We’re setting world records, incrementally. A sports podcast through a pop culture lens. Culture critic and novelist Zan Romanoff and journalist and Scamfluencers senior producer Sarah Enni discuss pole vaulter Armand Duplantis’s incremental world records; Cardi and Stefon’s baby; Stephen A. Smith won’t shut up and you can’t make him; WNBA playoff update; stone skippers are cheating; MLB gestures toward maybe helping young people not blow out their arms, unveils plot to strongarm teams for broadcast rights; the Mariners are bound for the postseason and Dodger Clayton Kershaw is bound for retirement.

Links:

How much does Duplantis get for breaking world record? (BBC)

French pole vaulter reacts to the buzz around penis that ended his Olympic dream (Metro)

Cardi B Is Pregnant! Rapper Expecting Baby No. 4 — Her First with Boyfriend Stefon Diggs (People)

Inside Stephen A. Smith’s near-$40M-a-year bonanza as he launches into political prime time (The Athletic)

Cheating scandal rocks world stone skimming championships (BBC)

A Stone's Throw From Glory (Action Cookbook)

Stone Skipping Is a Lost Art. Kurt Steiner Wants the World to Find It. (Outside)

MLB To Adopt Scouting ‘Dead Period’ For Draft-Eligible Players (Baseball America)

MLB’s plan to take over local TV rights is a huge deal. Here’s why. (Washington Post)

A Major League Divorce (Vanity Fair)

The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness (Bookshop.org)