Burn It All Down

Trigger Warning This week Shireen Ahmed, Amira Rose Davis, Brenda Elsey, Lindsay Gibbs, and Jessica Luther update listeners on the pending 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Brenda interviews Professor Rachael Joo, an expert on South Korean sport. She provides a nuanced analysis of tensions between local residents and critics of the environmental and economic impact of the games. The team then p...

This week Amira Rose Davis, Shireen Ahmed and Brenda Elsey talk about women sports fans in Saudi Arabia who headed to stadiums for the the first time recently and the grassroots movements that got them there. Then they discuss Serena’s candid Vogue spread and the way it amplifies important conversations about black maternal health. Then Lindsay interviews ESPN women’s basketball analyst LaChina Ro...

We’re back! Happy new year! This week, Shireen Ahmed, Amira Rose Davis, Lindsay Gibbs, and Jessica Luther talk about (the lack of) diversity in the Winter Olympics and athletes of color headed to Pyeongchang next month. Then they discuss how recent actions by North and South Korea around the Olympics reveal the lie that sports (and the Olympics, in particular) aren’t political. Then Shireen interv...

This is the second of two Best Of 2017 episodes. This week, the gang talks about their hopes and dreams for sports in 2018. Then we share three of our favorite interviews we aired on the show during 2017: Jemele Hill on college sports fandom, Sissi and Tafa on fighting for gender equity in sport, and Kelsey Bone on athlete activism. To help support the podcast, please consider becoming a patron: h...

This is the first of two Best Of 2017 episodes. This week, the gang talks about our favorite sports stories from this year, we share three of our favorite segments that we recorded in 2017, and then we cap it off with each of us choosing our own favorite Burn Pile from the first 33 episodes of this podcasting adventure. To help support the podcast, please consider becoming a patron: https://www.pa...

On this week’s episode, Brenda Elsey and Lindsay Gibbs are joined by special guest co-host Ana Marie Cox (host of the Crooked Media podcast, “With Friends Like These”) to discuss the horrific sexual harassment allegations against employees at ESPN and the NFL Network. Then they talk about their personal connection to sports, and how they hold onto their love for these games despite all of the prob...

On this week’s episode, Brenda Elsey, Shireen Ahmed, Amira Rose Davis, Lindsay Gibbs, and Jessica Luther talk about the Russian Olympic Committee being suspended from the 2018 Winter Olympics for systemic doping in previous Games, why a Jonas brother showed up to the FIFA trial, and Hope Solo’s bid for president of US Soccer. Then Amira interviews volleyball legend, Sylvia Ortiz, about being polit...

Trigger Warning This week on Burn It All Down, we open the show with Lindsay Gibbs interviewing Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to publicly come forward with allegations against Larry Nassar, and award-winning investigative reporter for the Indianapolis Star who has covered the Nassar case, Marisa Kwiatkowski. The interview has graphic descriptions of sexual assault against minors; if you’d...

This week, Amira Rose Davis, Shireen Ahmed, Brenda Elsey, Lindsay Gibbs, and Jessica Luther discuss why using native and/or indigenous people as mascots is bad and should stop, and they talk about the wild things unfolding in the FIFA trial and the need to keep caring even when we are exhausted and unsurprised by institutional corruption. Then Shireen interviews Arielle Castillo to talk about the...

This week on Burn It All Down, Amira Rose Davis, Brenda Elsey, and Lindsay Gibbs talk about the coolest sports deserving of a bigger spotlight - like bobsled, short track speed skating, and softball. Amira interviews Simone Lee, volleyball extraordinaire from top-ranked Penn State University. And before heading to the burn pile, the team ponders the historic plight of the Black quarterback. Phaidr...

This week on Burn It All Down, Shireen Ahmed, Brenda Elsey, and Jessica Luther discuss racism in sport, including recent incidents in soccer and baseball, and share stories they’ve enjoyed about athletes preparing for next year’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Then Shireen interviews professional ice hockey player, Kaliya Johnson. As always, you’ll hear the Burn Pile and Bad Ass Woma...

In Episode 27, Shireen Ahmed, Lindsay Gibbs, and Jessica Luther discuss #MeToo, sexual harassment and assault, and sports media; and things in sports that have made them all happy recently (for instance, check out https://www.popovichkerr2020.com/ !!). Then Lindsay interviews Hannah Bevis about the National Women's Hockey League. As always, you’ll hear the Burn Pile, Bad Ass Woman of the Week, and...

In Episode 26, Shireen Ahmed, Brenda Elsey, Lindsay Gibbs, and Jessica Luther welcome their new co-host, Amira Rose Davis, to the Burn It All Down family. The group then discusses whether this is the beginning of the end for football and efforts within NASCAR ranks to increase diversity. Then Shireen interviews Allison Gallagher about the exclusion of trans woman Hannah Mouncey from the Australian...

