30 for 30 Podcasts

ESPN and 30 for 30 Podcasts present "The Bag Game."

Investigative reporter Paula Lavigne shines light on the biggest pay-to-play scandal in college basketball, through the story of Billy Preston. He was a five-star recruit set to start for Kansas, when his path crossed a sprawling federal investigation.

The complex case ensnared major athletic programs, coaches, apparel executives and agents. But did it clean up corruption in college sports? And what did it mean for players like Billy?

Available now.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Growing up Iranian American, Shima Oliaee found her mother didn’t talk much about where she came from. Watching soccer, though, was a portal to Iran, a place that was in large part a mystery.

Shima delves into the stories she didn’t hear growing up: Iran's mandated modernization and how soccer played a role, the women-led 1979 revolution, and her parents’ mistaken-identity love story. 

Shima and her mom meet Zeinab Sahafy, a young Iranian woman and avid soccer fan whose love of the game led to her being named an enemy of the state.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode starts with two questions: If women equally led the 1979 revolution, why were their rights stripped away first? How does this happen to an emboldened part of the population?

At first, the women fight back, chanting “Azadi! Azadi!” [translation: “Freedom! Freedom!”] in the streets until the clerics back down. But in a story told by legendary writer and activist Mehrangiz Kar, women’s rights erode one by one – leading us to the nationwide ban on women at stadiums. This is when Iran's national soccer stadium becomes a battleground.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One game sets off a movement. In 1997 Iran surprisingly makes the World Cup in the last three minutes of play against Australia. When Iran's national team gets helicoptered into Azadi Stadium to celebrate, women are asked to stay home. They don't listen, and thousands rush the stadium.

This is the origin story of the White Scarves, a group that uses international soccer matches to defy the regime and take back their country. As the White Scarves gain international fame, they face grave danger at home.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

(Warning: this episode includes description of a suicide).

The newest generation of Iranian girl soccer fans take a bold new approach. They cross-dress as men to sneak into Azadi Stadium, documenting their rebellion live on social media - an irreverent middle finger to the government. One of those girls is Zeinab Sahafy, from Episode 1.

One night four of her friends are arrested and she flees for her life. Another girl, still in the country, loses her life. In a moment described as “a miracle,” Iran’s regime relents on its ban and thousands of women enter the stadium.

We end Pink Card wondering how this hard-won slice of freedom connects to the 2022 historic protests and a possible new revolution, more than 40 years after Shima’s teenage mother left home.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Iran, women are banned from soccer stadiums. But some dare to defy that. From 30 for 30 Podcasts, Pink Card tells a story of Iranian women fighting for their rights across three generations. They use ingenious tactics and risk their lives to take back their stadiums and their joy in the game. Created by Shima Oliaee (Dolly Parton’s America, Radiolab), Pink Card will forever change how you see fandom and freedom.

Available December 8th.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Baseball holds its records sacred. Most home runs, strikeouts, career wins. But what about the longest game ever? That honor goes to a 1981 AAA game, when the Pawtucket Red Sox and Rochester Red Wings slugged it out from dusk to dawn. The record-breaking 33 innings brought hope, despair and drama on and off the field. Radio Diaries and 30 for 30 Podcasts take listeners to that frigid, surreal night with the voices who lived it – including Hall of Famers Wade Boggs and Cal Ripken Jr. Most heroes of The Longest Game never made it big, but their unflagging endurance made history.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Streetball. It's a style of basketball defined by trash talk, windmill dunks, no-look passes, and broken ankles. You can find streetball at city parks and rec centers, driveways and playgrounds, pro-am leagues and even -- in spirit -- NBA arenas. Through it all, you might even call it hoops in its purest form. Drawing inspiration from hip hop mixtapes, this podcast explores how streetball – and the way it’s played around the United States – has shaped not just the game of basketball, but the country's culture. In true mixtape form, the podcast is a compilation of stories, styles, and sounds, all illuminating the essence of the game.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nipsey’s life story lives on in his music, but only a handful of people witnessed Hussle in creation mode. Meet the brothers behind the beats and hear some of the secrets of the “slaps.”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices