Rebuilding the Ivory Tower: Perspectives on Sport in Society

About Rebuilding the Ivory Tower: Perspectives on Sport in Society

Hello everyone! My name is Nathan Merkel, welcome to SportStories - The Podcast. This Sports catered podcast will discuss different stories that we as humans have experience in, with, and through Sports. Hopefully, providing context to these questions: What makes Sports so special? and How do Sports impact us as humans? I will dive head-first into these questions through critical conversations with a wide variety of guests on the show. With my current background in research and academia, I will be looking to bridge the gap between practicality and research. I truly hope you enjoy the show!

Publisher

Nathan Merkel

Category

society & culture · sports

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

4 Apr 2025

Latest episode

6 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

25 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   6 Oct 2026

   A Complex Connection - Soapbox Episode about our Connection with Sports

   Hey everyone!! This episode is a soapbox style episode about our connection with Sports. I approached this episode with no notes, no research, no preparation, just simply talking from the heart about our connection to Sports. More specifically, our psychological connection. This phrase is heavily researched in Sport academia and covers our unwritten connection with a team, organization or brand. This mostly correlates to our emotions and behaviors that we associate with our favorite brand or team. Let me ask this question: If your favorite team trades your favorite player, would you be mad, sad, angry, upset? If you feel any associated emotions, that is because you have a psychological connection with your favorite team. I hope you enjoy this rant and soapbox style episode! Will be publishing episodes again the future. [Disclaimer: The opinions in this episode are of my own accord and DO NOT reflect the opinions of any respective organization or institution.]

2. 

   6 Jul 2026

   From Washed Up to Recreation - The Story of Collegiate Recreational Sports

   Whats the big deal about intramurals? Having played a few different intramural sports, I began ask: Why does everyone compete so hard? Why is this so important? Why do college students care about recreation? Well, I asked these very questions to Kevin Sneed, the Senior Director for Student Recreation Activities at Broward College in South Florida. We had a lengthy conversation about the world of Collegiate Recreation and the importance of providing recreational opportunities for college students on (and off) campus. [Disclaimer: The opinions in this episode are of my own accord and DO NOT reflect the opinions of any respective organization or institution.]

3. 

   18 Jun 2026

   Pitch Pretty Please...Stories of the MLB v2 - A Conversation with Brian Leahy

   Part 2 of the series with Brian Leahy! We talk all things MLB and what the future holds. Hope you enjoy the episode!! [Disclaimer: The opinions in this episode are of my own accord and DO NOT reflect the opinions of any respective organization or institution.]

Who has been a guest on Rebuilding the Ivory Tower: Perspectives on Sport in Society

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

• Alexia P Hammonds
• Darrion Cockrell
• Neil Schwartz
• Elissa Grabow
• Ron Lykins

Reach and audience

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

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

7 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 17 / 100

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

Quality

22

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

32

Contact Rebuilding the Ivory Tower: Perspectives on Sport in Society

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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