Edge of Sports with Dave Zirin

The police killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, followed by the sniper attack on police in Dallas, unleashed a wave of protests throughout the country. It also produced numerous responses by athletes who spoke out strongly in support of the black lives matter movement. Why is this happening now and why does it matter? Our guest is Scoop Jackson of ESPN, former editor of SLAM magazine....

The Sports World is buzzing about NBA star's Kevin Durant's move from Oklahoma City to the Golden State Warriors. We break it down - the basketball and the political sides of this deal - with NBA.com's own Sekou Smith. Then, in front of a live audience, I do a talk about the political lessons of the Mizzou football strike against racism. Finally, the Just Stand Up award to Olympic swimmer Anthony...

Our final tribute to Muhammad Ali features Bill Siegel, director of ‘The Trials of Muhammad Ali,’ as well as cultural commentator and author Bijan C. Bayne, and finally one icon says goodbye to another as we hear from 1968 Olympic hero, Dr. John Carlos. Hear our entire series of Ali tributes at EdgeOfSportsPodcast.com. Thank you to all the guests who participated and to the city of Louisville for...

The ascendancy of the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James to the top of the mountain has captivated hoop fans everywhere, including us. First, Dave Zirin sings the praises of LeBron and the Cavs, and then speaks with Cyd Zeigler, founder of the website Outsports and author of the new book ‘Fair Play,’ about how the sports world responded to the massacre of LGBT people in Orlando. Finally, we take...

Today we bring you the emotions, sounds, and voices of Muhammad Ali's funeral in Louisville. This was a day that will go down in history as the last act of resistance by the 20th century’s most iconic fighter. People came to pay respects from near and far, both young and old, in every shade of color, media professionals and everyday folks alike…all bound together by a love for our hero: Ali. This...

All week we are releasing interviews about the remarkable and singular legacy of The Champ, Muhammad Ali. Today we have Canadian sports journalist and social justice activist Shireen Ahmed, then Baltimore poet and founder of #NoJusticeNoLeBron, Tariq Toure. They speak about the Ali's support of the Palestinian liberation and what it has meant to them to share the faith of the King of the World. Sh...

Only one man who could write the New York Times obituary of Muhammad Ali. Bob Lipsyte covered Ali for 52 years and continues our special week of coverage for The Champ. Then, writer and commentator Kavitha Davidson speaks about Ali’s cultural impact and examines the possible link between two degenerative brain diseases: Parkinson’s, which plagued Ali, and CTE, which is detected in the brains of mo...

The world shook last week as the greatest sports figure of the 20th Century, Muhammad Ali, passed away. Today begins a week of special podcasts devoted to The Champ, which will end with a trip to Louisville for Ali’s memorial. We originally booked today’s guest, Chuck D, to talk about his new supergroup ‘Prophets of Rage,’ which also features B-Real from Cypress Hill and members of Rage Against Th...

Fifi Nomenon (say the name quickly) is a star on the Texas Rollergirls as well as team USA Roller Derby, and is one of the most prominent trans athletes in the United States. We break down roller derby, why it has proven to be more hospitable to trans athletes than other sports, and what it's like to be trans in Texas - a place where scapegoating has run rampant. In addition to Fifi, I have some C...

The Washington Post caused a furor when they released a new poll, claiming that 90% of Native Americans are not offended by the home football team’s controversial name. We read this article with great interest and came away with more questions than answers. Today, we offer the Post, and our listeners, a moral reality check with Jacqueline Keeler, Navajo/Yankton Dakota Sioux writer and co-founder o...

This is our first 2016 Olympics edition of the Edge of Sports podcast, and it is a news making edition of the show. I am just back from Rio de Janeiro snd the show reflects this in rather dramatic fashion. I sat down face to face with the mayor of Rio Eduardo Paes for a no holds barred discussion about the Olympics, displacement, and corruption and whether Rio is ready to host the games. THEN I si...

This week, an extensive interview with Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters on Israel, Palestine, US politics, and the power of music. We also discuss the role of sports in these ongoing discussions. The impetus for this interview was a new documentary that Waters narrates called The Occupation of the American Mind" put out by the Media Education Foundation. I also have some choice words about travelin...

Michael Sam, the first openly gay player drafted into the NFL, tells his fascinating story to Dave Zirin, on-stage at University of Colorado Denver. Despite a great college career at Mizzou and slot in the 2014 draft, Sam hasn’t found a home in the NFL. Today on Edge of Sports, Michael Sam weighs the undeniable good he has done for society with honest reflections on what could have been different....

