New Books in Sports

Michella M. Marino, "Roller Derby: The History of an American Sport" (U Texas Press, 2021)

17 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Dr. Michella Marino, the Deputy Director of the Indiana Historical Bureau, a division of the Indiana State Library, and the aut...

Kurt Edward Kemper, "Before March Madness: The Wars for the Soul of College Basketball" (U Illinois Press, 2020)

14 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Big money NCAA basketball had its origins in a many-sided conflict of visions and agendas. On one side stood large schools focused on a commercialized...

Heather L. Dichter, "Bidding for the 1968 Olympic Games: International Sport's Cold War Battle with NATO" (U Massachusetts Press, 2021)

11 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Heather Dichter, Associate Professor of Sports History and Sports Management at the International Centre for Sports History and...

Martin Wells, "No One Playing: The Essence of Mindfulness in Golf and in Life" (John Hunt, 2022)

10 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today I talked to Martin Wells about his new book No One Playing: The Essence of Mindfulness in Golf and in Life (John Hunt, 2022).  To imagine yo...

Frank Andre Guridy, "The Sports Revolution: How Texas Changed the Culture of American Athletics" (U Texas Press, 2021)

03 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

When I was a teenager, I spent entirely too much time at the Pontiac Silverdome watching the Detroit Pistons play basketball. In all the games I watc...

Georgia Cervin, "Degrees of Difficulty: How Women's Gymnastics Rose to Prominence and Fell from Grace" (U Illinois Press, 2021)

20 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Electrifying athletes like Olga Korbut and Nadia Comaneci helped make women’s artistic gymnastics one of the most popular events in the Olympic Game...

Alistair Shearer, "The Story of Yoga: From Ancient India to the Modern West" (Hurst, 2020)

12 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Alistair Shearer, a freelance scholar of South Asian religion and culture, and teacher of yoga and the psychology of yoga. He i...

Janko Tipsarevic, “The Mind-Body Problem” (Open Agenda, 2021)

30 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Mind-Body Problem is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and Janko Tipsarevic, who is a former professional tennis pla...

Jethro Binns: Founder of Squashskills.com on Online Sports Training

27 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Jethro Binns was rated 84th in the world squash rankings. A terrible accident on court cut his career short, later he founded Squashskills, which is n...

Jörg Krieger, "Power and Politics in World Athletics: A Critical History" (Routledge, 2021)

14 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Power and Politics in World Athletics: A Critical History (Routledge, 2021) by Jörg Krieger provides the first detailed history of one of the most p...

The #MeToo Movement in China and the Case of Tennis Star Peng Shuai

10 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Several high-profile cases of sexual harassment and assault have helped the #MeToo movement in China continue to make impacts on a society that is hig...

William J. Morgan, "Sport and Moral Conflict: A Conventionalist Theory" (Temple UP, 2020)

10 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by William J. Morgan, Professor Emeritus at the University of Southern California, and the author of Sport and Moral Conflict: A ...

Dave Zirin, "The Kaepernick Effect: Taking a Knee, Changing the World" (New Press, 2021)

08 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In 2016, amid an epidemic of police shootings of African Americans, the celebrated NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick began a series of quiet protests o...

Shoutin’ In the Fire: A Conversation with Graduate Student Dante Stewart

07 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: Dante Stewart’s path through college and into his current graduate school, playin...

Jen Corrinne Brown, "Trout Culture: How Fly Fishing Forever Changed the Rocky Mountain West" (U Washington Press, 2017)

12 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From beer labels to literary classics like A River Runs Through It, trout fishing is a beloved feature of the iconography of the American West. But as...

Ben Guest, "Zen and the Art of Coaching Basketball: A Namibian Odyssey" (2021)

11 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today I talked to Ben Guest about his new book Zen and the Art of Coaching Basketball: A Namibian Odyssey (2021). Pressure plays, buzzer-beaters, a...

Rebecca Joyce Kissane and Sarah Winslow, "Whose Game?: Gender and Power in Fantasy Sports" (Temple UP, 2020)

05 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Rebecca Joyce Kissane, Professor of Sociology at Lafayette University, and Sarah Winslow, Professor of Sociology at Clemson Uni...

