Sport in History Podcast

About Sport in History Podcast

The Sport in History Podcast brings you the latest research with interviews and talks with leading sports historians and up-and-coming researchers into Sports History. The podcast is a British Society of Sports History (BSSH) production from the UK's leading society for the history of sport.. You can find us on all social media platforms and major podcast platforms here (https://linktr.ee/sportinhistorypodcast). Likewise, Click through to the BSSH website for further information on our events and to find out how to join the British Society of Sport History: https://www.sportinhistory.org/ (https://www.sportinhistory.org/) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Publisher

British Society of Sports History

Category

sports

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

24 Jul 2020

Latest episode

3 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

162 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   3 Nov 2026

   Jackson Van Uden on Donald J Trump and Sport

   Donald J. Trump is one of the most divisive and consequential Presidents in American history. He has fundamentally changed the shape of American and world politics for the foreseeable future, through the way he communicates, positions himself, and interacts with world leaders. Unbeknownst to many, these skills were not just hardened and developed in the hard-nosed world of business; they evolved in the world of sports. This paper will chart the rise of Donald J. Trump and the development of his communication skills through his ownership of the USFL team, the New Jersey Generals, and the legal battle with the NFL, and how they have played out during his administrations through working with organisations like FIFA. This paper will also identify the role that this sporting career played in introducing Trump to a new audience who would later go on to vote for and support him. This will be examined through his appearances in WWE alongside Vince McMahon, and his close association with the MMA, which culminated in the American 250 celebration MMA Bouts on the White House lawn. This paper will explore these elements through Trump’s TV appearances, podcast interviews, social media posts, and legal records. Jackson Van Uden is a historian and political commentator who specialises in power, tyranny, and dictators across history and the modern world. He is currently a History PhD Researcher at Royal Holloway, University of London, where he is researching the authoritarianisation of the US executive under Donald J. Trump. Jackson has also spoken on the history of tyranny and his work in across the world, speaking at the University of Manitoba, the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History at the University of Luxembourg and Chalke History Festival. He has also made frequent BBC Radio appearances, and his work has appeared in a wide range of history publications, such as Aspects of History, All About History Magazine and History of War Magazine. In 2024, he was named in BBC History Extra’s 30 Under 30 list, and on the 2025 and 2026 Chalke Introduces Programme, positioning him as one of the best young historians in the country. This podcast is a British Society of Sports History (BSSH) production from the UK's leading society for the history of sport.. You can find the podcast on all social media & major podcast platforms here (https://linktr.ee/sportinhistorypodcast). Likewise, Click through to the BSSH website for further information on our events and to find out how to join the British Society of Sport History: https://www.sportinhistory.com/ (https://www.sportinhistory.com/ ) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

2. 

   1 Oct 2026

   Chris Hunt on Escape From Holland: The thrilling true story of Football, ballet, journalism and war

   Join us for our latest episode as Max Portman talks to journalist and author Chris Hunt, as they discuss Chris' most recent book, 'Escape From Holland: The true story of the dash for the last British boat out of Holland in May 1940' Based around one fateful weekend in May 1940 as the Nazi army invaded Holland, this story is a captivating tale of 4 days where our characters from the worlds of football, ballet, politics and journalism have to uproot and move their lives aside in the face of the most devastating war we’ve ever known. It's a thrilling true story that sees famous journalists, newly fledged diplomats retired footballers and ballet dancers, one of whom ends up becoming the infamous child-catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang bang, aiming to make it out of the Netherlands. Chris and Max also discuss the impact of war, the influence of English football on the Dutch and Chris' huge body of work that has seen him publish multiple books as well write for and edit several magazines, including a stint at one of Max's childhood favourites, Match Magazine, between 1993 and 2001. This isn't just one for football historians, but for those historians who love a good war story and a story about people surviving in the face of it. This podcast is a British Society of Sports History (BSSH) production from the UK's leading society for the history of sport.. You can find the podcast on all social media & major podcast platforms here (https://linktr.ee/sportinhistorypodcast). Likewise, Click through to the BSSH website for further information on our events and to find out how to join the British Society of Sport History: https://www.sportinhistory.com/ (https://www.sportinhistory.com/ ) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

3. 

