from The Tufts Daily – Arghya Tha…

1
Scholarships, Team Placements 24:09

24d ago24:09

24:09

Jill talks about her process for awarding scholarships, and then goes on to discuss how she decides on team placements.By Jill Markley

1
Pounding Beers in a Shed, and Other Dispatches from the War on Free Speech 27:49

26d ago27:49

27:49

Last episode we discussed the campaign to overturn the Supreme Court decision that protects reporters’ ability to criticize and investigate people in power. But even with that decision still in place, reporter David Enrich has discovered a shocking wave of legal attacks that is being waged on journalists in towns and cities across the country. Thes…

1
Freedom of the press is great, until you're the target 41:26

27d ago41:26

41:26

For decades, a Supreme Court decision called New York Times vs Sullivan was widely beloved by people across the political spectrum. Hailed as a decision that gives the first amendment teeth and sets our country apart, as a place that prizes free speech. But recently, right under our noses, some of the same people who once sang Times v Sullivan's pr…

1
Team Naming Themes, Athlete Evals 22:07

28d ago22:07

22:07

Jill discusses themes for naming teams. Her gym chooses a different theme each season rather than having team names carry over season after season. Why does she do this? Listen to find out. Jill also talks about why she believes it is important to do annual evaluations for all athletes.By Jill Markley

1
The masterpiece Prince documentary Netflix won’t let you see. 48:42

1M ago48:42

48:42

The best documentary filmmaker in America spent nearly five years of his life making a nine-hour masterpiece for Netflix. It will never see the light of day. After a nasty estate battle, the series won't be released. No one will ever see it. In his first sit-down interview about this scandal, the filmmaker Ezra Edelman seeks catharsis – if not clos…

1
The Running Game 15:10

1M ago15:10

15:10

Jill tells a story about one of her favorite team-building games and how it had a transformative effect on one of her teams, and particularly on one of her athletes, this season.By Jill Markley

1
Best Day Scoring & Social Media in the Gym 16:51

1M ago16:51

16:51

Jill talks about frustrations with best-day scoring at 2 day comps. She also talks about challenges with using social media to communicate with parents and athletes, and challenges with their use of social media.By Jill Markley

1
He quit journalism to fight authoritarianism. How’s that going? 25:39

2M ago25:39

25:39

Last year, we did an episode with Barton Gellman, who talked about the war games he was running with high-level military leaders and government officials to prepare for a second Trump term. A bunch of you have been asking us to have Barton back, to find out what he’s doing, now that the second Trump term is here. So we called him up. Barton works a…

1
A Rant or a Slant: When Should Reporters Speak From the Heart? 41:15

2M ago41:15

41:15

It’s easy to get frustrated with the charade reporters are supposed to keep up, where they pretend they don’t have opinions or feelings or any kind of human thoughts about a story they’re telling. Plenty of journalists have been trying to break out of that charade. But the decision to do that: it can be a fraught one, with real implications. Dana B…

1
Do you want to be on Question Everything? 1:35

2M ago1:35

1:35

Do you have questions for us? If so, we want to talk to you! If you have thoughts about Question Everything, critiques of our episodes, or anything you're curious about, that we're covering, or not covering…please tell us. We want to set up some conversations between listeners and Brian and our staff for an upcoming episode. Write to us at hey@plac…

1
A Teen, a Reporter, and a Grand Jury Leak (Over BBQ) 34:34

2M ago34:34

34:34

Journalists jailed for an article they published. In America. How did this happen? Brian tells the story of a reporting trip he took to Alabama, where two small-town journalists had been locked up, which led to one of the most honest - and surprising - conversations about journalism he’s had in a long time. Sign up for our newsletter to see some st…

1
The News is Coming from Under the Desk… on TikTok (live from On Air Fest) 52:18

3M ago52:18

52:18

As trust in traditional journalism plummets, social media content creator V Spehar of Under the Desk News is ascendant, with over 3.4 million TikTok followers. But recently, V found themself in a public dustup with NPR over, in part, how the outlet had classified V in an interview. In this special episode of Question Everything–largely recorded liv…