Despite heavy hearts due to the passing of Prince, we are honored to welcome one of the most prominent journalists of our time, co-founder of The Intercept, Glenn Greenwald. We speak to Greenwald primarily about the political crisis roiling Brazil and the effect it could have on the 2016 Summer Olympics… as well as the effect the Olympics could have on this political crisis. Greenwald is based in...

This week, a show for all the student-athletes, student-activists, and the advocates like us who cheer them on. Isabelle Teare is a member of the Georgetown University Sailing Team. She’s also a leader in ‘Athletes and Advocates for Workers,’ a movement that’s pressured Georgetown’s administration and athletic department to confront Nike sweatshop abuses. Despite the school's long and entwined rel...

Today's guest hold the informal title of "greatest living sportswriter", Robert Lipsyte. Lipsyte distinguished himself with multiple stints at the New York Times, covering Muhammad Ali when he was still known as Cassius Clay. He is also noted for his recent tenure as an unflinching Ombudsman at ESPN. The author of celebrated books such as "SportsWorld: An American Dreamland" and his memoir “An Acc...

This week, we have the most acclaimed historical documentary filmmaker on earth, Ken Burns. He made ‘Baseball’ and ‘Jazz,’ and now we talk to Burns about his  new two-part PBS documentary 'Jackie Robinson.' It's a powerful back-and-forth about the actuality of Robinson's complicated legacy beyond puff-pieces and Hollywood-myth-making. Burns connects Robinson's struggle to the #BlackLivesMatter mov...

Today we pay homage to two departed legends of music. First, we have Don Cheadle, star and director of the Miles Davis biopic “Miles Ahead.” Then, DJ Bobbito Garcia remembers his friend Malik Taylor, AKA Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest who passed away last week. Dave’s ‘Choice Words’ are call for NBA Commissioner to move the 2017 All-Star weekend away from Charlotte in light of a recent North C...

Amid political chaos, Edge of Sports looks to a comic mind for order: author and actor Judah Friedlander. As Frank Rossitano on 30 Rock, Friedlander was known for his “World Champ” trucker hats, and it does not escape Judah that Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” cap bears more than a passing resemblance to his signature look. Dave Zirin and Judah talk politics, comedy and ping pong, record...

As college basketball fans descend into March Madness, Edge of Sports offers a wake-up call with Dr. Harry Edwards, renowned sports sociologist and author of the seminal text “The Revolt of the Black Athlete.” Dr. Edwards prescribes a stringent tonic for the NCAA’s ills: a complete dissolution and ground-up reformation focused on academics and athlete equity. Dave Zirin also offers his ’Choice Wor...

This is one of those dream shows for us at Edge of Sports. We’ve spoken to Kareem. We’ve spoken to Martina. Now we talk to Mick, as in pro wrestling legend Mick Foley. The hardcore legend is also a militant anti-sexist, a Tori Amos fan, and a national spokesperson for RAINN – the Rape Abuse Incest National Network. We in addition get him to answer whether Pro Wrestling deserves some of the blame f...

We have a show this week that fills me with pride and anger. The pride comes from the fact that we interview two NFL Hall of Fame players who grew up in the Jim Crow south, went to Historically Black Colleges, and played in the 1960s: Willie Lanier and Ken Houston. We hear their stories and it is – to put it mildly - powerful stuff. The anger comes with our opening topic: my thoughts on the cancel...

This week on Edge of Sports, we have two sports/politics legends of 1968 and we speak to them in front of 500 people in a packed Oakland auditorium. They are DR. JOHN CARLOS, who raised his fist on the medal stand in Mexico City along with Tommie Smith, and the great WYOMIA TYUS, the first person to ever win back-to-back 100 meter gold at the Olympic games in 1964 and 1968. Ms. Tyus also stood in...

Edge of Sports welcomes Martina Navratilova, one of the greatest tennis players ever and one of host Dave Zirin’s political-athlete heroes. Martina made history not just with her utter on-court dominance of the 1980s, but through a remarkable journey away from her family in totalitarian Czechoslovakia, and to a life where she lives today as a political, open LGBT American. This week’s column read...

In the aftermath of Super Bowl 50, we look at two figures who personify "Unapologetic Blackness." First, we discuss the indomitable of Cam Newton with former NFL pro, Harvard Business School grad and columnist Domonique Foxworth. Next, we get in ‘formation’ for Beyoncé with Dr. Brittney Cooper AKA Professor Crunk, who schools us on the rich symbolism of Beyoncé’s latest cultural touchstone. Then,...