The Untold History of Sports in America

For 100 years, if you wanted to gauge the access Black Americans had to the American Dream, you could look to how black athletes were treated in sports. In our seventh episode, Matt Andrews explores how successful black jockeys and black cyclists were pushed out by their white competitors.

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In our last few episodes, Matt Andrews covered horse racing, baseball, and boxing. Are you ready for some football? Let's talk about the current great American pastime. Understanding how football got so popular takes us into some real American history. 

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Love it or hate it, boxing is competition in one of its purest forms. In our fifth episode, Matt Andrews details the rise of the sweet science in 19th century America.

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Welcome to Episode 4, where Matt talks baseball. How did baseball become our national pastime? How did a relatively simple game become such a massive business? And what can the rise of baseball teach us about the evolution of America?

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In our third episode, Professor Matt Andrews brings us into the 19th century. He explores the changes that allowed for a truly national sports culture. He chronicles the rise of the first great spectator sport in the United States. And he ends with a new justification for sports that emerged in this era — an idea that still holds sway today.

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In Episode 2 Matt compares the contrasting sports cultures found in the New England and Southern colonies. Lots of interesting insights spin out from there, including how the gentry classes used sports to separate themselves from the common folk.

Also covered: horse racing, fox hunting, bull and bear fighting .. and .. gander pulling?

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In Episode 1 host Matt Andrews introduces The Untold History of Sports and provides a road map of topics covered. He covers how the emotions, vocabulary, and rituals surrounding sports are closely linked with America's religious heritage. 

Also covered: the history of lacrosse, English festive culture in the 1600’s, and Puritan opposition to sport. 

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Hosted by celebrated history professor Matthew Andrews (University of North Carolina), this podcast explores sports from their earliest days as outlets for rowdy colonists all the way to their present status as culture-defining billion dollar industries. Sports are more than a game, much more. America's stadiums are melting pots where people from all walks of life gather to cheer, protest, and arbitrate complex questions about our national identity and purpose. From Jackie Robinson to the 1968 Olympics to Mia Hamm, Andrews explores how sports - in every generation - have set the stage for critical discussions about class, race, and gender.

Available on the Curiosity Audio Network, the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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