1
Not Like Us: How Billionaires Think 40:04

3M ago40:04

40:04

As billionaires hoard more control over our politics, it seems more important than ever to ask: What makes them tick? Four reporters gather after hours at a wine shop to discuss – over drinks – what they’ve learned from covering billionaires for years, and how it can help us hoi polloi make sense of what the ultra-rich are doing right now. Featurin…

1
And The Award Goes To...The Circuit Court of The Nineteenth Judicial Circuit In and For Okeechobee County, Florida 37:46

3M ago37:46

37:46

Ben Smith tells the story of the strange controversy over a journalism award that’s been going down in a Florida courthouse. Ben is Editor-in-Chief of Semafor and co-host of the Mixed Signals podcast. He used to be The New York Times media columnist and was founding editor-in-chief of Buzzfeed News. Sign up for our newsletter to read the lengthy li…

1
A reporter? A spy? Or something else? Israel arrests its first American journalist. 58:22

4M ago58:22

58:22

Locked up, alone, accused of being a spy, reporter Jeremy Loffredo has to defend the fact that he’s a journalist. To the Israeli courts. And then…to our reporter. Part two of our special series about Jeremy Loffredo, who in October became the first American journalist arrested by Israel. If you haven't listened to part one, check that out first in …

1
Blindfolded And Arrested On Assignment In Israel 58:05

4M ago58:05

58:05

Just a few months ago, Israel did something it has never done before. It arrested an American journalist. His name is Jeremy Loffredo. This is his story. Part one of a special, two-part series. “Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

1
When Hollywood Tells The Truth: with Tom McCarthy, Antonio Campos, Tina Satter, and Tobias Lindholm. 49:49

5M ago49:49

49:49

Four Hollywood directors gather after hours at a wine shop to drink and commiserate about the perils – and power – that come when you’re straddling fact and fiction. With behind the scenes stories about documentary romance, regret, and pirates. Featuring Tom McCarthy, who won an Oscar for Spotlight; Antonio Campos, creator of The Staircase for HBO;…

1
Can AI tell us what stories to look out for? A live experiment. 31:38

6M ago31:38

31:38

Our team at Question Everything has been playing around with a new technology that sucks up tons of social media posts, and then uses AI to figure out what ideas are forming in the shadows of the internet before they hit the mainstream. Brian interviews a journalist who uses this tech, to see what conversations are brewing right now that we might w…

1
Getting Ready to Interview Trump: An Exercise 40:41

6M ago40:41

40:41

We hire a freelancer to research every comment Donald Trump has made about the press. He ends up telling his wrestling buddy about the assignment, and using it to see if he can get him to trust in journalism. You can find more work by Sam Eagan here. “Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Learn more about your ad choice…

1
Special Election-Eve Episode: The Story of a Story Untold 20:46

7M ago20:46

20:46

A special election-eve episode from Brian: Ruminations on a story that never was, and a late night conversation with the source he was supposed to make it about. “Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy KCRW & Placement Theory

1
When To Call A Thing What It Is 39:48

7M ago39:48

39:48

Did you hear us on This American Life? Keep listening as Brian stops doomscrolling and starts doom-living. He brings two journalists he saw duking it out on Twitter into a studio, where they debate how to report on lies and racism in the Trump era. Then he finds a journalist who’s putting their big theoretical questions into practice – at a persona…

1
Can Journalism Save a Marriage? (featured on This American Life) 32:42

7M ago32:42

32:42

A married couple finds themselves fighting miserably over the news. So they set out on a quest for the seemingly impossible: to find a news source that both a self-admitted “bleeding heart liberal” and a Trump supporter can trust. Check out Tangle News here. “Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Learn more about your a…

