Sports

Sports

episodes

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

Gloria Sibson Ayob, "The Concept of Emotional Disorder" (Oxford UP, 2025)

June 2, 2026

The Concept of Emotional Disorder

Gloria Sibson Ayob

The Concept of Emotional Disorder (Oxford University Press, 2025) is a philosophical and academic exploration of how society determines whether emot…

Pedro Domingos, "The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World" (Basic Books, 2018)

May 30, 2026

The Master Algorithm

Pedro Domingos
Hosted by Gregory McNiff

In the world's top research labs and universities, the race is on to invent the ultimate learning algorithm: one capable of discovering any knowledge …

Paige Towers, "What They Stole: A Familicide Rooted in Intercountry Adoption" (U Iowa Press, 2026)

May 28, 2026

What They Stole

Paige Towers
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In 1955, following the devastation of the Korean War, Bertha and Harry Holt made headlines for adopting eight Korean children. Driven by evangelical c…

Barnaby B Barratt, "Free Association: A Contemporary Introduction" (Routledge, 2026)

May 28, 2026

Free Association

Barnaby B Barratt
Hosted by Philip Lance

In Free Association: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge, 2026), Barnaby Barratt presents a compelling and much-needed exploration of the method …

Hannah Shepherd, "The Narrowing Sea: Fukuoka, Pusan, and the Rise and Fall of an Imperial Region" (U California Press, 2025)

May 27, 2026

The Narrowing Sea

Hannah Shepherd
Hosted by Samee Siddiqui

In The Narrowing Sea: Fukuoka, Pusan, and the Rise and Fall of an Imperial Region (U California Press, 2025), Hannah Shepherd examines the shared hist…

David Faflik, "Segregation Games: Boston, Busing, and the Making of Red Sox Nation" (U Massachusetts Press, 2026)

May 27, 2026

Segregation Games

A cultural history of race, resistance, and representation in a city divided by politics and play When outfielder Bernie Carbo joined the Red Sox i…

What AI Means for Fiction: A Discussion with Literary Critic Mark McGurl

May 26, 2026

What AI Means for Fiction

Mark McGurl
Hosted by Paul Starobin

How is the tool of Artificial Intelligence shaping the writing of fiction? Is AI emerging as more than just a potentially handy aid to an author—and, …

Jeffrey Whyte, "The Birth of Psychological War: Propaganda, Espionage, and Military Violence from WWII to the Vietnam War" (Oxford UP, 2023)

May 25, 2026

The Birth of Psychological War

Jeffrey Whyte
Hosted by Michael Vann

Jeffrey Whyte's book The Birth of Psychological War: Propaganda, Espionage, and Military Violence from WWII to the Vietnam War (Oxford UP, 2023) explo…

Samuel Markind, "Music Between Your Ears: How Musical Engagement Powers the Human Brain" (JHU Press, 2025)

May 24, 2026

Music Between Your Ears

Samuel Markind
Hosted by Gregory McNiff

Explores the profound power of music to influence brain function and well-being. IPA 2026 Distinguished Favorite in the Music Category Why does musi…

Yosef Grodzinsky, "How Deeply Human Is Language?: Chomsky, the Brain, and the AI Fantasy" (MIT Press, 2026)

May 24, 2026

How Deeply Human Is Language?

Yosef Grodzinsky
Hosted by Mariam Olugbodi

How Deeply Human Is Language? Chomsky, the Brain, and the AI Fantasy (MIT Press, 2026) is Yosef Grodzinsky’s exploration of the criticality of the lin…

Tom Meschery, "The Mad Manchurian: From the Internment Camps of Tokyo to the Hardwood Courts of the NBA" (Coffeetown Press, 2025)

May 19, 2026

The Mad Manchurian

Tom Meschery
Hosted by Paul Knepper

I was born in Harbin, Manchuria, (later China), in 1938. At the outbreak of the Second World War my mother, sister and I, along with other non-combata…

Stuart Katz, "Still Here: A Story of Living with Suicidal Ideation" (Independent, 2026)

May 16, 2026

Still Here

Stuart Katz
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

Still Here is a powerful and unflinching novel about chronic suicidal ideation—not as a moment of crisis, but as a daily presence. Daniel is a husban…

Lara Sheehi, "From the Clinic to the Streets: Psychoanalysis for Revolutionary Futures" (Pluto Press, 2026)

May 16, 2026

From the Clinic to the Streets

Lara Sheehi
Hosted by Amanie Antar

Psychoanalysis is rising in popularity, but it’s not helping patients navigate the pressures and harms of modern capitalism. Instead, it continues to …

Gregg A. Brazinsky, "Cold War Comrades: An Emotional History of the Sino-North Korean Alliance" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

May 16, 2026

Cold War Comrades

Gregg A. Brazinsky
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In this major new interpretation of Sino-North Korean relations, Dr. Gregg A. Brazinsky argues that neither the PRC nor the DPRK would have survived a…

Fyodor Tertitskiy, "Pyongyang on the Brink: Sixteen Crises That Shaped North Korea" (Hurst, 2026)

May 14, 2026

Pyongyang on the Brink

Fyodor Tertitskiy
Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

North Korea has survived wars, sanctions, and isolation—to the point where it now seems that the continuation of the Kim dynasty, and a starkly divide…

Sally Maslansky, "A Brilliant Adaptation: How Dissociative Identity Disorder and the Power of the Therapeutic Bond Saved Me" (New Harbinger Publications, 2026)

May 13, 2026

A Brilliant Adaptation

Sally Maslansky
Hosted by Elizabeth Cronin

A Brilliant Adaptation: How Dissociative Identity Disorder and the Power of the Therapeutic Bond Saved Me (New Harbinger Publications, 2026) is a sear…

Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, "The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives Us and Divides Us" (Liveright Publishing, 2026)

May 12, 2026

The Mattering Instinct

Rebecca Newberger Goldstein
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

MacArthur Fellow and National Humanities Medalist Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of Plato at the Googleplex and The Mind-Body Problem, returns wi…

Andrea Gutiérrez-Glik, "Healing the Oppressed Body: A Therapeutic Guide for Radical Self-Liberation" (Penguin, 2026)

May 12, 2026

Healing the Oppressed Body

Andrea Gutiérrez-Glik
Hosted by Helena Vissing

An essential guide to healing from oppression-based trauma, for everyone left outside of mainstream conversations There are many books on trauma heali…

Brenda Boyle, "American War Stories" (Rutgers UP, 2021)

May 10, 2026

American War Stories

Brenda M. Boyle
Hosted by John Armenta

In American War Stories (Rutgers UP, 2021) Brenda Boyle examines how the story of war is told in the Unites States and how these stories of war work t…

Sharon Zukin, "Loft Living: Culture and Capital in Urban Change" (Rutgers UP, 2014)

May 8, 2026

Loft Living

Sharon Zukin
Hosted by Alex Hallbom

Since its initial publication, Loft Living: Culture and Capital in Urban Change (Rutgers UP, 2014) has become the classic analysis of the emergence of…