Jemele Hill’s Memoir

Sports Media with Richard Deitsch

Episode 250 of the Sports Media Podcast features Jemele Hill, a contributing writer for the Atlantic, the host of “Jemele Hill is Unbothered” on Spotify, and the author of “Uphill: A Memoir,” which published on Oct. 25. In this podcast Hill discusses why she wanted to write a book about her life, especially one so personal and raw; a childhood where addiction was all around her; the pain and catharsis of writing so intimately about her mother; how being around addiction impacted her choices as an adult; her reasons for having an abortion and why she wanted readers to know about it; her default to pouring all of her energy into her career; being the only Black female sports columnist out of 305 daily newspapers in the country; joining ESPN in November 2006; the incorrect reporting of her initial ESPN salary and how that impacted people’s reaction to her; the voicemail Chris Berman left for her which prompted meetings with management; navigating ESPN politically; her tweets about Donald Trump; being suspended for two weeks without pay after tweeting about boycotting the NFL’s advertisers; having the President of the United States commenting about her and ESPN’s lack of response; when she knew it was over at ESPN; how much she was paid to do SportsCenter; how she approached her exit from ESPN; buying her mother a Mercedes for her Mom’s 60th birthday; briefly being considered for Skip Bayless’s permanent debate partner, which ultimately went to Stephen A. Smith; how ESPN can be like Game of Thrones; where her focus lies today and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and more.

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