Anthony Ianni, "Centered: Autism, Basketball, and One Athlete's Dreams" (Red Lightning Books, 2021)

02 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"They don't know me. They don't know what I'm capable of." Diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder, a form of autism, as a toddler, Anthony Ia...

Carl Rommel, "Egypt’s Football Revolution: Emotion, Masculinity, and Uneasy Politics" (U Texas Press, 2021)

27 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Both a symbol of the Mubarak government’s power and a component in its construction of national identity, football served as fertile ground for Egyp...

Don Stradley, "The War: Hagler-Hearns and Three Rounds for the Ages" (Hamilcar Publications, 2021)

25 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The battle between Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns is remembered as one of the greatest fights of all time. But in the months before the two...

Halimah Marcus, "Horse Girls: Recovering, Aspiring, and Devoted Riders Redefine the Iconic Bond" (Harper Perennial, 2021)

21 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’re celebrating our one-year anniversary with this interview, and so I wanted to introduce a special guest for today: Nur Nasreen Ibrahim, talente...

Jessica Luther and Kavitha Davidson, "Loving Sports When They Don't Love You Back" (U Texas Press, 2020)

11 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Jessica Luther, a freelance investigative journalist, and Kavitha Davidson, a sport and culture writer with the Athletic, who t...

Petr Roubal, "Spartakiads: The Politics of Physical Culture in Communist Czechoslovakia" (Karolinum Press, 2020)

23 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Petr Roubal, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Contemporary History in the Czech Academy of Sciences, and author of Sparta...

Luke Epplin, "Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball" (Flatiron Books, 2021)

16 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In July 1947, not even three months after Jackie Robinson debuted on the Brooklyn Dodgers, snapping the color line that had segregated Major League Ba...

Matt Frazier and Robert Cheeke, "The Plant-Based Athlete: A Game-Changing Approach to Peak Performance" (HarperOne, 2021)

16 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Plant-Based Athlete: A Game-Changing Approach to Peak Performance (HarperOne, 2021) by Matt Frazier and Robert Cheeke reveals the incontrovertibl...

Mariska van Sprundel, "Running Smart: How Science Can Improve Your Endurance and Performance" (MIT Press, 2021)

14 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Conventional wisdom about running is passed down like folklore (and sometimes contradicts itself): the right kind of shoe prevents injury—or running...

Philippe Vonnard, "Creating a United Europe of Football: The Formation of UEFA (1949–1961)" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020)

31 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Philippe Vonnard, Senior SNSF Researcher at the University de Lausanne, and the author of Creating a United Europe of Football...

Fred Gitelman, “In the Cards” (Open Agenda, 2021)

26 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the Cards is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and Fred Gitelman, world-champion bridge player and co-founder of Bridg...

Jenny Stuber, "Aspen and the American Dream: How One Town Manages Inequality in the Era of Supergentrification" (U Chicago Press, 2021)

24 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How is it possible for a town to exist where the median household income is about $73,000, but the median home price is about $4,000,000? In Aspen an...

Buzzy Kerbox, "Making Waves" (Legacy Isle Publishing, 2019)

11 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Who is the most interesting man in the world? The guy from the Dos Equis beer ads? Nope, it’s Buzzy Kerbox. This haole kid from O’ahu, Hawai’i b...

Richard Mills, "The Politics of Football in Yugoslavia: Sport, Nationalism and the State" (I. B. Tauris, 2018)

06 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Richard Mills, Senior Lecturer in History at the University of East Anglia, and the author of The Politics of Football in Yugo...

Greg Larson, "Clubbie: A Minor League Baseball Memoir" (U Nebraska Press, 2021)

03 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Greg Larson, author of Clubbie: A Minor League Baseball Memoir (University of Nebraska, 2021). In Clubbie, Larson shares his...

Syl Sobel and Jay Rosenstein, "Boxed Out of the NBA: Remembering the Eastern Professional Basketball League" (Rowman and Littlefield, 2021)

16 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Eastern Professional Basketball League (1946-78) was fast and physical, often played in tiny, smoke-filled gyms across the northeast and featuring...

Stephen D. Allen, "A History of Boxing in Mexico: Masculinity, Modernity, and Nationalism" (U New Mexico Press, 2017)

13 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Stephen Allen, Associate Professor of History at California State University, Bakersfield, and the author of A History of Boxi...