1
The Journalist and the Firefighter: How Predicting January 6 Led a Top Reporter to Quit Journalism 41:33

8M ago41:33

41:33

How one of the most accomplished reporters of our time, Barton Gellman, lost his confidence in journalism. Sign up for our newsletter to hear the one outtake from the interview that Brian wished he could get into the episode, but couldn’t. “Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit me…

1
If you're leading a library in 2024, you are leading it for the first time! A conversation with Tony Zanders 33:05

8M ago33:05

33:05

In this episode, Jaime McCowan, CEO, CAVAL, interviews Tony Zanders, Founder and CEO of Skilltype, about his journey from Silicon Valley to the library world. Tony shares his transition from working in tech to tackling challenges in the library profession, including skill gaps, leadership, and technology adoption. They discuss Tony's experience fou…

1
Journalists Question Everything: Ira Glass, Zoe Chace, Jonathan Eig, Astead Herndon 52:09

8M ago52:09

52:09

Brian puts four journalists together in a room, gives them drinks, and starts rolling tape. Their only instructions: show up with questions for each other and be ready to talk candidly about the challenges in their jobs. Foremost on their minds: Why do people even share their stories with journalists in the first place? You can watch this whole epi…

1
S-Town Host Brian Reed Meets His Harshest Critic 49:23

8M ago49:23

49:23

Brian talks to a fellow journalist who called his most well-known work “morally indefensible.” You can read Gay Alcorn’s column here. Subscribe to our newsletter to read Gay’s full reaction to this episode. You can listen to S-Town here. If you’re having thoughts of suicide, please reach out for help by dialing 988 or clicking here. “Question Every…

1
Question Everything is out now! 2:24

9M ago2:24

2:24

Journalist Brian Reed of S-Town is questioning everything, even his own work. Season premiere Sept 12. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy KCRW & Placement Theory

1
Why is the ‘Marketing with Purpose’ playbook more crucial than ever? : A conversation with Ally Scale 23:18

10M ago23:18

23:18

In this discussion, Anna Srivastava, Marketing Strategy and Communications Manager at CAVAL, and Ally Scale, Communications and Marketing Manager at Informit, talk about the significance of purpose-driven marketing, storytelling, and creating human connections in the current digital landscape. They also discuss new strategies for engaging younger d…

1
Building thriving communities while preventing burnout: A conversation with Hugh Rundle 24:23

1y ago24:23

24:23

In this episode, Sae Ra Germaine, Deputy CEO of CAVAL, has a conversation with Hugh Rundle. Hugh currently works at La Trobe University Library, has co-founded the GLAMR organisation 'newCardigan' and is involved in many other interesting projects. During their chat, they discuss the evolving landscape of community-based organisations within the se…

1
Library placements bridging the theory-practice gap? A conversation with Anita Dewi 27:00

1+ y ago27:00

27:00

In this episode, Anita Dewi, a lecturer and workplace learning coordinator at CSU, talks about the importance of workplace learning and library placements. She highlights the need for constant dialogue between academia and industry to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical experience for aspiring librarians. Anita also discusses…

1
Timetables Through Time: A conversation with Australian Timetable Association 25:39

1+ y ago25:39

25:39

In this pilot episode, guests David Hennell, Len Regan (Archivist) and Richard May from the Australian Timetable Association (ATA) take you on a journey through the world of timetables, where history comes alive in printed schedules. From the early days of aviation to the evolution of train networks, these experts reveal the hidden connections betw…

1
Squad Safe Child Protection in Cheering 44:41

4y ago44:41

44:41

Joanna Cuthbert is a coach, former program owner, and she also coached the Team England Adaptive Abilities team to Worlds in 2016 and 2017. She is currently the chair of the National Governing body for Cheer in England and she is the owner of Squad Safe. Check it out at www.squadsafe.orgBy Jill Markley

1
Ep15 - Mind Body Cheer 1:04:52

4y ago1:04:52

1:04:52

Jeff Benson is the owner of Mind Body Cheer, a sports performance company that empowers athletes to achieve excellence.By Jill Markley

