Sports

Sports

episodes

Interviews with athletes and scholars of sports about their new books.

Piotr Florczyk, "Swimming Pool" (Bloombury, 2024)

March 12, 2024

Swimming Pool

Piotr Florczyk
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

This instalment of the Object Lessons series focuses on the Swimming Pool (Bloomsbury, 2024). The book explores the pool as a place where humans seek…

Ben Rothenberg, "Naomi Osaka: Her Journey to Finding Her Power and Her Voice" (Dutton, 2024)

March 7, 2024

Naomi Osaka

Ben Rothenberg
Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

In July 2021, Naomi Osaka—world number 1 women’s tennis player—lit the Olympic Cauldron at the Tokyo Olympic Games. The half-Japanese, half-American, …

Alex Squadron, "Life in the G: Minor League Basketball and the Relentless Pursuit of the NBA" (U Nebraska Press, 2023)

February 5, 2024

Life in the G

Alex Squadron
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Welcome to the G League--the official minor league of the National Basketball Association. Life in the G: Minor League Basketball and the Relentless P…

Bill Meiners, "Sport Literate" and "Game: A Sport Literate Anthology" (2023)

January 23, 2024

Sport Literate and Game

William Meiners
Hosted by Dan Hill

William Meiners is a writer, editor, and teacher living in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. He created Sport Literate as a graduate student at Columbia Colle…

Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, "Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America's Exercise Obsession" (U Chicago Press, 2023)

January 20, 2024

Fit Nation

Natalia Mehlman Petrzela
Hosted by Keith Rathbone

Today we are joined by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Associate Professor of History at The New School, and author of Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of Am…

Rich Cohen, "When the Game Was War: The NBA's Greatest Season" (Random House, 2023)

January 13, 2024

When the Game Was War

Rich Cohen
Hosted by Paul Knepper

Four historic teams. Four legendary players. One unforgettable season. The 1980s were a transformative decade for the NBA. Since its founding in 1946…

Michelle J. Manno, "Denied: Women, Sports, and the Contradictions of Identity" (NYU Press, 2023)

December 23, 2023

Denied

Michelle J. Manno
Hosted by Jane Scimeca

Women’s college basketball is big business—top teams bring in millions of dollars in revenue for their schools. Women’s NCAA games are broadcast regul…

Lindsay Sarah Krasnoff, "Basketball Empire: France and the Making of a Global NBA and WNBA" (Bloomsbury, 2023)

December 19, 2023

Basketball Empire

Lindsay Sarah Krasnoff
Hosted by Keith Rathbone

Today we are joined by Dr. Lindsay Krasnoff, who is an historian, specializing in global sport, communications and diplomacy. She is also the Director…

David Steele, "It Was Always a Choice: Picking Up the Baton of Athlete Activism" (Temple UP, 2022)

December 12, 2023

It Was Always a Choice

David Steele
Hosted by Keith Rathbone

Today we are joined by the sports journalist David Steele, who has written for the Sporting News, AOL, the Baltimore Sun and the San Francisco Chronic…

Jeffrey S. Gurock, "Marty Glickman: The Life of an American Jewish Sports Legend" (NYU Press, 2023)

December 9, 2023

Marty Glickman

Jeffrey S. Gurock
Hosted by Paul Knepper

For close to half a century after World War II, Marty Glickman was the voice of New York sports. His distinctive style of broadcasting, on television …

Climbing the Mountains of Modernity

December 5, 2023

Climbing the Mountains of Modernity

Hosted by Zachary Davis

We all know many stories about how modernity came about. But what does it mean to be “modern”? This episode comes at the question through the test cas…

Stephanie Convery, "After the Count: The Death of Davey Browne" (Penguin Australia, 2020)

November 27, 2023

After the Count

Stephanie Convery
Hosted by Keith Rathbone

Today we are joined by Stephanie Convery, inequality editor at Guardian Australia, and author of After the Count: The Death of Davey Browne (Penguin A…

J. Daniel, "Suds Series: Baseball, Beer Wars, and the Summer of '82" (U Missouri Press, 2023)

November 26, 2023

Suds Series

J. Daniel
Hosted by Rob Heaton

On this episode, J. Daniel takes readers back more than forty years, telling a story that is part baseball history, part urban history, and part U.S. …

Jeffrey Scholes, "Christianity, Race, and Sport" (Routledge, 2021)

November 14, 2023

Christianity, Race, and Sport

Jeffrey Scholes
Hosted by Jacob Barrett
Listen:

This book provides a rigorously researched introduction to the relationship between Christianity, race, and sport in the United States. Christianity, …

Shay Rabineau, "Walking the Land: A History of Israeli Hiking Trails" (Indiana UP, 2023)

November 12, 2023

Walking the Land

Shay Rabineau

Israel has one of the most extensive and highly developed hiking trail systems of any country in the world. Millions of hikers use the trails every ye…

Corry Cropper and Seth Whidden, "Velocipedomania: A Cultural History of the Velocipede in France" (Bucknell UP, 2022)

October 21, 2023

Velocipedomania

Corry Cropper and Seth Whidden
Hosted by Keith Rathbone

Today we are joined by Corry Cropper, a Professor of French at Brigham Young University, and one of two authors, alongside Seth Whidden, of Velocipedo…

Nick Baumgardner and Mark Snyder, "Mountaintop: The Inside Story of Michigan's 1997 National Title Climb" (Printopya, 2023)

October 6, 2023

Mountaintop

Nick Baumgardner and Mark Snyder
Hosted by Paul Knepper
Listen:

When the 1997 college football season began, the once-mighty Michigan Wolverines were dismissed nationally as a relic of a bygone era. Michigan had po…

James N. Druckman and Elizabeth A. Sharrow, "Equality Unfulfilled: How Title IX's Policy Design Undermines Change to College Sports" (Cambridge UP, 2023)

October 5, 2023

Equality Unfulfilled

James N. Druckman and Elizabeth A. Sharrow
Hosted by Kelly McFall
Listen:

The year 1972 is often hailed as an inflection point in the evolution of women's rights. Congress passed Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972,…

Steven P. Gietschier, "Baseball: The Turbulent Midcentury Years" (U Nebraska Press, 2023)

September 23, 2023

Baseball

Steven P. Gietschier
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Baseball: The Turbulent Midcentury Years (University of Nebraska Press, 2023) explores the history of organized baseball during the middle of the twen…

Lincoln A. Mitchell, "The One Hundred Most Important Players in Baseball History" (Artemesia Publishing, 2023)

September 18, 2023

The One Hundred Most Important Players in Baseball History

Lincoln A. Mitchell
Hosted by Paul Knepper
Listen:

Baseball lore and history is filled with many valuable players, and not all of them are the Hall of Famers you know. In The One Hundred Most Importan…