Sports Explains the World

In a westside suburb of Cleveland called Brecksville, nothing is more important than football. Well, football and gymnastics. The girls gymnastics team at Brecksville-Broadview Heights has won every single state title since 2002. In Dynasty: The Legend of the Brecksville Bees, reporter Nina Mandell looks back at how the team rose to dominance— starting with the Ganims, an unlikely coaching family,...

After budget cuts put the fate of the Quinnipiac University women’s volleyball team in jeopardy, the players dug in against an unlikely opponent: competitive cheerleading. The battle didn’t take place on a court, though. It took place IN one. In 2009, the volleyballers, along with the ACLU, sued to have cheerleading officially nixed as an NCAA sport. Their cause was backed by a major corporation t...

In the early 2000s, a group of coaches banded together to try to make cheerleading an official NCAA varsity sport. But it turns out that was no small feat. The torchbearers faced sexism, disrespect, and a powerful corporation hell-bent on keeping cheerleaders on the sidelines. In part one of Cheering For Themselves, reporters Rose Eveleth and Lisa Pollak tell the story of a group of students and p...

Yao Ming was the number one pick in the 2002 NBA Draft, and he came in with the hope of the entire country of China behind him. Basketball had become a hugely successful American export in the country, and Ming was the face of the confluence between cultures and continents. But after his playing career ended, Ming flipped the script, bringing a talented but largely unproven coach from the US to Ch...

After suffering sanctions and scrutiny, the Howard University soccer team rises to the top again, earning another chance to play for the national championship in 1974. A win would be redemption for the Bison, who believe they were targeted unfairly. Reporter Mark Wright dives back into the story with five decades of hindsight to examine the NCAA's decision to strip the Bison of their 1971 title.

Shortly after the championship parties die down, the NCAA makes a grave announcement about the Howard University soccer team, alleging that some of Howard's players weren't eligible to be college athletes. The NCAA strips Howard of its '71 title and denies the players their glory, their White House visit, and their place in history.

Ian Bain and Alvin Henderson were just boys when they first met on the schoolyard soccer fields in Trinidad. They battled on the field with the same common goal, to become professional footballers. Years later, the duo is recruited to come to the United States and play soccer for the Howard University Bison. Together, they are the young anchors of the first HBCU team to win an NCAA Division I cham...

In part two of Volley and Serve, reporter Tim Rohan shows the real consequences of Sergiy Stakhovsky's decision to join the Ukrainian Army to fight against Russia. The choice destroyed his marriage. Every mission could be his last. Troops are dwindling, too. And he's now being sent out to fight in one of the most deadly battlefields of the war. Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to  Sports E...

Ukrainian tennis player Sergiy Stakhovsky gained fame when he upset Roger Federer at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships. Stakhovsky carved out a solid tennis career that lasted nearly 20 years, and earned more than $5 million in prize money. But after retiring from tennis in 2022, Stakhovsky heard the news that Russia was invading Ukraine, and decided to enlist to help defend his homeland. Reporter...

Disgraced former Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow takes the reigns of a cherished, but downtrodden, professional soccer team in suburban Madrid. But can the man who built a championship baseball team by mining in the depths of Central and South American talent do the same by recruiting young African soccer players? And will Luhnow's controversial leadership style be accepted in a town st...

In 2017, Major League Baseball implicated the Houston Astros in a sign-stealing scandal that rocked the sport, right after they'd won the World Series. At the center of the controversy was the team's general manager, Jeff Luhnow. In the wake of the scandal, the Astros cut ties with Luhnow, who still maintains his innocence. Reporter Josh Lewin tracked Luhnow down in his new home in Leganés, Spain...

Curt Schilling did something many Boston fans thought was impossible. He led the Red Sox to their first World Series title since 1918, finally destroying the dreaded Curse of the Bambino. And he did it with an ankle so injured, it visibly bled through his socks on live television. This larger than life accomplishment made many people believe he could do anything, including Curt Schilling himself,...

A scary swim shakes creek boater Anna Wagner's confidence. She must decide whether or not to leave the world of extreme kayaking behind. But can she live a fulfilled life without it? Our second part of Running on Water drops us back into the world of creek boating, and into a decision that will forever shape Anna's life. Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to  Sports Explains the World  ...

Girl meets river. River meets girl. The two hit it off. Girl falls in love. She moves to a town minutes from it. Her life revolves around the river. Life is perfect. But when a gnarly rapid on the river nearly kills her, she must rethink her relationship. Paddle back in, or leave it behind for good? In part one of Running on Water, Sarah Fox introduces us to a 5-foot-2 dragon slayer named Anna Wag...

When Lithuania broke off from the Soviet Union, they wanted revenge. Their players had led the USSR to gold medal glory. And now, ahead of the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, the Lithuanian men's basketball team had the chance to win for their own country. One problem? The country was broke and couldn’t afford to send them to the Olympic Games. The team started looking for benefactors. And so begins T...

In part two of The Real Jay Mullen, CIA operative Jay Mullen finds himself in trouble when the ruler of Uganda launches a campaign to force Asians out of the country, resulting in a genocide that would kill an estimated 500,000 people. As Mullen tries to save family friends, he also has to coach the Ugandan National team against a team of Soviet professionals, recruit double agents who are up for...

In 1972, in the middle of the Cold War, the Soviet military sent a team of all-stars to Kampala to compete in three goodwill basketball games against Uganda’s top players. But the Soviets, who were hoping to curry favor with the leader of the new regime, Idi Amin, didn’t know that the Ugandan national team was being coached by an undercover American CIA operative named Jay Mullen. Sent to Uganda e...

Long summer nights and baseball on the radio. Like many other Baltimore Orioles fans of his generation, host Sam Dingman grew up listening with his dad to Jon Miller, Chuck Thompson, and the voice of his childhood, Fred Manfra, calling play-by-play on the radio. The story of every Orioles game became the story of Sam learning how to communicate with the man who was otherwise a mystery—his dad. Sam...

In part two of Spider's Web, reporter Gloria Liu travels down the winding slopes of recollection and rumor to discover a decades-held secret about Spider Sabich that completely alters the skier's legacy.

American Alpine skier Vladimir Peter Sabich became a sensation at the 1968 Winter Olympics. He had movie-star good looks, a famous girlfriend, and even a cool nickname—Spider. His ascent to the top of the skiing world matched the sport's own growth into the global spotlight. But at just age 31, Spider Sabich's life was cut short by a loaded .22, held in the hands of his girlfriend, the French actr...

As a kid, Kieran Morris, a cheeky lad from Liverpool, loved pulling pranks to fool the press. When England played Honduras in a friendly soccer match, he found a young player on the Honduran side, inflated his stats on Wikipedia to equal those of a young Messi and Ronaldo, and then dubbed the player the “Honduran Maradona.” Sky News, a top outlet, fell for the prank. But so did an MLS soccer team....

Sports Explains the World unveils some of the wildest and most surprising sports stories you’ve never heard. And they’re all true. From the unemployed history teacher turned CIA agent and Uganda national basketball coach, to the teenager who invented a mythical athlete…then watched him sign a million-dollar deal, these stories will amaze and move you at every turn. From award-winning journalists a...