Introducing the Algorithmically Incorrect Hockey Podcast with Sean Shapiro

Or AI Hockey, for short

I’ve worked at a lot of different places over the years, and one thing all of them had in common, whatever the work, was that the work was far more enjoyable when I was doing it alongside good people.

That was true when I was working campus safety shifts in college—I’m still close friends with one of my coworkers from that job—and it was even true when I was working part-time at a grocery store up in Seattle for a couple of years. Good people can make almost anything tolerable, and often enjoyable.

That’s why it gives me great pleasure to announce Algorithmically Incorrect Hockey, or “AI Hockey” for short: a weekly podcast I’m co-hosting with my good friend, Sean Shapiro.

Artwork by @SportsToons

Algorithmically Incorrect Hockey will air live on YouTube and be simulcasted onto the video platforms for both Shap Shots and Stars Thoughts, starting at 1:30 CT/2:30 ET each Wednesday. The show will also be available as an audio podcast on your preferred podcast platform, should you wish to spare yourself my visage.

While we obviously will have occasion to discuss the Stars and Red Wings—the two teams we’re closest to—Algorithmically Incorrect Hockey¹ isn’t a team-specific show. Instead, we’ll focus on unique discussions and worthwhile stories from around the hockey world. As with our Substacks, the idea here is to build a podcast that we ourselves would want to listen to.

Sean and I have put together a preview you can watch to better explain the idea, as well as to demonstrate why I shouldn’t record video in front of a window—something I knew cognitively, but that I now know experientially.

At its core, this is a passion project. It’s not a business venture (unless you’re looking to make it one through sponsorship opportunities, in which case we’re happy to be threatened with a good time). Instead, it’s more of a natural way to build something we both care about without having to make all the compromises that the new sports media landscape so often requires. By not tethering the show to one team or the main hockey news cycle, we’ll have the freedom to dive into stories and bring on guests that we think are worth hearing from and about, whether that conversation pleases the algorithm or not.

I should add that this won’t be affecting any of my time spent at Stars Thoughts or any of my usual hits on Spits and Suds. It’s something new that Sean and I wanted to do, so we’re gonna do it and see what happens.

Our first show is Wednesday (tomorrow). We’ve got two great guests lined up, and it should be a lot of fun. I hope you check it out at 1:30pm Central tomorrow.

1. Mellifluous, isn’t it?