New Books Network Podcast

Sports September 23, 2023

Baseball

The Turbulent Midcentury Years

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 twentieth century, examining the sport on and off the …

Sports September 18, 2023

The One Hundred Most Important Players in Baseball History

Lincoln A. Mitchell

Hosted by Paul Knepper

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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 Important Players in Baseball …

Sports September 17, 2023

Shifting Currents

A World History of Swimming

Karen Eva Carr

Hosted by Keith Rathbone

Today we are joined by Dr. Karen Carr, Associate Professor Emerita in the Department of History at Portland State University and the author of Shifting Currents: A World History of …

Sports September 6, 2023

Daybreak at Chavez Ravine

Fernandomania and the Remaking of the Los Angeles Dodgers

Erik Sherman

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

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Fernando Valenzuela was only twenty years old when Tom Lasorda chose him as the Dodgers' opening-day starting pitcher in 1981. Born in the remote Mexican town of Etchohuaquila, the left-hander …

Sports September 5, 2023

Upon Further Review

The Greatest What-Ifs in Sports History

Mike Pesca

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

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No announcer ever proclaimed: "Up Rises Frazier!" "Havlicek commits the foul, trying to steal the ball!" or "The Giants Lose the Pennant, The Giants Lose The Pennant!" Such moments are …

Sports August 16, 2023

Earl the Twirl

My Life in Basketball

Earl Cureton and Jake Uitti

Hosted by Paul Knepper

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Today I talked to Earl Careton about his new book (co-authored with Jake Uitti), Earl the Twirl: My Life in Basketball (McFarland, 2023) Earl "The Twirl" Cureton was never a star player …

Sports July 30, 2023

The Imperial Gridiron

Manhood, Civilization, and Football at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School

Matthew Bentley and John D. Bloom

Hosted by Bennett Koerber

The Imperial Gridiron: Manhood, Civilization, and Football at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School (University of Nebraska Press, 2022) examines the competing versions of manhood at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School …

African American Studies July 2, 2023

Isaac Murphy

The Rise and Fall of a Black Jockey

Katherine C. Mooney

Hosted by Omari Averette-Phillips

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Isaac Murphy, born enslaved in 1861, still reigns as one of the greatest jockeys in American history. Black jockeys like Murphy were at the top of the most popular sport …

MIT Press Podcast June 25, 2023

Surf Craft

Design and the Culture of Board Riding

Richard Kenvin

Hosted by MIT Press

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Surfboards were once made of wood and shaped by hand, objects of both cultural and recreational significance. Today most surfboards are mass-produced with fiberglass and a stew of petrochemicals, moving …

Sports June 12, 2023

A History of Competitive Gaming

Zhouxiang Lu

Hosted by Shu Wan

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Competitive gaming, or esports - referring to competitive tournaments of video games among both casual gamers and professional players - began in the early 1970s with small competitions like the …

Sports June 11, 2023

Baseball's Endangered Species

Inside the Craft of Scouting by Those Who Lived It

Lee Lowenfish

Hosted by Paul Knepper

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Scouting has been called pro baseball’s personalized way of renewing itself from year to year and a pathway to the game’s past. It takes a very special person to be …

Sports June 7, 2023

Mallparks

Baseball Stadiums and the Culture of Consumption

Michael T. Friedman

Hosted by Emilio Weber

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In Mallparks: Baseball Stadiums and the Culture of Consumption (Cornell UP, 2023), Michael T. Friedman observes that as cathedrals represented power relations in medieval towns and skyscrapers epitomized those within …

MIT Press Podcast June 6, 2023

How are Sports Teams Using Data Science?

Liberty Vittert, Xiao-Li Meng, Brian Macdonald, and Kirk Goldsberry

Hosted by MIT Press

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In this episode, the journal’s Features Editor Liberty Vittert and Editor in Chief Xiao-Li Meng dig into the data behind sports with two experts: Brian Macdonald, sports analytics at Yale …

Military History May 20, 2023

Dagger Fencing

The Italian School

Carlo Parisi

Hosted by Boris Karpa

Today, fighting with dagger versus dagger, or with knife versus knife, is not a common scenario that people might expect to face. However, it was more common in the Middle …

Sports May 19, 2023

The Business of College Sports

The Impact of NIL on NCAA Athletes

Richard Kent

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

In 2021, the NCAA began allowing student-athletes to receive compensation. NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) rule changes give student-athletes the right to work with companies in advertising campaigns, participate in …

Recall This Book May 4, 2023

Journalistic Collaboration (JP)

A Conversation Steve Fainaru and Mark Fainaru-Wada

Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru

Hosted by Elizabeth Ferry and John Plotz

Steve Fainaru and his brother Mark Fainaru-Wada wrote a bestselling and award-winning book (and accompanying PBS documentary series) about the NFL coverup of concussion trauma, League of Denial. This conversation …

Education April 29, 2023

The Art of Cycling

Philosophy, Meaning, and a Life on Two Wheels

James Hibbard

Hosted by Thomas Discenna

Interweaving a deeply personal narrative of elite-level cycling and mental health struggles with an evocative history of Western philosophy from Plato to the Existentialists, The Art of Cycling: Philosophy, Meaning …

Sports April 26, 2023

Roy White

From Compton to the Bronx

Paul R. Semendinger

Hosted by Paul Knepper

Roy White played on the New York Yankees from 1965 through the 1979 season. Roy grew up on the tough streets of Compton and created a successful all-star baseball career …

American South April 21, 2023

Memphis Hoops

Race and Basketball in the Bluff City, 1968-1997

Keith Brian Wood

Hosted by Troy Hallsell

Memphis Hoops: Race and Basketball in the Bluff City, 1968-1997 (U Tennessee Press, 2021) tells the story of basketball in Tennessee’s southwestern-most metropolis following the 1968 assassination of Marin Luther King Jr …

Sports April 14, 2023

Beyond the Black Power Salute

Athlete Activism in an Era of Change

Gregory J. Kaliss

Hosted by Bennett Koerber

Unequal opportunity sparked Jim Brown's endeavors to encourage Black development while Billie Jean King fought so that women tennis players could earn more money and enjoy greater freedom. Gregory J …