The Sporting Spirit

Are professional athletes simply employees who run a round a bit more than you and I? Do they have the same labour rights as "regular" workers? How has ability of the stakeholders in sport to make ends meet been threatened during the pandemic? These are the central questions of this weeks episode, as we chat to the erudite European sport policy expert, lecturer and Die Grün-Weißen fan,  Dr. Till Müller-Schoell. Tune in as he gives us the long and short (mostly long) on all things sport policy, as well as his outlook on neo-liberal thought and corporate interests in sport that seems to be increasingly vulnerable. 

In this week's episode, we speak to Madeleine Orr, a leading light in the field of sport and environmental sustainability. Maddy speaks to us about sport's complex relationship, at best, with mother nature and whether or not FIFA World Cups are still a good idea in the epoch of our Climate Emergency. And of course, what's an episode on the environment  without discussing the Green New Deal, and more importantly how sport can help push it along!

P.S Carl and his Swedish contacts also tried to get Greta on, but she was too busy protesting outside the Swedish Parliament, and it wasn't even a Friday....

Joshua Akena is a Swedish athlete, who plays American Football for the Uppsala 86ers. Like Sweden's favourite son in recent years, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, he stands out both at home and abroad because of his immigrant background. Unlike Zlatan, he works in the daytime as an accountant too. In this week's episode, we speak to Josh about the insecurities of being a semi-professional athlete in the age of COVID-19 as well as  his experiences as a black athlete in Scandinavia and in the United States. 

In our first full episode, we sit down with Prof. Louis Moore of Grand Valley State University to discuss the role that sport and athletes have played in political protests throughout modern history. We look back in time at the role that Black athletes played during the civil rights movement, and discuss whether or not their roles have evolved in the advent of the Black Lives Matters movement. 

Selamat Datang & Hallå! In our introduction, we tell you about why we decided to throw ourselves into this niche realm as well as a bit about where we drew inspiration from in coming up with the theme and title of our podcast.