Chuck Klosterman: Appearances on Bill Simmons’ podcast ‘detrimental to the appreciation of my writing’

Chuck Klosterman is, as one of the most beloved recurring guests in the long history of The Bill Simmons Podcast, undeniably a Hall of Famer of the podcasting medium.

Conversations between Klosterman and Simmons show the best of what podcasting can be and originally was: Unstructured romps based entirely on the curiosities of the people on-mic.

Now, Klosterman is out with a book about football (aptly titled “Football”) and is hitting the podcast circuit hard. Simmons’ listeners no longer have exclusive access to the mind of one of America’s most unique cultural commentators.

In a recent appearance on Pablo Torre Finds Out (a show that not so long ago had some beef with Mr. Simmons himself), Klosterman revealed his belief that the popular episodes he did with Simmons over the years were actually working against him as a writer and author in one very particular way.

“I’ll tell you what, those podcasts I did in Simmons have been huge for my career and they have been detrimental to the appreciation of my writing,” Klosterman said. “Absolutely.”

Klosterman believes that as a result of his recurring role on Simmons’ podcast, people who read his books now go into them not only literally hearing his voice, but with a far broader understanding of who he is as a person and thinker beyond what is on the page.

“Those podcasts I did on Simmons have been huge for my career, and they have been detrimental to the appreciation of my writing. Absolutely.”

—@CKlosterman on Bill Simmons, Herman Melville and how the writers of yore “have the advantage” over writers today pic.twitter.com/3S9b2egBJj

— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) January 22, 2026

Klosterman, a former music critic who has now authored 12 books since his debut “Fargo Rock City,” said that readers who come fresh to an author hear the work in a sharp, unvarnished voice — both literally and figuratively. These days, though, book sales have dipped and traditional media is a less bankable promotional vehicle. So creatives like Klosterman must sit down for precisely the type of longform, meandering chats that Klosterman helped popularized with Simmons once upon a time.

As a result, Klosterman thinks he and other authors give the public far more opportunity to not like them. Klosterman referenced his recent, unpopular take on the Luka Dončić trade as one example.

“If you like a book, like when ‘Fargo Rock City’ came out, and no one had ever heard me speak, if they liked that book, the voice they’re hearing from that book is the best version of their own voice,” Klosterman said. “So it is like this weird sort of bargain, kind of, where in order to be a successful writer now, I have to do this. If I want to sell books, I have to go on these podcasts.”

Nobody who has heard Klosterman’s well-read-stoner philosophizing in the past or read his books will be surprised to hear how meta he is about his existence as a celebrity author these days. But it is hard to argue with his broader perspective about the way that modern media works against anonymity, or how developing a public persona works against people’s appreciation of the output of a creative person.

Klosterman even went so far as to express jealousy for the late writers of a bygone era, who were able to exist off the grid and allow their work to speak for itself.

“That will probably never happen to me again,” he said.

Without the open invitation from Simmons, it is also possible Klosterman never rose to this level of prominence. Klosterman also got some work out of it, helping to launch Grantland and hosting a podcast for The Ringer in 2020. That, though, is separate from Klosterman’s broader, more accurate point that the public is increasingly overexposed to the people who make things.