Ex-ESPN star Linda Cohn is back , with hotter takes than youve ever heard from her before

Meet the new Linda Cohn.Same as the old Linda Cohn.Only now, the pioneering sports broadcaster who delivered straight sports news at ESPN for 34 years, has shed her corporate yoke.

She is embracing radical candor with her recently launched eponymous YouTube show.“For the first time the gloves are off,” Cohn told me of her move into independent opinion journalism.“For the first time, I can speak freely on how I was feeling about certain subjects involving sports.”And boy, had she stored up plenty to say.

Cohn — who anchored SportsCenter and did play by play for the WNBA — retired from the network in June and wasted little time starting her second act.In late July, the 66-year-old started the twice weekly (Tuesdays and Thursdays) Linda Cohn show weighing in on the biggest sports stories, including WNBA controversies (pick one), badly behaved influencers at the US Open, Arch Manning laughing at the AI video of Holly Rowe and ESPN’s round of layoffs this summer.Three weeks ago, she added an NFL-centric Sunday show to the mix and has quickly amassed over 36,000 subscribers.She also recently signed a deal with Bleav podcast network, which will expand her footprint to other platforms like Spotify and Apple.The response to her new chapter been “very empowering” and affirming for the Long Island native, who over her career in traditional media, was “trained in being the good girl and measured in what I said.

It’s been ingrained in me for decades.”During her tenure, Cohn showed a lot more self-restraint than some of her colleagues, who used their airtime to lecture viewers on their pet leftist causes.Now there’s no suit hovering over her shoulder, telling her to delete a Tweet or soften her language.And she’s immediately took to her new freedom, shining a critical light on her old network.The start of her show coincided with industry shaking layoffs at ESPN, which included beloved mainstays like Karl Ravech and David Lloyd.

Cohn didn’t hold b...