Talking Sports Books

About Talking Sports Books

Talking Sports Books with Tim Caple The sports book review and author interview show dedicated to the world of sports literature. Established in 2019, Talking Sports Books brings you reviews, author interviews, new-release features and discussions about the best sports books from the UK, USA and around the world. For more than seven years, Tim Caple has been talking to authors, journalists, broadcasters and sporting personalities about the stories behind the books — from football and boxing to golf, cricket, motorsport and the wider world of sport.

Publisher

TIM CAPLE

Category

news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

22 Oct 2019

Latest episode

14 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

101 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   14 Sept 2026

   Referee "The Impossible Job" The Truly Unbelievable World Of Football Referee's

   Ever thought about becoming a referee ? well this book reveals what it s really like from an author who decided the best way to find out what it was really like was to become one which he did,he also got access to elite level referees to talk to them about what life is like not only on the pitch but off it as well Every football fan knows the feeling. A whistle goes, an arm points, and half the stadium erupts. The other half feels robbed. Within seconds, the referee has become the story. William Ralston’s The Impossible Job asks a sharper question than the usual post-match argument: what if most of us are watching officials with confidence, but without real understanding? This is a book about referees, but it is also about pressure, judgement, fear, authority, technology, and the strange way football turns human decisions into public trials. Ralston follows officials from grassroots matches to the elite game, including access around UEFA, FIFA, and PGMO circles, and builds a portrait of a role most people see every week but rarely understand.

2. 

   27 Aug 2026

   "Stories From the Summits of Sport" with ESPN's Seth Wickersham

   Great sportswriting does more than explain who won. It asks why the contest mattered, what it cost, and what the people inside it were really chasing. That is the territory Seth Wickersham has made his own. Across more than two decades at ESPN, he has reported from locker rooms, family homes, private conversations, NFL power centres, and the edges of obsession quite literally. His new collection gathers 26 essays that show the full range of that work, from Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes to Kobe Bryant, Alex Honnold, NASCAR, football’s violence, and the strange cultural afterlife of “We Will Rock You”. Coming up on the TALKING SPORTS BOOKS SHOW this month ,this is the kind of book that invites a richer conversation than a standard sports biography. It is about winners, yes. It is also about ambition, loneliness, control, risk, memory, and the human need to turn performance into meaning. Coming up then we talk about a Kenyan runner who had both feet amputated, the story behind the most played piece of music in US stadiums and arenas, we look into some of the most lonely roles in sport with the vet's responsible for euthanising injured horses at racetracks and the young DA thrust into the global limelight when he took on the role of prosecutor going up against NBA icon Kobe Bryant . The Book is titled "Be On That Hill" it is available 9/22/26

3. 

   24 Jul 2026

   "Tom Coyne "A Course Called Home"

   Tom Coyne opened an email one day and his life changed when he decided owning a golf course was a good idea. Golf often conjures images of pristine fairways, elite players, and exclusive clubs. Yet, Tom Coyne’s latest book, A Course Called Home, invites readers to explore a different side of the game—one rooted in community, resilience, and the love of a local course that many might overlook. Coyne, a New York Times bestselling author known for his deep research into golf culture, takes us on a personal journey that reveals how golf can be about more than just the game itself.

Reach and audience

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

YouTube views

143,798

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

4.8 / 5

6 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 63 / 100

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

Quality

61

Social presence

0

YouTube

82

Engagement

81

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