   1 Sept 2026

   Matthew Llewellyn and Toby Rider on The Monday Club, British Conservative Politics and the boycott of Apartheid sport

   In this paper, we explore specific elements of the right-wing British response to the sporting boycott of apartheid South Africa. Starting in the early 1960s, and intensifying as the anti-apartheid campaign to end British sporting contacts with South Africa began to unfurl, right wing politicians, groups, media, and members of the public, tended to connect their opposition to the sports boycott with a broader critique of contemporary British society. For a generation of beleaguered white Britons who felt victimised by the rapidly changing social landscape of post-imperial Britain, we argue, the sport boycott animated fears that white culture was under attack by pernicious, alien, and radical forces (i.e., the liberal media and clergy, student radicals, and subversive minorities). Some of the most influential speakers to articulate this view came from the right wing of the Conservative Party and were members of a powerful political pressure group called the Monday Club. Founded in 1961 in opposition to Harold Macmillan’s apparent commitment to the post-war consensus, the Monday Club developed a growing tolerance and sympathy for white South Africa and Britain’s sporting relations with the pariah state. From the mid-1960s onwards, we intend to show, the Club rallied in opposition to anti-apartheid efforts to disrupt sporting links, and did so by frequently interpreting the actions of the anti-apartheid movement as part of a wide-ranging liberal attack on core Conservative values, white culture, and the historical foundations of British society. Matthew P. Llewellyn, Ph.D., was born and raised in Cardiff, Wales. He earned his undergraduate degree at Cardiff Metropolitan University and his Master’s degree at the California State University, Long Beach. He followed this by completing a Ph.D. in the Historical and Philosophical Aspects of Sport and Physical Activity at the Pennsylvania State University. He has published numerous papers in refereed journals including Modern British History, Journal of Policy History, Journal of Southern African Studies, South African Historical Journal, Contemporary British History, and the International Journal of the History of Sport, as well as numerous textbook chapters. He has published nine books and edited collections, including British Sporting Relations with Apartheid South Africa: The Politics of Racism and Anti-Racism, 1948-1994 (Oxford University Press, 2024). He currently serves as editor of the Journal of Olympic Studies, a co-director of the Center for Sociocultural Sport and Olympic Research (CSSOR), and is a professor in the department of kinesiology at the California State University, Fullerton. Dr. Toby C. Rider was born and raised in East Sussex, England. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Birmingham and his Master’s degree at the University of Brighton. He followed this by completing a Ph.D. in the sociocultural study of sport and exercise at The University of Western Ontario in London, Canada. An award winning author, Toby’s research interest focuses on the dynamic historical role of sport in international relations, politics, race, and empire. He has published multiple articles in peer reviewed journals, contributed several chapters to scholarly books, and presented his research at numerous conferences. He is the author of Cold War Games: Propaganda, the Olympics, and U.S. Foreign Policy (University of Illinois Press, 2016), co-editor of Defending the American Way of Life: Sport, Culture, and the Cold War (University of Arkansas Press, 2018), and Sport and Apartheid South Africa: Histories of Politics, Power, and Protest (Routledge, 2022), and co-author of British Sporting Relations with Apartheid South Africa: The Politics of Racism and Anti-Racism, 1948-1994 (Oxford University Press, 2024). In addition to this, Toby is the Co-Director of the Center for Sociocultural Sport and Olympic Research and the Associate Editor of the journal of Olympic Studies. This podcast is a British Society of Sports History (BSSH) production from the UK's leading society for the history of sport.. You can find the podcast on all social media & major podcast platforms here (https://linktr.ee/sportinhistorypodcast). Likewise, Click through to the BSSH website for further information on our events and to find out how to join the British Society of Sport History: https://www.sportinhistory.com/ (https://www.sportinhistory.com/ ) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Who has been a guest on Sport in History Podcast

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

• Tamsin Johnson
• Ben Robinson
• Noemi Steuerwald
• Colin Yates

Reach and audience

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

Spotify

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 47 / 100

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

Quality

94

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

0

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Guest appearances

Books guests

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

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