This week, Shireen Ahmed, Brenda Elsey, Lindsay Gibbs, and Jessica Luther discuss Eni Aluko and the disaster that is the Football Association in England, and ESPN choosing to partner with Barstool Sports. Then Jessica interviews Sports Illustrated's Emma Span about the World Series, bat flips, and #takeaknee in baseball. As always, you’ll hear the Burn Pile, Bad Ass Woman of the Week, and What’s G...

This week, Brenda Elsey, Shireen Ahmed, Lindsay Gibbs, and Jessica Luther discuss football, or "soccer" as those in the US say. They talk the NWSL season and the bruising final, World Cup qualifiers, and all the women footballers around the world fighting for better treatment and better pay. Then Brenda interviews Brazilian football superstars, Sissi and Tafa! As always, you’ll hear the Burn Pile,...

This week, Shireen interviews Dr. Amira Rose Davis and Dr. Nicole Neverson about the Cam Newton and Jourdan Rodrigue debacle, and Lindsay interviews WNBA player Imani McGee-Stafford about hope and her challenges with mental health issues. There is a flaming pile that needs burning and incredible women to celebrate in Badass Women of the Week. For more info check our website: http://www.burnitalldo...

On this week's show Shireen Ahmed and Jessica Luther talk about the NHL's response to #takeaknee and the anthem protests, the role of race, and our utter exhaustion with people being purposefully ignorant about why people are kneeling. Lindsay Gibbs interviews professional baller Kelsey Bone about the anthem protests and her career. As always, you’ll hear the Burn Pile, Bad Ass Woman of the Week,...

On this week's show Julie DiCaro, Lindsay Gibbs, Shireen Ahmed and Brenda Elsey talk about NFL protests, #TakeAKnee and the importance of solidarity. Shireen talks to Essence Carson of the LA Sparks about her The Players Tribune piece, athlete activism, music and the WNBA finals. The BIAD team discusses the latest news from Aaron Hernandez' family, CTE and more. As always, you’ll hear the Burn Pil...

Episode 20 of Burn It All Down is dedicated to former guest of the show and all-around badass in sports media, Jemele Hill. This week, Brenda Elsey, Shireen Ahmed, Julie DiCaro, Lindsay Gibbs, and Jessica Luther discuss the uproar over a series of tweets Hill wrote last week, the intersection of sports and politics, and what it really means when we say sports media is "liberal." And we welcome bac...

On Episode 19 of Burn It All Down, Brenda Elsey, Shireen Ahmed, Julie DiCaro, Lindsay Gibbs, and Jessica Luther give a recap of the US Open (yay, women’s tennis!) and World Cup qualifying. As always, you'll hear the Burn Pile, Bad Ass Woman of the Week, and What's Good in our worlds. For more information, check out our website http://burnitalldownpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit po...

On Episode 18 of Burn It All Down, Julie DiCaro, Lindsay Gibbs, Brenda Elsey and Jessica Luther talk Art Briles and second chances, and Maria Sharapova’s return to the grand slam stage. Then Jessica interviews Jemele Hill, co-host of ESPN’s SportsCenter at 6pm, aka The Six. They talk about being political in public these days, the role of sports in moments like this, and Hill’s Michigan State fand...

On Episode 17 of Burn It All Down, Brenda Elsey, Lindsay Gibbs and Jessica Luther talk about college football head coaches: the money they pull down, the power they wield, the choices they make. Then we hone in on one particular issue: sexual violence. And Lindsay interviews Ava Wallace, a beat writer for the Washington Post who used to cover UVA football and has recently written about black athle...

On Episode 16 of Burn It All Down, Julie DiCaro, Brenda Elsey, and Jessica Luther welcome ESPN's Adrienne Lawrence as a guest co-host. We talk about the NFL v NFLPA regarding Ezekiel Elliott's suspension, reactions to Charlottesville and the future of anthem protests, and FIFA's questionable Player of the Year nominations. As always, you'll hear the Burn Pile, Bad Ass Woman of the Week, and What's...

On Episode 15 of Burn It All Down: Brenda Elsey, Julie DiCaro, Shireen Ahmed, Jessica Luther, and Lindsay Gibbs talk about back-to-school for student athletes, Caster Semenya commentary, and the NFL suspension of Ezekiel Elliott. We catch up on the highlights from the IAAF world championships in London, where Usain Bolt reminds us that athletes are only human after all. Julie also interviewed the...

In Episode 14 of Burn It All Down, Lindsay Gibbs and Shireen Ahmed take over to talk about sexual violence in baseball, ruin your excitement about the Olympics coming to Los Angeles, and celebrate the latest happenings in women's soccer. Then, Lindsay talks with Rhiannon Walker, an Associate Editor at The Undefeated, about the rich, complicated history of black people in tennis, and the importance...