Last month saw the announcement of an upcoming three-times-a-week Know Mercy With Stephen A. Smith podcast from Smith and Audacy’s Cadence13 studio, with that podcast having famed ESPN commentator Smith offer “unfiltered insights and perspectives on the day’s headlines, including politics, entertainment, social issues, criminal justice, and business.” The podcast officially launches Monday, Sept. 26, and ahead of that, Cadence13 has released a 2:36 trailer for it that has Smith explaining what’s ahead in his own words.
The trailer can be found here, and it certainly gives a sense of what this podcast has in mind. The opening clips include Smith saying “This is about truth-telling! I have no agenda. I’m not beyond having conversations. Matter of fact, I live for it. There’s never a situation that I’m not going to have questions about,” and the discussion he goes into around the 1:10 mark is particularly notable:
“Let’s understand something off the bat right now. This is not a sports podcast, this is one of the things I’ve been aching to do for many, many years in my career. Although I love sports, I’ve been attached to sports, I have a lot of interests, particularly in the world of politics. Things that are going on in the world on an everyday basis are things that I pay attention to religiously. This is my very own podcast, 100 percent owned by me. So for those of you out there ready to put up your cautionary signs or what have you, don’t look anywhere else but who you’re listening to right now.”
“You never know what I’m going to bring. This is about a conversation, this is about me expressing a lot of things that I wanted to touch on that I have a passion about. I’m all about helping to make the world a better place, but in order to do that, you’ve got to call it like you see it. You can’t sugarcoat stuff all the time, you can’t cut corners, you can’t circumvent issues and what have you and be afraid about addressing the things that need to be addressed. If you try to predict where I’m going to come from, that’s a mistake. And I’m just letting you all know I’m coming at you three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, you can book it.”
A Cadence13 release notes that already-booked guests for Know Mercy include Snoop Dogg, Sean Hannity, LL COOL J, Sue Bird, and Chris Cuomo. That’s certainly an interesting guest lineup from across the political and entertainment world, and that perhaps ties into Smith’s comments about “You never know what I’m going to bring” and “If you try to predict where I’m going to come from, that will be a mistake.” At the least, it should be notable to see how he interacts with that lineup. Here’s more on the podcast from that release:
Know Mercy will feature regular segments including “Just a Thought,” with Smith opening each episode with a personal anecdote that shaped his unique voice and perspective. Throughout the episodes, his famed career and layered life experiences will frame a central theme of breaking barriers, helping establish a new set of ground rules for knowing when to show mercy. At the end of each episode, Smith will offer his signature closing remarks in the “Bottom Line” segment.
“Ecstatic doesn’t begin to describe how I feel about the opportunity to do this Podcast. My Podcast. My content. Completely within my control, and extending far beyond the world of sports. A podcast with no limitations is a dream come true after years of limiting myself to one genre. I’m excited for what the future holds — primarily because I’m not aware of how far it may take me,” said Stephen A. Smith. “There’s something to be said about finding out exactly how far that could potentially be. It’s a ride I’ve been waiting for, I can’t wait to see who’ll join me, and I’m excited to do it with Cadence13.”
“We’re beyond thrilled that Stephen is bringing his incomparable talents and inimitable voice, energy, and style to the podcasting space for the first time,” said Chris Corcoran, Chief Content Officer and Founding Partner, Cadence13. “‘Know Mercy’ will be a must-listen for millions of fans eager to hear what’s on Stephen’s mind as well as his wide-ranging conversations with high profile guests from all walks of life.”
The show’s Apple Podcasts page is here, with the first full episode set to drop on Monday, Sept. 26.
[Photo supplied by Cadence13]