1
Ep14 - Upcoming Shows 1:53

4y ago1:53

1:53

Upcoming shows: Mind Body Cheer, Joanna Cuthbert on athlete safety.By Jill Markley

1
Ep13 - Cheer District 41:47

4y ago41:47

41:47

Injuries are a huge concern in our sport. Cheer District has the solution to ensure cheerleaders can prepare themselves physically to perform at the highest level, and to minimize the chance of injuries at the same time.By Jill Markley

1
Ep12 - The American Cheerleader 25:33

4y ago25:33

25:33

Alexa Gibbons was a professional cheerleader for the Seattle Seahawks and has recently started a Youtube channel to help cheerleaders prepare for auditions. Her channel is called The American Cheerleader.By Jill Markley

1
EP11- Proactive Coaching - Rob Miller 28:07

4y ago28:07

28:07

Proactive Coaching is about establishing a culture and strong relationships among coaches, athletes, and parents. Rob Shares his wisdom on these topics.By Jill Markley

1
Ep10 - Summer Camp - Arvid Tenney 47:28

4y ago47:28

47:28

Arvid Tenney is the co-owner of Solid Ground Stunts. He and his wife, Brooke, run camps every year that are known for being particularly fun, and a great experience for the athletes.By Jill Markley

1
Ep9 - All About Tryouts - Nessa Warrington 38:59

4y ago38:59

38:59

Nessa Warrington has cheered since she was 3 years old and coached since she was in high school. She has a wealth of experience both as an athlete and as a coach. Jill talks to Nessa about tryouts. How should you prepare for tryouts and what can you do to succeed. They also talk about how coaches can conduct tryouts to improve their results..…

1
Ep8 - A Coaches Perspective - Ashley Coffey 32:57

4y ago32:57

32:57

Ashley is a very successful coach at Stingray Allstars. She is not only highly competitive but more importantly, she coaches in a positive way, to make cheerleading enjoyable for the athletes. 9qrp3bM9bnphKAM6BEC5By Jill Markley

1
Ep7 - Successful Fundraising - Ellen Richard 42:23

4y ago42:23

42:23

Many families and cheerleaders at all levels rely heavily on fundraising to make the sport affordable. Fundraising is very important and many programs couldn't exist without it. Ellen Richard is an expert at running fundraisers. She shares her insights and advice.By Jill Markley

1
Ep6 - Antwan Bethea 36:01

4y ago36:01

36:01

Antwan Bethea has taken his cheerleading career to a lot of places, doing just about everything you can do as a cheerleader. He started out on his high school team and continued through all stars and two college teams. He has also been an NBA cheerleader, performed in the stage version of Bring It On, and has even been an announcer at cheer comps. …

1
Ep5 - The Tumbling Coach - Javis Borgh 32:54

4y ago32:54

32:54

Javis Borgh has incredibly creative solutions for many problems related to cheering. He has invented the T3 air track so athletes can practice tumbling at home and he has started a YouTube channel to teach parents how to help their kids advance their tumbling skills.By Jill Markley

1
Ep4 - A Parents Point of View - Sherein Miceli 26:03

4y ago26:03

26:03

As a coach and gym owner it is important to be aware of, and sensitive to, the concerns of the parents. This week Jill gets a cheer parent's perspective on various cheerleading topics, and Jill provides answers to some of those questions a parent always wanted to know but didn't get a chance to ask.By Jill Markley

1
Ep1 - Choreography 101 - Shakeem Soanes 36:26

4y ago36:26

36:26

I worked with highly acclaimed choreographer Shakeem Soanes for the first time this season and was thrilled with the results. The routines were unique, with lots of movement and excellent use of the floor. Shakeem shares his insights. Subscribe to The Cheerleading Junkie today!By Jill Markley

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Placement Theory Podcasts

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