Author Archives: Paul Knepper

https://newbooksnetwork.com/gift-and-grit In 1998, Bill Clinton hosted a town hall on race and sports. ‘If you’ve got a special gift,’ the president said of athletes, ‘you owe more back.’ Gift and Grit shows how the sports industry has incubated racial ideas about advantage and social debt since the civil rights era by sorting athletes into two broad categories.Continue reading “Podcast with Joseph Darda, author of Gift and Grit: Race, Sports, and the Construction of Social Debt”

https://newbooksnetwork.com/the-warrior In The Warrior: Rafael Nadal and His Kingdom of Clay (Grand Central Publishing, 2025) Christopher Clarey illuminates the skill and determination it took to accomplish Rafael Nadal’s most mind-blowing achievement: 14 French Open titles. Nadal has won big on tennis’s many surfaces en route to becoming one of the greatest players of all time: securing two WimbledonContinue reading “Podcast with Christopher Clarey about his new book The Warrior: Rafael Nadal and His Kingdom of Clay”

https://newbooksnetwork.com/the-nbas-global-empire During the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, the Dream Team, a collective of the National Basketball Association’s top talent led by Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Charles Barkley, shook up the world as they amazed spectators and opponents on their way to winning gold. Their success introduced the world to the NBA’sContinue reading “Podcast with Joshua Wright about his new book The NBA’s Global Empire: How the League Became an International Powerhouse”

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-128-round-2-preview-the-garden-wars/id1693742494?i=1000705805460

@ColumbiaGRhttps://newbooksnetwork.com/losing-big In 2018, the United States Supreme Court opened the floodgates for states to legalize betting on sports. Eager for revenue, almost forty states have done so. The result is the explosive growth of an industry dominated by companies like FanDuel and DraftKings. One out of every five American adults gambled on sports in 2023,Continue reading “Podcast with Jonathan Cohen, author of Losing Big: America’s Reckless Bet On Sports Gambling”

https://newbooksnetwork.com/rhythms-of-resistance-and-resilience-2 In the Nation’s Capital, music and sports have played a central role in the lives of African Americans, often serving as a barometer of social conflict and social progress―for sports clubs and ball games, jam sessions and concerts, offered entertainment, enlightenment, and encouragement. At times, they have also offered a means of escape fromContinue reading “Podcast with Maurice Jackson, author of Rhythms of Resistance and Resilience: How Black Washingtonians Used Music and Sports in the Fight for Equality”

https://newbooksnetwork.com/a-time-for-reflection A fascinating look back at the incredible lives and careers of baseball Hall of Famers Willie McCovey and Billy Williams. Professional baseball has featured a bevy of superstars over the past century and a half, but only a few of them have impacted their sport and cities as deeply as Willie McCovey and BillyContinue reading “Podcast with Jason Cannon about his new book A Time for Reflection: The Parallel Legacies of Baseball Icons Willie McCovey and Billy Williams”

https://newbooksnetwork.com/magic-in-the-air The evolution of basketball, and much of the social and cultural change in America, can be traced through one powerful act on the court: the slam dunk. The dunk’s history is the story of a sport and a country changed by the most dominant act in basketball, and it makes Magic in the Air a rollickingContinue reading “Podcast with Mike Sielski about his new book Magic in the Air: The Myth, the Mystery, and the Soul of the Slam Dunk”

https://newbooksnetwork.com/mornings-with-madden John Madden is synonymous with football. He was the television face and voice of the nation’s most popular sport, the namesake of its best-selling sports video game, and the man with the highest career winning percentage of any NFL coach. Despite his international fame, there was a side of Madden known only to thoseContinue reading “Podcast with Stan Bunger, author of Mornings with Madden: My Radio Life with an American Legend”

https://newbooksnetwork.com/banned Michael Ray Richardson was a star in the making. After a stellar collegiate career at the University of Montana, where he was voted first team All-Big Sky Conference as a sophomore, junior, and senior, the future seemed bright. Taken fourth overall in the 1978 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks, Richardson was billedContinue reading “Podcast with Jake Uitti about his new book with Michael Ray Richardson called Banned: How I Squandered an All-Star NBA Career Before Finding My Redemption”