Category Archives: Uncategorized

https://newbooksnetwork.com/the-last-gladiator William Muldoon was an infamous athlete whose prowess, savvy, and chicanery across his six-decade career led him to wealth, cultural importance, and political power. Muldoon, the child of poor Irish immigrants, began wrestling in the 1870s and quickly became one of the most famous athletes of the post–Civil War era. He started acting andContinue reading “Podcast with Scott Beekman about his new book The Last Gladiator: William Muldoon and the Making of American Sports”

https://newbooksnetwork.com/hero-redefined Heroes aren’t just the ones who bring home medals. Hero Redefined: Profiles of Olympic Athletes Under the Radar (Clever Cleever, 2025) delves into the lesser-known stories of Olympic athletes—and a couple of special Olympic venues—that challenge the conventional narrative of glory and gold. In riveting personal profiles exploring herculean feats of strength, perseverance, and sportsmanship, award-winning sportsContinue reading “Podcast with Doug Levy about his book Hero Redefined: Profiles of Olympic Athletes Under the Radar”

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”