New Books Network
Sports
Sports May 3, 2021

The Eagles of Heart Mountain

A True Story of Football, Incarceration, and Resistance in World War II America

Bradford Pearson

Hosted by Paul Knepper
In the spring of 1942, the United States government forced 120,000 Japanese Americans from their homes in California, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona and sent them to incarceration camps across the …

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Sports April 14, 2021

The Fastest Game in the World

Hockey and the Globalization of Sports

Bruce Berglund

Hosted by Bob D'Angelo
Today we are joined by Bruce Berglund, author of The Fastest Game in the World: Hockey and the Globalization of Sports (University of California Press, 2020). In this sweeping look …
American West April 9, 2021

Rodeo as Refuge, Rodeo as Rebellion

Gender, Race, and Identity in the American Rodeo

Elyssa Ford

Hosted by Stephen Hausmann
Imagine a rodeo rider atop a bucking bronco, hat in hand, straining to remain astride. Is the rider in your mind's eye white? Is the person male? Popular imaginings and high …
Sports April 5, 2021

Pro Sports in 1993

A Signature Season in Football, Basketball, Hockey and Baseball

David Ostrowsky

Hosted by Paul Knepper
America and Canada both saw historic sports milestones in 1993. While the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bulls reigned supreme, the Toronto Blue Jays won a second consecutive World Series on …
East Asian Studies March 29, 2021

More Than Medals

A History of the Paralympics and Disability Sports in Postwar Japan

Dennis J. Frost

Hosted by Nathan Hopson
Dennis Frost’s More than Medals: A History of the Paralympics and Disability Sports in Postwar Japan (Cornell University Press, 2021) is a history of disability sports in modern Japan. The 1964 …
Popular Culture March 18, 2021

Bustin' Balls

World Team Tennis 1974-1978, Pro Sports, Pop Culture and Progressive Politics

Steven Blush

Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan
Steven Blush's new book Bustin' Balls (Feral Press, 2020) tells the strange but true story of World Team Tennis (1974-1978) that attempted to transform the prim and proper individual sport of tennis …
Political Science March 1, 2021

The Eagles of Heart Mountain

A True Story of Football, Incarceration and Resistance in World War II America

Bradford Pearson

Hosted by Susan Liebell
Many scholars have interrogated the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese-Americans during WWII – with an eye to understanding the particular type of racism that allowed the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt …
History February 9, 2021

War Fever

Boston, Baseball, and America in the Shadow of the Great War

Randy Roberts and Johnny Smith

Hosted by Zachary McCulley
In the fall of 1918, a fever gripped Boston. The streets emptied as paranoia about the deadly Spanish flu spread. Newspapermen and vigilante investigators aggressively sought to discredit anyone who …
Sports February 2, 2021

The Cap

How Larry Fleisher and David Stern Built the Modern NBA

Joshua Mendelsohn

Hosted by Paul Knepper
Today the salary cap is an NBA institution, something fans take for granted as part of the fabric of the league or an obstacle to their favorite team’s chances to …
Asian Review of Books January 28, 2021

The Moth and the Mountain

A True Story of Love, War, and Everest

Ed Caesar

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon
In 1933, Maurice Wilson — First World War hero, drifting veteran, and amateur aviator, lands in the aerodrome at Purnea in British India. His goal is to be the first …
Film January 8, 2021

Truth and Consequences

Game Shows in Fiction and Film

Mike Miley

Hosted by Joel Tscherne
Although nearly every other television form or genre has undergone a massive critical and popular reassessment or resurgence in the past twenty years, the game show’s reputation has remained both …
Anthropology January 5, 2021

The Sportsworld of the Hanshin Tigers

Professional Baseball in Modern Japan

William W. Kelly

Hosted by John Traphagan
Baseball has been Japan's most popular sport for over a century. In The Sportsworld of the Hanshin Tigers: Professional Baseball in Modern Japan (University of California Press, 2018), anthropologist William …
Dan Hill's EQ Spotlight December 31, 2020

Exercised

How We Did Not Evolve to Exercise and What to Do about It

Daniel Lieberman

Hosted by Dan Hill
Today I talked to Daniel Lieberman about his book Exercised: How We Did Not Evolve to Exercise and What to Do about It (Pantheon, 2021). In the book Lieberman explodes …
History December 23, 2020

Thai Stick

Surfers, Scammers and the Untold Story of the Marijuana Trade

Peter Maguire and Mike Ritter

Hosted by Michael Vann
In the 1970s surfing and smoking pot went hand in hand. As surfers traveled the world in search of perfect waves in places like Bali, Indonesia, some of them encountered …
Sports December 21, 2020

From Hang Time to Prime Time

Business, Entertainment, and the Birth of the Modern-Day NBA

Pete Croatto

Hosted by Paul Knepper
The birth of the modern-day NBA is often attributed to Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and David Stern. In From Hang Time to Prime Time: Business, Entertainment, and the …
Australian and New Zealand Studies December 21, 2020

The Ways of the Bushwalker

On Foot in Australia

Melissa Harper

Hosted by Bede Haines
Today I talked to Melissa Harper about her book The Ways of the Bushwalker: On Foot in Australia (NewSouth, 2020). Australians have always loved to step out in nature, whether off-track or …
Sports December 15, 2020

Soccer Diplomacy

International Relations and Football since 1914

Heather L. Dichter

Hosted by Keith Rathbone
Today we are joined by Heather Dichter, Associate Professor of Sports History and Sports Management at DeMontfort University and fellow at the international Centre for Sports History and Culture. She …
Sports December 9, 2020

The Knicks of the Nineties

Ewing, Oakley, Starks and the Brawlers That Almost Won It All

Paul Knepper

Hosted by Bob D'Angelo
Today we are joined by Paul Knepper, author of the book, The Knicks of the Nineties: Ewing, Oakley, Starks and the Brawlers That Almost Won It All (McFarland, 2020). Knepper …
Sports November 27, 2020

Our Last Season

A Writer, a Fan, a Friendship

Harvey Araton

Hosted by Paul Knepper
Harvey Araton’s new book Our Last Season: A Writer, a Fan, a Friendship (Penguin, 2020), reads like a mix between Tuesdays with Morrie and a sequel to his book When …
Sports November 25, 2020

ABC Sports

The Rise and Fall of Network Sports Television

Travis Vogan

Hosted by Keith Rathbone
Today we are joined by Travis Vogan, Associate Professor of Journalism and American Studies at the University of Iowa, and the author of ABC Sports: The Rise and Fall of …