Alan McDougall, "Contested Fields: A Global History of Modern Football" (U Toronto Press, 2020)

12 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Alan McDougall, Professor of History at the University of Guelph, and the author of Contested Fields: A Global History of Mode...

Bob Kuska and Archie Clark, "Shake and Bake: The Life and Times of NBA Great Archie Clark" (U Nebraska Press, 2021)

14 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Shake and Bake is the story of Archie Clark, one of the top playmaking guards in the 1970s pre-merger NBA. While not one of the game’s most recogni...

Lincoln A. Mitchell, "The Giants and Their City: Major League Baseball in San Francisco, 1976-1992" (Kent State UP, 2021)

09 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In 1976, the San Francisco Giants headed north of the border and became the Toronto Giants - or so the sportswriters of the time would have you believ...

Sertaç Sehlikoglu, "Working Out Desire: Women, Sport, and Self-Making in Istanbul" (Syracuse UP, 2020)

08 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Working Out Desire: Women, Sport, and Self-Making in Istanbul (Syracuse UP, 2020) examines spor merakı as an object of desire shared by a broad and ...

Cat M. Ariail, "Passing the Baton: Black Women Track Stars and American Identity" (U Illinois Press, 2020)

02 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

At almost any international sporting event in which the US competes, it is now common (and appropriate) to remark on the composition of the American t...

Jurgen Martschukat, "The Age of Fitness: How the Body Came to Symbolize Success and Achievement" (Polity, 2021)

31 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today on New Books in History, Juergen Martschukat, professor of North American History at Universitat Erfurt, talks about his new book, The Age of ...

Dave Seminara, "Footsteps of Federer: A Fan’s Pilgrimage Across 7 Swiss Cantons in 10 Acts" (Post Hill Press, 2021)

27 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today I talked to Dave Seminara about his book Footsteps of Federer: A Fan’s Pilgrimage Across 7 Swiss Cantons in 10 Acts (Post Hill Press, 2021)...

Bradford Pearson, "The Eagles of Heart Mountain: A True Story of Football, Incarceration and Resistance in World War II America" (Atria, 2021)

03 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the spring of 1942, the United States government forced 120,000 Japanese Americans from their homes in California, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona ...

Andrew Maraniss, "Singled Out: The True Story of Glenn Burke" (Philomel Books, 2021)

23 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On October 2nd, 1977, Glenn Burke, outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers, made history without even swinging a bat. When his teammate Dusty Baker hit...

Bruce Berglund, "The Fastest Game in the World: Hockey and the Globalization of Sports" (U California Press, 2020)

14 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Bruce Berglund, author of The Fastest Game in the World: Hockey and the Globalization of Sports (University of California Pre...

Elyssa Ford, "Rodeo as Refuge, Rodeo as Rebellion: Race, Gender, and Identity in the American Rodeo" (UP of Kansas, 2020)

09 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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? Pop...

David Ostrowsky, "Pro Sports in 1993: A Signature Season in Football, Basketball, Hockey and Baseball" (McFarland, 2020)

05 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

America and Canada both saw historic sports milestones in 1993. While the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bulls reigned supreme, the Toronto Blue Jays won ...

Dennis J. Frost, "More Than Medals: A History of the Paralympics and Disability Sports in Postwar Japan" (Cornell UP, 2021)

29 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dennis Frost’s More than Medals: A History of the Paralympics and Disability Sports in Postwar Japan is a history of disability sports in modern J...

Alisha Rankin, "The Poison Trials: Wonder Drugs, Experiment, and the Battle for Authority in Renaissance Science" (Alisha Rankin, 2021)

18 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In 1524, Pope Clement VII gave two condemned criminals to his physician to test a promising new antidote. After each convict ate a marzipan cake poiso...

Bradford Pearson, "The Eagles of Heart Mountain: A True Story of Football, Incarceration and Resistance in World War II America" (Atria, 2021)

01 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Many scholars have interrogated the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese-Americans during WWII – with an eye to understanding the particular type of ra...

