New Books in Sports

About New Books in Sports

This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: ⁠https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/⁠ Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky to learn about more our latest interviews: @newbooksnetwork Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sports

Publisher

New Books Network

Category

sports

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

12 Oct 2010

Latest episode

9 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

504 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   9 Oct 2026

   David Bentley Hart on Life, Literature, and Baseball (U Notre Dame Press, 2026)

   Today I’m speaking with David Bentley Hart about his book, A Gathering of Leaves: Extravagances and Ephemera, from the University of Notre Dame Press. David is a multi-faceted scholar who has contributed to the fields of philosophy, religious studies, and baseball, among others. The volume we will be discussing today is a collection of essays mostly originating from his website, Leaves in the Wind. The essays span a wide array of ideas, jumping from Ty Cobb’s undeserved reputation to the merits and deficiencies of writers like Thomas Mann, Vladimir Nabokov, and Cormac McCarthy. David also considers contemporary politics and the challenges writers face with the widespread diffusion of artificial intelligence.

2. 

   26 Sept 2026

   Spies and Other Pigeons: Hospitality and Hostility in Multispecies Pakistan with Muhammad A. Kavesh (U Washington, 2026)

   Across Pakistan's rooftops, pigeon flyers devote enormous care and labor to birds that soar the skies, take part in competitions, and knit together communities otherwise divided by caste, class, language, and ethnicity. Spies and Other Pigeons: Hospitality and Hostility in Multispecies Pakistan (U Washington, 2026) follows these flyers across four provinces, revealing a world of shauq (passionate pursuits) where training, feeding, and flying become affective acts to welcome a more-than-human other into the home. When cherished birds cross the militarized India-Pakistan border, they are recast as intruders and “spies," exposing the thin line between welcome and suspicion, hospitality and hostility. Through long-term ethnography, Dr. Muhammed Kavesh traces the layered meanings of arrival, both at the home and the homeland, showing how pigeons illuminate political tensions while sustaining bonds of play, care, and enthusiasm. Interweaving anthropology, South Asian studies, and multispecies studies with the Punjabi folktale of Heer Ranjha, Dr. Kavesh offers a conceptually rich account of human-pigeon relatedness. Moving from village lofts and urban rooftops to racing clubs and borderlands, the book demonstrates how animals mediate danger, belonging, and reciprocity across contested lines. Original and exciting, Spies and Other Pigeons reframes multispecies anthropology through a South Asian lens, revealing how the care and labor of pigeon keeping anchor local worlds and unsettle national borders. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.

3. 

   21 Sept 2026

   Andrew Brandt, "Smarter about Sports: My Life Navigating Athletes, Agents, Media, and the Business of the NFL" (Triumph Books, 2026)

   For more than two decades, Andrew Brandt has lived at the intersection of money, law, and sports—first as a player agent, then as vice president of the Green Bay Packers during the franchise’s most iconic quarterback transition, and now as a widely respected educator and analyst for ESPN and Sports Illustrated. In Smarter about Sports: My Life Navigating Athletes, Agents, Media, and the Business of the NFL (Triumph Books, 2026) Brandt pulls back the curtain on the modern sports industry, revealing what really happens behind the deals, decisions, and drama. With sharp insight and rare access, he explores the true dynamics between players, agents, general managers, and owners, as well as the often-invisible legal and financial forces shaping every major move in sports today. From negotiating with Brett Favre and drafting Aaron Rodgers to navigating Ricky Williams’ roller-coaster career to helping launch the NFL’s European expansion, Brandt’s journey offers a masterclass in how sports really work. For die-hard NFL fans and curious spectators, this essential read illuminates the game behind the games we love.

Who has been a guest on New Books in Sports

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Joseph Darda
• Julia Brock
• Christopher Clarey
• Jack Black
• Joseph S Reynoso

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

243

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.9 / 5

19 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 60 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

71

Social presence

0

YouTube

72

Engagement

51

Contact New Books in Sports

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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