2026 has already brought with it plenty of exciting news for all of us here at Sounder at Heart. We’re launching a magazine! We’ll have a new studio space for our podcasts! And now there’s another podcast joining the fold, Backpost Runners.
Hosted by myself (Tim Ostlund-Foss) and Mark Kastner, Backpost Runners will aim to broaden the conversations happening and topics covered on the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. Whether you’re listening to the Cooler Guild, Lobbing Scorchers, Nos Audietis or any of the other audio content we put out, the focus tends to be on what’s happening on the field itself. The scope of that coverage may change, and forays into other areas certainly occur, but it’s left something of a gap in the conversation. The idea behind this new show is to help fill that gap.
Backpost Runners will be more focused on the culture of and around soccer in Seattle and the leagues and competitions that our teams compete in. The idea is to create something like an audio magazine – think NPR shows, but for soccer sickos – covering a wide range of topics and featuring a mix of familiar voices from the world of the Sounders as well as new ones from this community and beyond. Episodes will be a little less frequent than the other shows on the network – to start we’re shooting for one episode a month – and will include separate segments featuring less time-bound topics, deeply-researched conversations, and in time things like trivia and games in something that’s a little more “variety show” than your typical soccer podcast, all tied together by a broader theme for the episode.
Our debut episode is now available on the feed. To start things off we’ve got a pair of conversations on the topic of adversaries. The episode includes a lengthy discussion with acclaimed author and Seattle Sounders fan G. Willow Wilson on MLS villains, what makes a good one, and why they’re so important. We also have a dive into the world of MLS rivalries with the Guardian’s Jeff Reuter to help provide some context and insight ahead of the conference realignment looming in 2027. We’ve got a World Cup-focused episode in the works, and will have more to come as we get into the swing of things and find our own rhythm.