R. Roberts and J. Smith, "War Fever: Boston, Baseball, and America in the Shadow of the Great War" (Basic Books, 2020)

09 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the fall of 1918, a fever gripped Boston. The streets emptied as paranoia about the deadly Spanish flu spread. Newspapermen and vigilante investiga...

Joshua Mendelsohn, "The Cap: How Larry Fleisher and David Stern Built the Modern NBA" (U Nebraska Press, 2020)

02 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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’...

David Trouille, "Fútbol in the Park: Immigrants, Soccer, and the Creation of Social Ties" (U Chicago Press, 2021)

01 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What meaning does a daily soccer game in a public Los Angeles park have for a group of Latino men and the ethnographer who studied them? In today’s ...

Ed Caesar, "The Moth and the Mountain: A True Story of Love, War, and Everest" (Avid Reader/Simon & Schuster, 2020)

28 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In 1933, Maurice Wilson — First World War hero, drifting veteran, and amateur aviator, lands in the aerodrome at Purnea in British India. His goal i...

Mike Miley, "Truth and Consequences: Game Shows in Fiction and Film" (UP Mississippi, 2020)

08 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Although nearly every other television form or genre has undergone a massive critical and popular reassessment or resurgence in the past twenty years,...

William W. Kelly, "The Sportsworld of the Hanshin Tigers: Professional Baseball in Modern Japan" (University of California Press, 2018)

05 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Baseball has been Japan's most popular sport for over a century. In The Sportsworld of the Hanshin Tigers: Professional Baseball in Modern Japan (Un...

Daniel Lieberman, "Exercised: How We Did Not Evolve to Exercise and What to Do about It" (Pantheon, 2021)

31 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Ronald Hutton, "The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft" (Oxford UP, 2019)

23 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today we speak to Ronald Hutton, Professor of History at the University of Bristol, in the United Kingdom about the twentieth anniversary, and concom...

Melissa Harper, "The Ways of the Bushwalker: On Foot in Australia" (U Washington Press, 2020)

21 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today I talked to Melissa Harper about her book The Ways of the Bushwalker: On Foot in Australia (University of Washington Press, 2020). Australian...

Pete Croatto, "From Hang Time to Prime Time: Business, Entertainment, and the Birth of the Modern-Day NBA" (Atria Books, 2020)

21 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

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: Bu...

Heather L. Dichter, "Soccer Diplomacy: International Relations and Football since 1914" (UP of Kentucky, 2020)

15 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Heather Dichter, Associate Professor of Sports History and Sports Management at DeMontfort University and fellow at the interna...

Paul Knepper, "The Knicks of the Nineties: Ewing, Oakley, Starks and the Brawlers That Almost Won It All" (McFarland, 2020)

09 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

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 (...

Harvey Araton, "Our Last Season: A Writer, a Fan, a Friendship" (Penguin, 2020)

27 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

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 seq...

Travis Vogan, "ABC Sports: The Rise and Fall of Network Sports Television" (U California Press, 2018)

25 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

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: ...

Kat D. Williams, "Isabel 'Lefty' Alvarez: The Improbable Life of a Cuban American Baseball Star" (U Nebraska Press, 2020)

16 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

For many of its participants, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) offered them an opportunity to change their lives, yet few ...

Steven M. Ortiz, "The Sport Marriage: Women Who Make It Work" (U Illinois Press, 2020)

06 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Steven M. Ortiz’ new book The Sport Marriage: Women Who Make It Work (University of Illinois Press, 2020) offers an in-depth analysis of and percei...

Chas Smith, "Cocaine and Surfing: A Sordid History of Surfing’s Greatest Love Affair" (Rare Bird, 2018)

06 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Surfers are the ultimate bad boys, living the counter-culture life of decadence and hedonism as they travel the world in search of the perfect wave, p...

Grégory Quin, "Des Réseaux et des Hommes: Participation et Contribution de la Suisse à l’Internationalisation du Sport (1912-1972)" (Éditions Alphil, 2019)

02 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Grégory Quin, maître d’enseignement et de recherche à l’Institut des sciences du sport de l’Université de Lausanne, a...

David Davis, "Wheels of Courage: How Paralyzed Veterans from World War II Invented Wheelchair Sports" (Center Street, 2020)

28 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Out of the carnage of World War II comes an unforgettable tale about defying the odds and finding hope in the most harrowing of circumstances. Wheels ...

