It’s a new era for the U.S. women’s national team, and it’s also a new era for “Full Time with Meg Linehan“.
It’s a really exciting time for us here at The Athletic as a lot of planning sessions and behind-the-scenes work is all starting to come together, culminating in the relaunch of our weekly women’s soccer podcast, “Full Time with Meg Linehan“. We can finally share everything we’re doing to continue to provide the best coverage you expect from us.
If you’re brand new to the show — welcome! It’s worth digging into the history here for a second if you’re new to the podcast or maybe even our women’s soccer coverage in general. The name “Full Time” is a fun soccer reference to the end of a game, but it’s also a call-out to the fact that it’s only recently become possible in the past few years to be a full-time women’s soccer writer. For years, I paid out of pocket to cover the USWNT, the NWSL (and the leagues that existed before that — shout out to that summer of WPSL Elite) and women’s soccer in general. Times have definitely changed, and we’ve seen a massive explosion in the growth of women’s sports over the past couple of years. And we’re growing too.
You may already be familiar with the podcast we launched in 2020, having recorded almost 150 episodes, but the one we’re bringing back to you this week is bigger and better than ever. I know that’s a cliche, but in this case, I firmly believe it’s true. We’ll have new episodes for you every Thursday (and maybe more during the Olympics too, since I’ll be on the ground in France for the tournament). And of course, it’s always free to listen and available wherever you get your podcasts.
Tamerra Griffin joins me as a co-host; you might already know her from her stories here at The Athletic. She’s a former foreign correspondent and has written for ESPN, USA Today and other outlets. She joined us for the 2023 World Cup and produced some of my favorite stories from the tournament, whether she was covering Zambia, Colombia, or all the forms of self-expression from players.
Emily Olsen serves as executive producer, in addition to being the voice that brings you the “Full Time” newsletter every Monday, and we’ve brought in Theo Lloyd-Hughes as our dedicated producer.
There’s still a lot of room for improvement when it comes to coverage of the sport. So in terms of the show itself, we’re taking the same big-picture approach that the podcast has always had — finding the best stories and interviews on a weekly basis, bringing you in-depth reporting and analysis, and digging into the context and culture of women’s soccer here in the States. We’ll have a global eye too — after all, the game’s more global than ever — but there will be plenty of NWSL and USWNT discussion to make sure you’re ready to watch all the games over the weekend.
We’re going to make sure you’re fully prepared for the Olympics, from following along at Emma Hayes’s first games in charge of the USWNT to what’s happening on the ground in Nice, Marseille, and wherever else the team might play as the tournament builds to the finale in Paris.
New episodes will be released first thing on Thursday mornings, so whether you’re listening from home, your commute, the office (we won’t tell anyone), or wherever else, you’ll be covered ahead of the NWSL matches on the weekend too. Our first episode is out now, featuring a breakdown of Hayes’ first USWNT roster as well as special guests Duda Pavão, a content creator who was in Thailand as part of Brazil’s winning 2027 Women’s World Cup bid, and Kansas City Current and Brazilian forward Debinha.
If you want to get in touch with questions for us to tackle on the show, you can reach out directly by emailing fulltime@theathletic.com. You can also find Tamerra and I on social media — I’m at @itsmeglinehan on X and Instagram, and Tamerra is @tamerra_nikol on X and Instagram.
You can listen and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or through The Athletic itself on the web and in the app. Our existing YouTube channel is now solely dedicated to “Full Time”.
We’ll be posting clips from each episode across social media too — and we’ve got new feeds on Instagram and TikTok so you can keep up with the show and the latest news. Soon, we’ll have even more women’s soccer videos coming your way.
Of course, if you want more episodes to listen to and you’re a fan of European women’s football, then make sure you’re subscribed to our sister show Full Time Europe. The show takes you inside the biggest stories from European women’s football, including the WSL, UEFA Women’s Champions League, and Spain’s Liga F.
If you haven’t subscribed yet, our Full Time newsletter led by Emily is delivered free to your inbox every week on Mondays, helping you catch up on what is always a wild weekend of soccer, our biggest stories, and more. You can subscribe here.
Thanks for subscribing, listening, reading and everything else you do to support our coverage of women’s soccer at The Athletic. We’ll see you soon!
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