Edge of Sports

Latest Episodes:

Mapping A US Men’s Soccer Revolution Mar 11, 2025

Show notes

This week, we speak to US-born, Rio de Janeiro-based visionary Robert Wilson, whose short volume A Football Manifesto is a brilliant excavation of the systemic, structural problems in US men’s soccer and a radical fan-centric approach to radical change. It’s not just a diagnosis. It’s a wholly original cure.

Robert Wilson

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-football-manifesto-and-club-handbook-bringing-the-beautiful-game-to-the-people-and-making-the-usa-1-in-the-world-robert-wilson/11921456?ean=9780692111413&next=t

GoFundMe

https://gofund.me/c32d9598

Zirin, Don’t Listen to Greasy Gavin Newsom. Listen to Trans Athletes

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/trans-athletes-forum/

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http://www.edgeofsportspodcast.com/ | http://twitter.com/EdgeOfSportsPod | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: edgeofsports@gmail.com | Edge of Sports hotline: 401-426-3343 (EDGE)

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“Sports Under Fascism & All-Time NBA Injury What-Ifs” Mar 03, 2025

Show notes

This week, we have a talk I gave two years ago about the social function of sports in an authoritarian society. It rings more true today, and I wanted to share it with you all. Also, I talked to basketball savant Arya Shirazi about the injuries that changed the course of NBA history.

Zirin, Why Democrats Won’t Throw a Real Punch

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/democratic-party-fecklessness/

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http://www.edgeofsportspodcast.com/ | http://twitter.com/EdgeOfSportsPod | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: edgeofsports@gmail.com | Edge of Sports hotline: 401-426-3343 (EDGE)

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Former NFL Player Chris Kluwe On His Arrest Protesting MAGA Feb 24, 2025

Show notes

This week, we speak to former NFL player Chris Kluwe. Kluwe made news this week for his protest of MAGA at a Huntingdon Beach city council meeting, garnering headlines worldwide. We discuss what led to that moment, why he did what he did, and the sports world’s reaction to this administration and what explains it.

Zirin, Why Democrats Won’t Throw a Real Punch

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/democratic-party-fecklessness/

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http://www.edgeofsportspodcast.com/ | http://twitter.com/EdgeOfSportsPod | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: edgeofsports@gmail.com | Edge of Sports hotline: 401-426-3343 (EDGE)

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The Sports Doc We’ve Been Waiting For And the NBA at the All-Star Break Feb 12, 2025

Show notes

This week we speak to executive producer Arif Khatib and director Steven C. Bernier about their new documentary, Because They Believed: Minority Athletic Trailblazers Who Broke through The Racial Divide. The film is available on all streaming platforms and it's the documentary sports and politics lovers have been waiting for. Also, we talk to hoops savant Arya Shirazi about where this NBA season is going after a series of shocking trades.

Zirin, How the “Subversive Genius” of Kendrick Lamar Sent Trump Home a Loser

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/super-bowl-kendrick-lamar-halftime-eagles-trump/

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http://www.edgeofsportspodcast.com/ | http://twitter.com/EdgeOfSportsPod | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: edgeofsports@gmail.com | Edge of Sports hotline: 401-426-3343 (EDGE)

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Heavy Luka Theories with Kiese Laymon Feb 06, 2025

Show notes

It's being called the most shocking trade in basketball or even sports history: All-NBA guard Luka Doncic was sent from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis. Everyone is searching for reasons why the Mavericks would throw away Doncic, a generationally great player who is only 25 years old.

On Edge of Sports, we break the trade down with none other than Kiese Laymon. The writer of books like Heavy and Long Division and a professor at Rice University, Laymon helps us break down why it may have happened, as well as some theories to help us make sense of the senseless. We look at Luka, LeBron, the executives in charge, and the very shady new Mavericks owner and bankroller of Trump, the infamous Miriam Adelson.

