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Sports Explains the World

Written by: Wondery | Meadowlark
  • Summary

  • 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 across the globe, Sports Explains the World reveals the human side of sports in provocative and unusual ways. Whether you’ve ever thrown a spiral or been in one, prepare to experience the action on and off the field from an unexpected – and sometimes shocking – vantage point.


    Enjoy Sports Explains the World on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Get started with your free trial at Wondery.com/plus.

    © 2023 Wondery LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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Episodes
  • 46 | The Weight: Rage Against the Regime
    Jun 12 2024

    At the 2022 IFSC Climbing Asian Championships, Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi competed without a hijab, sending shockwaves through Iran's political establishment. Many Iranian athletes have been targeted by the country's "morality police," and driven from their homes to seek new lives, and new competition, elsewhere. Captivated by her mother’s stories of pre-revolution Iran, reporter Sanam Skelly has watched waves of her home country's unrest her entire life. Sanam travels to Germany to meet two Iranian refugees, a weight lifter and a taekwondo competitor, who say they were forced to flee in order to compete.

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    55 mins
  • 45 | If A Tree Falls: The Stanford Band Out of Step
    Jun 5 2024

    Stanford University holds the record for most Division I NCAA titles -- which means its marching band has plenty to root for. The Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band became a student-run organization in the midst of the turbulent 1960's. Decades of debauchery, irreverence, and protest ensued. The group now faces a crossroads in the wake of the #MeToo movement and the scrutiny of college hazing rituals. Can it survive? Should it? Reporter Rachel Miller-Howard interviews the members trying to save it, the officials trying to kill it, and the Tree mascot willing to die for it.

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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    55 mins
  • 44 | The Eyes of the Fighter | Part II
    May 29 2024

    Reporter Tommy Andres comes face-to-face with the intruder he saw in his living room. After Jermain Thompson is released from prison and agrees to sit down for an interview, Tommy begins to understand the tragic series of events that led the former wrestler on a downward trajectory and to break into the Andres' home.

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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    45 mins

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