New Books Network Podcast

Sports March 20, 2023

Unsung

Not All Heroes Wear Kits

Alexis James

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Unsung: Not all Heroes Wear Kits (Pitch Publishing, 2022) by Alexis James introduces the sports stars you don't know, telling the stories you can't miss. It shines a rare spotlight …

Japanese Studies March 18, 2023

Women and Martial Art in Japan

Kate Sylvester

Hosted by Nathan Hopson

Kate Sylvester’s Women and Martial Art in Japan (Routledge 2023) examines sport, gender, and society in Japan through the author’s extensive experience and ethnographic research as a kendo practitioner both …

Sports March 11, 2023

Black Ball

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the Generation That Saved the Soul of the NBA

Theresa Runstedtler

Hosted by Paul Knepper

Against a backdrop of ongoing resistance to racial desegregation and strident calls for Black Power, the NBA in the 1970s embodied the nation’s imagined descent into disorder. A new generation …

Sports March 3, 2023

Dixieball

Race and Professional Basketball in the Deep South, 1947-1979

Thomas Aiello

Hosted by Bennett Koerber

In Dixieball: Race and Professional Basketball in the Deep South, 1947-1979 (U Tennessee Press, 2019), Thomas Aiello considers the cultural function of professional basketball in the Deep South between 1947 and …

Sports February 25, 2023

The Sounds of Spectators at Football

Nicolai Jørgensgaard Graakjær

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

The sounds of spectators at football (soccer) are often highlighted – by spectators, tourists, commentators, journalists, scholars, media producers, etc. – as crucial for the experience of football. These sounds …

In Conversation: An OUP Podcast February 24, 2023

Serving Herself

The Life and Times of Althea Gibson

Ashley Brown

Hosted by Mark Klobas

From her start playing paddle tennis on the streets of Harlem as a young teenager to her eleven Grand Slam tennis wins to her professional golf career, Althea Gibson became …

Canadian Studies February 22, 2023

The Business of the Early NHL

A Discussion with Andrew Ross

Andrew Ross

Hosted by Greg Marchildon

Greg Marchildon interviews J. Andrew Ross about his book Joining the Clubs: The Business of the National Hockey League, 1917-1945 (University of Syracuse Press). This podcast was produced Hugh Bakhurst …

Sports February 22, 2023

Spies on the Sidelines

The High-Stakes World of NFL Espionage

Kevin Bryant

Hosted by Paul Knepper

Kevin Bryant's Spies on the Sidelines: The High-Stakes World of NFL Espionage (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022) is first book to fully explore the extraordinary covert actions NFL teams are willing to …

Diplomatic History February 21, 2023

Improbable Diplomats

How Ping-Pong Players, Musicians, and Scientists Remade US-China Relations

Pete Millwood

Hosted by Grant Golub

In 1971, Americans made two historic visits to China that would transform relations between the two countries. One was by US official Henry Kissinger; the other, earlier, visit was by …

Medieval History February 12, 2023

Hawking Women

Falconry, Gender, and Control in Medieval Literary Culture

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 in Medieval Literary Culture (Ohio State University Press, 2023) …

Sports February 11, 2023

Figure It Out

My Thirty-Two-Year Journey While Revolutionizing Pro Football's Special Teams

Mike Westhoff

Hosted by Paul Knepper

Simply put, Mike Westhoff is the greatest special teams coach in National Football League history. Sharp-witted, creative, and intensely focused, Westhoff spent 32 years working alongside and learning from some …

Sports February 5, 2023

New Kids in the World Cup

The Totally Late '80s and Early '90s Tale of the Team That Changed American Soccer Forever

Adam Elder

Hosted by Robert Sherwood

In 1990, though no one knew it then, a fearless group of players changed the sport of soccer in the United States forever. Young, bronzed, and mulleted, they were America’s …

Russian and Eurasian Studies February 5, 2023

Faster, Higher, Stronger, Comrades!

Sports, Art, and Ideology in Late Russian and Early Soviet Culture

Tim Harte

Hosted by Aaron Weinacht

Dr. Tim Harte's Faster, Higher, Stronger, Comrades!: Sports, Art, and Ideology in Late Russian and Early Soviet Culture (U Wisconsin Press, 2020) looks at sport as artistic subject matter, in …

Sports February 4, 2023

Sport and the Home Front

Wartime Britain at Play, 1939-45

Matthew Taylor

Hosted by Keith Rathbone

Today we are joined by Matthew Taylor, Professor of History at De Montfort University, and author of Sport and the Home Front: Wartime Britain at Play, 1939-1945 (Routledge, 2020). In …

African American Studies January 27, 2023

The Black Athlete Revolt

The Sport Justice Movement in the Age Of #BlackLivesMatter

Shaun M. Anderson

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

In the age of social media, athletes have a powerful influence like never before. Many Black athletes have used that power in positive ways, galvanizing their platforms to create impactful …

Sports January 25, 2023

Break Point

Two Minnesota Athletes and the Road to Title IX

Sheri Brenden

Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

In Break Point: Two Minnesota Athletes and the Road to Title IX (University of Minnesota Press, 2022), Sheri Brenden examines how two teenage girls in Minnesota jump-started a revolution in high school …

Game Studies January 13, 2023

Free Play

Digital Gaming and the Longing for Effectiveness

Harald Koberg

Hosted by Rudolf Thomas Inderst

What needs are satisfied in digital gaming? And what does the shift of these need satisfactions into the digital space say about the social realities in which they are embedded …

Sports December 11, 2022

Lost in the Game

A Book about Basketball

Thomas Beller

Hosted by Paul Knepper

For players, coaches, writers, and fans, basketball is a science and an art, a religious sacrament, a source of entertainment, and a way of interacting with the world. In Lost …

Sports November 24, 2022

The NBA in Black and White

The Memoir of a Trailblazing NBA Player and Coach

Ray Scott with Charley Rosen

Hosted by Paul Knepper

“There’s a basic insecurity with Black guys my size,” Scott writes. “We can’t hide and everybody turns to stare when we walk down the street. … Whites believe that their …

Film November 15, 2022

Hollywood at the Races

Film's Love Affair with the Turf

Alan Shuback

Hosted by Rachel Pagones

Today I talked to Alan Shuback about his book Hollywood at the Races: Film's Love Affair with the Turf (UP of Kentucky, 2019) A love of the slapstick film duo Laurel and …