Zirin, The Super Bowl Will Be a Spectacle of Black Excellence, but You’ll Need to Tune Out MAGA’s White Whine

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/super-bowl-chiefs-eagles-mahomes-hurts-kendrick-lamar-maga/

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http://www.edgeofsportspodcast.com/ | http://twitter.com/EdgeOfSportsPod | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: edgeofsports@gmail.com | Edge of Sports hotline: 401-426-3343 (EDGE)

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The Legendary Robert Lipsyte: His New Book Rhino Run, And How YA Novels Can Save The World Feb 03, 2025

Show notes

This week, we speak to the legendary New York Times journalist and acclaimed Young Adult writer Robert Lipsyte. We talk about his new book, Rhino’s Run, the relationship between high school athletes and masculinity, and the galvanizing potential of American football. Al this and more on this week’s pod!

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/780979/let-us-play-by-harrison-browne-and-rachel-browne/

Zirin, A Meteorologist Was Fired for Describing What We All Saw: “Dude Nazi Saluted TWICE”

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/meteorologist-sam-kuffel-cbs58-elon-musk-nazi-salute/

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http://www.edgeofsportspodcast.com/ | http://twitter.com/EdgeOfSportsPod | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: edgeofsports@gmail.com | Edge of Sports hotline: 401-426-3343 (EDGE)

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Trans Athletes Fight Back and The Golden Age of NBA Centers Jan 26, 2025

Show notes

We have two guests, Harrison Browne, and Arya Shirazi, talking about trans athletes and the golden era of NBA centers.

This week, we speak to Harrison Browne, the first transgender pro hockey player, about a new book he wrote with his journalist sister Rachel Browne, Let Us Play: Winning the Battle for Gender Diverse Athletes, about how their stories are a key to defending their rights in the face of a fascist movement aimed at their elimination from public life. Also, we speak to hoops savant Arya Shirazi about the golden age of NBA centers. At least, I think it’s the Golden Age. 1985-1995!

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/780979/let-us-play-by-harrison-browne-and-rachel-browne/

Zirin, Should College Football Die?

https://www.thenation.com/podcast/archive/eos-012325/

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http://www.edgeofsportspodcast.com/ | http://twitter.com/EdgeOfSportsPod | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: edgeofsports@gmail.com | Edge of Sports hotline: 401-426-3343 (EDGE)

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“Should College Football Die?” Jan 22, 2025

Show notes

Body: This week, we come from the famed Politics & Prose bookstore in Washington, DC, where I interview Derek Silva on the new book he co-authored, The End of College Football. His co-author, Nathan Kalman-Lamb, was denied entry to the U.S. from Canada, which we discussed. Thank you, Politics & Prose for permission to use the audio!

Zirin, Why Did the US Block a Canadian Professor From His Own Book Event?

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/nathan-kalman-lamb-end-college-football-barred-entry/

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http://www.edgeofsportspodcast.com/ | http://twitter.com/EdgeOfSportsPod | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: edgeofsports@gmail.com | Edge of Sports hotline: 401-426-3343 (EDGE)

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No Diamonds: The Most Important Sports Films That Aren’t Baseball Jan 14, 2025

Show notes

Hoosiers? Slap Shot? Boxcar Bertha? Today, film savant Arya Shirazi joins the show to talk about the baseball movies that could have been.

Zirin, In 2024, the Sports Leagues Watched the World Burn

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/sports-2024-year-review/

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http://www.edgeofsportspodcast.com/ | http://twitter.com/EdgeOfSportsPod | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: edgeofsports@gmail.com | Edge of Sports hotline: 401-426-3343 (EDGE)

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Why Baseball Movies Matter Dec 17, 2024

Show notes

This week, we speak about the joy and politics of baseball movies. First, we speak to Noah Gittell, author of the terrific romp of a book Baseball: The Movie. Then we speak to movie savant Arya Shirazi about the five most essential baseball movies of all time and whether they will hold up in 2024.

Zirin, Trump Invites a Killer to His Luxury Box

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/trump-army-navy-game-daniel-penny/

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http://www.edgeofsportspodcast.com/ | http://twitter.com/EdgeOfSportsPod | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: edgeofsports@gmail.com | Edge of Sports hotline: 401-426-3343 (EDGE)

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