Joel S. Franks, "Asian American Basketball: A Century of Sport, Community and Culture" (McFarland, 2016)

27 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When Jeremy Lin shot (pardon the pun) to stardom with his unexpected scoring run with the New York Knickerbockers in 2012 many aficionados of basketba...

Barbara Keys, "The Ideals of Global Sport: From Peace to Human Rights" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2019)

16 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Barbara Keys, Professor of US and International History at Durham University, and author and editor of The Ideals of Global Spo...

Corey Sobel, "The Red Shirt" (UP of Kentucky, 2020)

05 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

At first, Miles Furling plays football to fit in. By eighth grade he realizes that he is both gay and a football player. After an unsuccessful attempt...

Ralph Carhart, "The Hall Ball" (McFarland, 2020)

02 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Rescued in 2010 from the small creek that runs next to Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, New York, a simple baseball launched an epic quest that spanned...

Ron Snyder, "The Baltimore Stallions: The Brief, Brilliant History of the CFL Champion Franchise" (McFarland, 2020)

28 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

A few years ago, I came across an article entitled “‘Who Do I Root for Now?’: The Impact of Franchise Relocation on the Loyal Fans Left Behind: ...

James Carter, "Champions Day: The End of Old Shanghai" (Norton, 2020)

23 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Shanghai’s status as a bustling, international place both now and in the past hardly needs much introduction, although the centrality of horse racin...

J. Iber and M. Longoria, "Latinos in American Football: Pathbreakers on the Gridiron, 1927 to the Present" (McFarland, 2020)

16 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Jorge Iber, Professor of History and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Science at Texas Tech, and Mario Longoria, a lon...

Lou Hernandez, "Bobby Maduro and the Cuban Sugar Kings" (McFarland, 2019)

26 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

There are two key elements of today’s professional baseball that are informed by Lou Hernandez’s wonderful book Bobby Maduro and the Cuban Sugar K...

Sasha Abramsky, "Little Wonder: The Fabulous Story of Lottie Dod, the World’s First Female Sports Superstar" (Akashic Books, 2020)

12 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Sasha Abramsky, author of Little Wonder: The Fabulous Story of Lottie Dod, the World’s First Female Sports Superstar (Akashic...

José Alamillo, "Deportes: The Making of a Sporting Mexican Diaspora" (Rutgers UP, 2020)

07 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In Deportes: The Making of a Sporting Mexican Diaspora (Rutgers University Press, 2020), Professor José Alamillo, a specialist in Chicana/o Studies, ...

Jeremy Bhandari, "Trust the Grind: How World-Class Athletes Got to the Top" (Mango Publishing, 2020)

06 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Sixteen athletes from eleven sports arenas. Each chapter tells a different story, as each superstar shares the habit that helped them accomplish their...

Danyel Reiche and Tamir Sorek, "Sport, Politics, and Society in the Middle East" (Oxford UP, 2019)

29 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Sports scholars Danyel Reiche and Tamir Sorek’s edited volume, Sport, Politics, and Society in the Middle East (Oxford University Press, 2019), mak...

Kathleen Bachynski, "No Game for Boys to Play: The History of Youth Football and the Origins of a Public Health Crisis" (UNC Press, 2019)

27 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Kathleen Bachynski, Assistant Professor of Public Health at Muhlenberg College, and author of No Game for Boys to Play: The His...

Jennifer Domino Rudolph, "Baseball as Mediated Latinidad: Race, Masculinity, Nationalism, and Performances of Identity" (Ohio State UP, 2020)

22 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In her incisive study Baseball as Mediated Latinidad: Race, Masculinity, Nationalism, and Performances of Identity (Ohio State University Press, 2020...

Ben Cohen, "The Hot Hand: The Mystery and Science of Streaks" (Custom House, 2020)

25 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

For decades, statisticians, social scientists, psychologists, and economists (among them Nobel Prize winners) have spent massive amounts of precious t...

John Harney, "Empire of Infields: Baseball in Taiwan and Cultural Identity, 1895-1968" (U Nebraska Press, 2019)

22 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by John Harney, Associate Professor of History and Chair of the Asian Studies Department at Centre College, and author of Empire o...

