Sports

Sports

episodes

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

Nicholas Thompson, "The Running Ground: A Father, a Son, and the Simplest of Sports" (Random House, 2025)

May 4, 2026

The Running Ground

Nicholas Thompson

In this episode, Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, and University of Puerto Rico professors Jeffrey Herlihy-Mera and Maritza Stanchich, discuss …

Shameem Black, "Flexible India: Yoga's Cultural and Political Tensions" (Columbia UP, 2023)

April 23, 2026

Flexible India

Shameem Black
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Yoga has offered the Indian state unprecedented opportunities for global, media-savvy political performance. Under Modi, it has promoted yoga tourism …

Adam Henig, "Baseball's Outcast: The Story of Ron LeFlore" (Bloomsbury, 2026)

April 20, 2026

Baseball's Outcast

Adam Henig
Hosted by Paul Knepper

When twenty-three-year-old Ron LeFlore played his first organized baseball game, it was in a yard at the State Prison of Southern Michigan where he wa…

Jerry West and Jonathan Coleman, "West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life" (Little, Brown and Co, 2011)

April 16, 2026

West by West

Jerry West and Jonathan Coleman
Hosted by Paul Knepper

He is one of basketball's towering figures: "Mr. Clutch," who mesmerized his opponents and fans. The coach who began the Lakers' resurgence in the 197…

Pavel Brunssen, "The Making of 'Jew Clubs': Performing Jewishness and Antisemitism in European Football and Fan Cultures" (Indiana UP, 2025)

April 9, 2026

The Making of "Jew Clubs"

Pavel Brunssen
Hosted by Keith Rathbone

Today we are joined by Pavel Brunssen, a Research Associate and Alfred Landecker Lecturer at the Research Center on Antigypsyism at Heidelberg Univers…

Jordan Treske, "Building the Milwaukee Bucks: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, and the Rapid Rise of an NBA Franchise, 1968-1975" (McFarland, 2025)

April 8, 2026

Building the Milwaukee Bucks

Jordan Treske
Hosted by Paul Knepper

In three short years, the Milwaukee Bucks went from merely an idea to NBA champions. What started as a quest by Marvin Fishman and eventually Wesley P…

Robert Parish with Jake Uitti, "The Chief: The Story of the Boston Celtics’ Most Enigmatic Icon" (Triumph, 2026)

April 2, 2026

The Chief

Robert Parish and Jake Uitti
Hosted by Paul Knepper

A memoir of basketball, dedication, and longevity from Boston Celtics legend Robert Parish Growing up in the heart of Louisiana, Robert Parish and hi…

Alan McDougall, "Dreams and Songs to Sing: A People's History of Liverpool FC from Shankly to Klopp" (Cambridge UP, 2025)

March 24, 2026

Dreams and Songs to Sing

Alan McDougall
Hosted by Keith Rathbone

Today we are joined by Alan McDougall, Professor of History at the University of Guelph, and the author of Dreams and Songs To Sing: A People’s Histor…

Michael James Roberts et al., "Roll and Flow: The Cultural Politics of Skateboarding and Surfing" (San Diego State UP, 2024)

March 5, 2026

Roll and Flow

Michael James Roberts, Kristin Lawler, and David P. Cline
Hosted by Michael Johnston

In Roll and Flow: The Cultural Politics of Skateboarding and Surfing (San Diego State UP, 2024), Michael James Roberts, Kristin Lawler, and David P.…

Ofer Idels, "Embodying the Revolution: The Hebrew Experience and the Globalization of Modern Sports in Interwar Palestine" (Rutgers UP, 2025)

March 4, 2026

Embodying the Revolution

Ofer Idels
Hosted by Marc Katz

Join Rabbi Marc Katz for a powerful and unexpected conversation with historian Ofer Idels author of Embodying the Revolution: The Hebrew Experience an…

Seth S. Tannenbaum, "Bleacher Seats and Luxury Suites: Democracy and Division at the Twentieth-Century Ballpark" (U Illinois Press, 2026)

March 3, 2026

Bleacher Seats and Luxury Suites

Seth S Tannenbaum
Hosted by Paul Knepper

Celebrated as a democratic space for all Americans, the major league ballpark in fact privileged the middle- and upper-class white male fan while taci…

David M. Henkin, "Out of the Ballpark: How to Think about Baseball" (Oxford UP, 2026)

February 18, 2026

Out of the Ballpark

David M. Henkin
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

All over the world, masses of people watch, follow, document, and obsess over baseball. Everything remarkable about the impact of baseball derives fro…

Brian Hallstoos, "Sol Butler: An Olympian's Odyssey through Jim Crow America" (U Illinois Press, 2026)

February 17, 2026

Sol Butler

Brian Hallstoos
Hosted by Craig Gill

A superstar in both football and track and field Sol Butler pioneered the parlaying of sports fame into business prosperity. In Sol Butler: An Olympia…

Claire Nicolas, "Une si longue course: Sport, genre, et citoyenneté au Ghana et en Côte d’Ivoire (années 1900-1970)" (Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2024)

February 11, 2026

Une si longue course

Claire Nicolas
Hosted by Keith Rathbone

Today we are joined by Claire Nicolas, a chercheuse du Fonds National Suisse at Basel University, a holder of a prestigious Ambizione Research Grant, …

Chris Washburn and Ron Chepesiuk, "Out of Bounds: From Broken NBA Dreams to Redemption" (WildBlue Press, 2025)

February 9, 2026

Out Of Bounds

Chris Washburn and Ron Chepesiuk
Hosted by Paul Knepper

Highly promising basketball player Chris Washburn was selected third overall in the 1986 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors. But a chance encounte…

Jonathan Wilson, "The Power and the Glory: The History of the World Cup" (Bold Type Books, 2025)

February 8, 2026

The Power and the Glory

Jonathan Wilson
Hosted by Andrew Pace

As the world prepares for the 2026 World Cup, Jonathan Wilson’s new book, The Power and the Glory: The History of the World Cup (Bold Type Books, 2025…

Todd Cleveland, "Africa and the Olympics: Winning Away from the Podium" (Ohio UP, 2024)

February 7, 2026

Africa and the Olympics

Todd Cleveland
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games (held in 2021 due to COVID-19), the fifty-four African countries that participated finished the tournament with the lo…

Thomas Aiello, "Return of the King: The Rebirth of Muhammad Ali and the Rise of Atlanta" (U Nebraska Press, 2025)

January 30, 2026

Return of the King

Thomas Aiello
Hosted by Craig Gill

Return of the King: The Rebirth of Muhammad Ali and the Rise of Atlanta (U Nebraska Press, 2025) tells the story of Muhammad Ali’s return to the ring …

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

January 24, 2026

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…

Sara Petrosillo, "Hawking Women: Falconry, Gender, and Control in Medieval Literary Culture" (Ohio State UP, 2023)

January 19, 2026

Hawking Women

Sara Petrosillo
Hosted by Jana Byars

Fantastic and informative talk with Sara Petrosillo of the University of Evansville about her new book, Hawking Women: Falconry, Gender, and Control i…