Longshot: Payback

May 24 2022 25 ep. 27 mins 479
Longshot: Payback Podcast artwork

In 2019, U.S. women’s national soccer team striker Jessica McDonald capped a World Cup journey few could have imagined. A teen runaway who became a single mom, McDonald tells The Charlotte Observer and Raleigh News & Observer for the first time how she rose from a broken home in Phoenix to the pinnacle of sports in Lyon, France — and how today, she’s using her voice to battle systemic inequalities in soccer, including as part of the U.S. women’s national team’s recent settlement in their landmark fight for equal pay. Hosted by Alex Andrejev. 

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Part 10 Bonus: Dan Lust

May 24 2022 17 mins  
Shortly after the publication of Payback, Part 10, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced it had ratified groundbreaking collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) with both the U.S. men’s and women’s national teams, guaranteeing the players equal pay—the resolution of a decades-long fight by Jessica McDonald the women’s team for gender equality. In this extended

Part 10: Pay Up

May 17 2022 46 mins  
In late 2020, something unusual happens: Jessica McDonald and her USWNT teammates lose—this time in court, as the players’ lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation suffers a major setback. Yet, with a new president of U.S. Soccer on their side, the groundwork is laid for a breakthrough, including equal payments for the men's and women's teams. At the same time, the Na

Part 9 Bonus: Dr. Leeja Carter

May 12 2022 20 mins  
As listeners heard in Part 9 of Payback, the role of athletes acting as advocates has never been more prevalent—or more polarizing. That’s particularly true for women athletes of color. In this extended interview, Alex Andrejev speaks with Dr. Leeja Carter, an associate professor of exercise psychology at Temple University, about the intersection of racism, sexism and c

Part 9: Nasty Women

May 10 2022 33 mins  
In early 2019, heated internal negotiations explode into public view as 28 USWNT players, including Jessica McDonald, file a landmark lawsuit against U.S. Soccer for “institutionalized gender discrimination.” In that lawsuit, the players argue they play more games and win more often than the U.S. men’s team, yet still receive less pay from the federation; U.S. Soc

Part 8: My Other Half

May 03 2022 32 mins  
The unlikeliest of U.S. Women’s National Team journeys comes full circle in a doctor’s office. There, on a phone call during a routine checkup for her reconstructed knee, 31-year-old Jessica McDonald gets the call she’s waited for her entire life. But realizing her global soccer ambitions will mean once again contending with home life as a single mom. And here in

Part 7: Smooth as Butter

Apr 26 2022 29 mins  
After her first minutes with the U.S. Women’s National Team, Jessica McDonald returns to the NWSL, and is once again on the move. This time, it’s her entire team, as the Western New York Flash become the North Carolina Courage. McDonald is only paid roughly $13,000 per season; but she flourishes back in the Triangle, where she’d once attended college, thanks to a

Part 6 Bonus: Dr. Tanya Prewitt-White

Apr 21 2022 20 mins  
Content warning: This episode contains adult language and adult themes, including sexual coercion and emotional abuse. If you or anyone you know is facing these issues, help is available through RAINN, the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization. Visit RAINN.org, or call their hotline: 800-656-HOPE. As listeners heard in Part 6 of Payback, the women’s sports world

Part 6: Hanging by a Thread

Apr 19 2022 39 mins  
Content warning: This episode contains adult language and adult themes, including sexual coercion and emotional abuse. If you or anyone you know is facing these issues, help is available through RAINN, the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization. Visit RAINN.org, or call their hotline: 800-656-HOPE. In 2013, Jessica McDonald makes it to the National Women’s Soccer

Part 5: The Tiny Prophet

Apr 12 2022 31 mins  
In 2010, Jessica McDonald is drafted by the Chicago Red Stars of WPS, the women’s professional soccer league. The WPS acts as a feeder system for the larger U.S. national team, and McDonald is poised to become the fresh blood the USWNT needs. But in her first pro start, McDonald tears the patellar tendon in her left knee. The best-case prognosis: an 18-month-long recover

Part 4: Tough as Nails

Apr 05 2022 34 mins  
Following the fateful encounter with her mother, Jessica McDonald runs away from home. Soon, her grades flounder, leaving her ineligible for Division I athletics at all. McDonald's road to Chapel Hill detours through a nearby junior college in Phoenix, where she improves her GPA — and rewrites the juco record books as the most decorated female athlete in Phoenix College histo