Allan Downey, "The Creator’s Game: Lacrosse, Identity, and Indigenous Nationhood" (UBC Press, 2018)

17 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Allan Downey, Associate Professor of History and Indigenous Studies at McMaster University, and author of The Creator’s Game:...

Jonathan Gelber, "Tiger Woods’s Back and Tommy John’s Elbow" (Skyhorse, 2019)

10 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Dr Jonathan Gelber, author of the book Tiger Woods’s Back and Tommy John’s Elbow: Injuries and Tragedies That Transformed C...

Brian Greene, "Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe" (Random House, 2020)

02 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Brian Greene is a Professor of Mathematics and Physics at Columbia University in the City of New York, where he is the Director of the Institute for S...

Mitchell Nathanson, "Bouton: The Life of a Baseball Original" (U Nebraska Press, 2020)

25 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Dr. Mitchell Nathanson, author of the book Bouton: The Life of a Baseball Original (University of Nebraska Press, 2020). Nathan...

Rebecca J. Kissane and Sarah Winslow, "Whose Game?: Gender and Power in Fantasy Sports" (Temple UP, 2020)

07 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Fantasy sports have the opportunity to provide a sporting community in which gendered physical presence plays no role—a space where men and women ca...

Leslie M. Harris, "Slavery and the University: Histories and Legacies" (U Georgia Press, 2019)

28 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Slavery and the University: Histories and Legacies (University of Georgia Press, 2019), edited by Leslie M. Harris, James T. Campbell, and Alfred L. B...

David Block, "Pastime Lost: The Humble, Original and Now Completely Forgotten Game of English Baseball" (U Nebraska Press, 2019)

15 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by David Block, author of Pastime Lost: The Humble, Original and Now Completely Forgotten Game of English Baseball (University of ...

Yaron Weitzman, "Tanking to the Top" (Grand Central, 2020)

13 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When a group of private equity bigwigs purchased the Philadelphia 76ers in 2011, the team was both bad and boring. Attendance was down. So were rating...

Tim Rooney, "John Beilein at Michigan: A Basketball Revival" (McFarland, 2020)

10 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When John Beilein arrived at University of Michigan in 2007, the once-proud men's basketball program was adrift after the fallout from a scandal and f...

Gerald R. Gems, "Sport and the Shaping of Civic Identity in Chicago" (Lexington Books, 2020)

31 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The city of Chicago is one of the US' most diverse cosmopolitan areas. Given the array of people who live in the city, it is reasonable to assume that...

Matt Cook, "Sleight of Mind: 75 Ingenious Paradoxes in Mathematics, Physics, and Philosophy" (MIT Press, 2020)

30 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Paradox is a sophisticated kind of magic trick. A magician's purpose is to create the appearance of impossibility, to pull a rabbit from an empty hat....

Travis Bell et al., "CTE, Media, and the NFL: Framing a Public Health Crisis as a Football Epidemic" (Lexington, 2019)

16 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Travis Bell, Janelle Applequist, and Christian Dotson-Pierson to discuss their new book CTE, Media, and the NFL: Framing a Publ...

Mort Zachter, "Red Holzman: The Life and Legacy of a Hall of Fame Basketball Coach" (Sports Publishing, 2019)

04 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Many books have been written about Willis Reed, Bill Bradley, Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusscherre and the other great players on the New York Knicks champ...

Phillipa Chong, “Inside the Critics’ Circle: Book Reviewing in Uncertain Times” (Princeton UP, 2020)

25 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

How does the world of book reviews work? In Inside the Critics’ Circle: Book Reviewing in Uncertain Times (Princeton University Press, 2020), Philli...

Nicholas Blincoe, "More Noble Than War: A Soccer History of Israel-Palestine" (Bold Type Books, 2019)

19 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Nicholas Blincoe’s More Noble Than War: A Soccer History of Israel-Palestine (Bold Type Books, 2019) is a beautifully narrated and written history o...

Roger Gilles, "Women on the Move: The Forgotten Era of Women’s Bicycle Racing" (U Nebraska Press, 2018)

11 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Roger Gilles, Director of the Honors College and Professor of Writing at Grand Valley State University, and author of Women on ...