Podcasts about Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

A shoving match with the Washington Wizards just before halftime, a camera knocked loose, four players ejected: that night turns up in more than one show here, once as a game report and once as a running joke. Nearly all the listening here is Oklahoma City Thunder basketball, argued by people who know the rotation down to the 12th man. The exception is the Oklahoma City bombing, heard through the trial of Timothy McVeigh. The city's neighborhoods, food and politics do not come through.

What Oklahoma City is

Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of Oklahoma, with a metro population well over a million. It grew on cattle and oil and has been home to the NBA's Thunder since 2008. On April 19, 1995, a truck bomb destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building downtown and killed 168 people; the site is now a national memorial.

The Thunder, argued different ways

The Thunder shows chase the same stories, and Lu Dort's trade to Atlanta runs through the offseason titles of most of them. What separates them is how they argue.

Topic: Thunder - an OKC Thunder Podcast makes a loud claim, then chases it through the box score. A March title reads "Episode 753: SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER IS THE BEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD", and the clips back it with a 35-9-15 line and no turnovers, which the show says only LeBron James has matched. One host rates Gilgeous-Alexander's in-and-out in transition "one of the top five most unguardable transition moves in the game of basketball right now".

The Wizards fight is where the difference is plainest. The Uncontested OKC Thunder Podcast is a panel that talks over itself, drifts into side comments and snaps back to the game; its clip dwells on a kid who never moved while players fought in his lap, the footage one of them says they should have been reviewing. Locked On Thunder - Daily Podcast On The Oklahoma City Thunder, hosted by Rylan Stiles, recounts the same game from Chet Holmgren's fourth quarter to the skirmish and says he is fine with all the ejections. Elsewhere Stiles picks the Thunder in five over the Suns while Ben Garcia takes Phoenix in seven.

Down to Dunk OKC Thunder Podcast keeps coming back to the depth chart. In an episode on a 111-100 win over the Knicks, with Fred Katz as guest, the talk turns to how many good players the Thunder carry: Aaron Wiggins is the 12th man and would play for any playoff team. The same episode makes room for Mitchell Robinson ordering a Sharpie through DoorDash to sign a toenail. Its "Remembering Dort" clip traces Dort from seven minutes in 2019 to 50 playoff threes and a six-for-12 Game 7.

The bombing trial

Timothy McVeigh vs. The USA trades the arena for a courtroom. Its titles cover McVeigh's background, the defense case and the verdict; the clips come from its interviews. Christopher Tritico, named in an episode title as McVeigh's trial lawyer, describes forcing a sheriff to admit he drove over the only useful tire marks at McGovern's farm. He remembers McVeigh as lighthearted through the trial, writing notes during cross-examinations that reached Tritico through another lawyer, until "the day they found him guilty, his entire attitude changed." The interview with biographer Lou Michel supplies a clip recounting McVeigh calling the deaths of 19 children collateral damage in his war against the government.

Where to start

• For the Gilgeous-Alexander argument: Topic: Thunder - an OKC Thunder Podcast, "Episode 753: SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER IS THE BEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD".
• For a looser room: The Uncontested OKC Thunder Podcast on the Wizards fight.
• For Lu Dort's Thunder years: Down to Dunk OKC Thunder Podcast, "Remembering Dort".
• For the city's history: Timothy McVeigh vs. The USA, through the Christopher Tritico interview.

The Oklahoma City feed on this page plays clips from these shows.