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ROS Presents: Counterattack — Sports
ROS Presents: Counterattack

ROS Presents is home to Religion of Sports’ most ambitious and engaging audio storytelling, existing at the intersection of sports and society.

We are now in our fourth season with Counterattack, which follows the journey of Sinead Farrelly from hometown soccer star to league whistleblower to comeback kid. Sinead’s experiences in professional soccer and her brave decision to speak out ignited the revolution taking place in professional women’s soccer today. She and her fellow players are continuing a long tradition of sisterhood in women’s soccer. They are changing the game and forging a new path forward—for themselves, for their league, and for the next generation of little girls with big soccer dreams.

Our first season, Crushed, presented a fresh take on legacy the home run race of ’98 and baseball’s steroid era.

Season 2, the award-winning series False Idol, examined the murder of Reeva Steenkamp and the myths surrounding her killer, Oscar Pistorius.

Season 3, Roughhousing, took listeners inside America’s locker rooms to explore hazing in high school sports today — why we do it, what it says about us, and whether change is possible.

Latest Episodes:

FALSE IDOL Part 6: Swart Gevaar Sep 23, 2021

Show notes

During his murder trial, Pistorius claimed he’d mistaken Reeva for an intruder, when he shot her in his home. He listed instances where he’d been the victim of crime. But for many South Africans, there was a coded message in Pistorius’ words –– the fear of black people invading white people’s homes. They even have a term for this fear: Swart Gevaar.

FALSE IDOL Part 5: Ready to Run? Sep 16, 2021

Show notes

Pistorius was arrested and charged with murder, and prosecutors Gerrie Nel and Andrea Johnson took the case. Nel and Johnson reviewed the crime scene, the evidence, the witness testimony, and were of the opinion that Pistorius killed Reeva on purpose. They viewed this as a case of gender-based violence, in a country where such crimes are sadly common.

FALSE IDOL Part 4: Reeva Sep 09, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, we remember the life of Reeva Steenkamp. She was an activist, a mentor, an aspiring lawyer, and a model whose career was about to take off. Her future was looking bright, when she met Pistorius in the Fall of 2012. Then three months later, he shot her dead in his home.

FALSE IDOL Part 3: A Loaded Gun Sep 02, 2021

Show notes

As Pistorius rose to fame, the media began learning more about him, and some of the details seemed … troubling. He drove at excessive speeds. He had an obsession with guns. He crashed a boat into a jetty. And the details of his private life were worse. In hindsight, it’s easier to see the warning signs we missed, or chose to overlook, along the way.

FALSE IDOL Part 2: Oscarmania Aug 26, 2021

Show notes

Pistorius was so dominant, he set his sights on a new goal: running against able-bodied athletes at the Olympic Games. Now he faced more questions, more scrutiny. Scientists wondered if the races would be fair, and Pistorius struggled to qualify. But he was buoyed by the support of his home country, South Africa, where he was considered a hero.

FALSE IDOL Part 1: The Blade Runner Aug 26, 2021

Show notes

In the early 2000s, the Paralympics were headlined by star sprinters Marlon Shirley and Brian Frasure, when suddenly a new challenger emerged –– a teenager from South Africa named Oscar Pistorius. He immediately began dominating the sport, winning medals, setting records, and signing endorsement deals. But Shirley and Frasure had questions about how this newcomer was winning all these races.

FALSE IDOL: Trailer Aug 12, 2021

Show notes

False Idol re-examines the rise and fall of Oscar Pistorius, the Paralympic sprinter who murdered his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Journalist Tim Rohan traces Pistorius’ path to infamy, deconstructs his heroic image, and remembers the life of Steenkamp, as he tries to understand how a tragedy like her death could have happened. Launching August 26th, 2021.

Introducing False Idol Aug 05, 2021

Show notes

Joan Niesen talks with Tim Rohan, host of False Idol, the latest narrative podcast from Religion of Sports and PRX. The new series re-examines the story of Oscar Pistorius, the Paralympic sprinter who killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine’s Day 2013. False Idol launches with two episodes in this feed on August 26th.

CRUSHED Bonus: The Sticky Solution Jul 13, 2021

Show notes

More than 100 years after banning pitchers from using foreign substances on balls, MLB is finally enforcing that rule in an effort to resurrect lagging offense. But is the league cracking down on the right culprit? In this bonus mini-episode, Joan explores the physics of ball doctoring and asks what baseball’s current scandal can tell us about the evolution of the game.

CRUSHED Part 7: The Fallout May 13, 2021

Show notes

Baseball still feels the aftershocks of the steroid era. Has it recovered, or has it just forgotten and moved on? And what happens when a sport that's built on nostalgia ignores its own history?

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