Sports Explains the World

Amidst the protests that swept through Egypt during the Arab Spring, an unlikely group helped tip the scales towards Democracy – soccer fans. The Ultras Ahlawy were hardcore supporters of the Cairo-based football club, Al Ahly. They were also effective in the fight to oust Egypt’s leaders. But after the attempted revolution, pro-government forces took their revenge on The Ultras in a violent attack inside the Port Said soccer stadium. In the end, dozens were killed. Reporter Kieran Morris tells the story of when sports and politics collide.

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When late NBA Commissioner David Stern arrived in Beijing, he came with a lucrative business proposal. Stern pushed for American basketball games to be broadcast on Chinese national television, introducing millions of Chinese people to inspiring NBA narratives of individual glory. As the country’s spirits rose, so did the league’s revenues. In the final installment Two Dreams, reporter Kerry Seed explores the budding partnership between China and the NBA at the turn of the millennium, before the infamous Daryl Morey tweet.

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Former Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey Morey’s ill-fated tweet in support of the 2019 Hong Kong protests sparked an existential showdown between the NBA and China, where, by some estimates, there are more basketball fans than people in the United States. In part two of Two Dreams, reporter Kerry Seed looks back at the crucial time during the 1980s when the NBA and the People’s Republic of China began to form a unique partnership.

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The NBA is considered one of the most socially progressive leagues in all of sports. Yet the league's fortunes are intertwined with China, a country with a complicated history of human rights abuse allegations. The tension between these competing interests exploded into the public discourse in 2019, when then Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey sent a controversial tweet during massive protests in Hong Kong, and the NBA found itself at the center of a storm. In part one of Two Dreams, reporter Kerry Seed tells the story of how sports, politics, and business combined to form a multi-billion dollar tornado.

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The Dominican Republic produces more professional baseball players per capita than any other country in the world -- but one city in particular specializes in shortstops. Reporter Jeffrey Bissoy travels to San Pedro de Macorís to discover how the city consistently exports excellence for one of the most difficult positions in all of sports.

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As mensur combatants Felix and Max prepare to fight, reporter Leo Hornack documents their training, while exploring larger questions about the sport. Leo tries to understand how such an antiquated sport still exists, and what it does for those who dare to take part in a match. But as the fight nears, police begin to infiltrate fraternities in the hopes of putting an end to mensur, placing months of training, and an ancient art at risk.

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How far would you go to prove yourself? Is there still a place in modern society for violent competition? Should frat bros carry swords? These are some of the questions surrounding Mensur, an ancient but underground form of sword fighting practiced at fraternities throughout Europe -- like "Fight Club", but with swords. In part one of this story, reporter Leo Hornack embeds with two mensur fighters in Germany as they prepare for an upcoming match. Along the way, we hear the history of the underground sport that even the Nazis thought was too crazy, and Leo goes face-to-face with a real blade.

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Davy Rothbart struggles with whether to tell Allison what he's learned about the murder of her mother nearly four decades ago. He seeks out advice from an unlikely source: Allison and Davy's all-time favorite baseball player, former Detroit Tigers outfielder, Chet Lemon.

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