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Edward Payson Weston: The Most Famous Athlete You’ve Never Heard Of
In 1861, Edward Payson Weston walked the 500 miles from Boston to D.C., and launched a legendary career as a pedestrian in the process.
by
Lily Applebaum
via
Boundary Stones
on
June 24, 2025
Discrimination Against Trans Olympians Has Roots in Nazi Germany
1934 world champion runner Zdenek Koubek, boxer Imane Khelif, and how far we haven’t come on gender in sports.
by
Michael Waters
,
Alex Abad-Santos
via
Vox
on
August 1, 2024
partner
‘Another Player Down’
How concern about injuries is changing sports.
via
Retro Report
on
November 20, 2023
partner
Pole Vaulting Over the Iron Curtain
When it became clear that the United States and its allies couldn’t “liberate” Eastern Europe through psychological war and covert ops, they turned to sports.
by
Matthew Wills
,
Toby Rider
,
Kevin Witherspoon
via
JSTOR Daily
on
May 12, 2023
A Harsh Reality Lies Beneath the Glory of March Madness
Despite captivating the nation with their athleticism every March, collegiate basktball players remain an exploited labor force for the profit of the NCAA.
by
Theresa Runstedtler
via
CNN
on
March 18, 2023
partner
Gay Panic on Muscle Beach
The skin and strength on display at Santa Monica’s Muscle Beach aggravated American fears of gender transgressions and homosexuality.
by
Livia Gershon
,
Elsa Devienne
via
JSTOR Daily
on
August 26, 2022
The Olympic Star Who Just Wanted to Go Home
Tsökahovi Tewanima held an American record in running for decades, but his training at the infamous Carlisle school kept him from his ancestral Hopi lands
by
Kathleen Sharp
via
Smithsonian
on
May 20, 2021
A Political Education
Ray Schoenke started campaigning for George McGovern in 1971 because he wanted to make a difference. The experience ended up changing his life.
by
Jesse Berrett
via
Victory Journal
on
November 9, 2017
The Drugs Won: The Case for Ending the Sports War on Doping
Two former anti-doping professionals think the fight against performance-enhancing drugs is doing more harm than good.
by
Patrick Hruby
via
Vice Sports
on
August 1, 2016
When Bruce Lee Trained With Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
When Bruce Lee met Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he was still known as Lew Alcindor, the most hyped young basketball star in history.
by
Jeff Chang
via
Literary Hub
on
September 25, 2025
A Historian’s Notes on College Football’s New Money Era
College football’s NIL era has freed athletes but fueled chaos, soaring costs, and fan backlash.
by
James C. Cobb
via
Zócalo Public Square
on
September 18, 2025
Fifty Years After History’s Most Brutal Boxing Match
The Thrilla in Manila nearly killed Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.
by
Vann R. Newkirk II
via
The Atlantic
on
September 16, 2025
Bodies by Joe
With his strange machines and an uncanny, intuitive understanding of muscles, Joseph Pilates created a new technique for improving strength and movement.
by
Alma Guillermoprieto
via
New York Review of Books
on
July 31, 2025
"College Sports: A History"
A new book considers the challenges of controlling the commercialization of college sports.
by
Glenn C. Altschuler
,
David Wippman
via
Inside Higher Ed
on
November 26, 2024
America’s Earliest Sports Stars Were … Professional Walkers?
Walking needs no publicist. The simplest, most accessible form of exercise has been around since humans first foraged and traveled on the ground.
by
Jackie Mansky
via
Zócalo Public Square
on
October 18, 2024
Speed Kills
Two striking reminders of the game-changing potential of great speed and its limited value unless accompanied by other essential skills.
by
John Thorn
via
Our Game
on
October 7, 2024
Batting by the Numbers
The evolution of baseball’s perfect lineup.
by
Neil Paine
,
Michelle Pera-McGhee
via
The Pudding
on
September 24, 2024
Hail Mary
In the 1970s, some athletes began questioning the alliance between sports, conservative Christianity, and politics.
by
Paul Putz
via
Arc: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera
on
September 9, 2024
partner
Why No Men Will Compete in Synchronized Swimming in Paris
For the first time, men are permitted to compete in artistic swimming at the 2024 Olympics. But none will.
by
Vicki Valosik
via
Made By History
on
August 5, 2024
At the 1960 Olympics, American Athletes Recruited by the CIA Tried to Convince Soviets to Defect
Al Cantello, a star of the U.S. track and field team, arranged a covert meeting between a government agent and a Ukrainian long jumper.
by
Erik Ofgang
via
Smithsonian
on
August 1, 2024
How a Generation of Women and Queer Skateboarders Fought for Visibility and Recognition
On defying gender norms and expectations in extreme sports.
by
Deborah Stoll
via
Literary Hub
on
July 18, 2024
How the 1904 Marathon Became One of the Weirdest Olympic Events of All Time
Athletes drank poison, dodged traffic, stole peaches and even hitchhiked during the 24.85-mile race in St. Louis.
by
Ellen Wexler
,
Karen Abbott
via
Smithsonian
on
June 27, 2024
Human Velocity
“The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports” upends long-held assumptions about trans people’s participation in sports.
by
Michael Waters
,
Frankie de la Cretaz
via
The Baffler
on
June 7, 2024
A Forgotten Athlete, a Nazi Official, and the Origins of Sex Testing at the Olympics
In 1936, the Czech track star Zdeněk Koubek became world-famous after undergoing surgery so that he could live openly as a man.
by
Michael Waters
via
The New Yorker
on
June 1, 2024
For Pete’s Sake
A new book traces "the rise and fall of Pete Rose, and the last glory days of baseball."
by
Christopher Caldwell
via
The Washington Free Beacon
on
May 12, 2024
How Lew Alcindor Became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The early years of a future basketball icon.
by
Scott Howard-Cooper
via
Literary Hub
on
March 18, 2024
The Last Of The Brooklyn Dodgers
Richard Staff interviews four former Brooklyn Dodgers players, who, despite the team's move to Los Angeles, still identify with their Brooklyn roots.
by
Richard Staff
via
Defector
on
February 19, 2024
partner
The Man Who Changed Field Goals Forever
A Hungarian immigrant first brought the soccer style field kick to the NFL.
by
Russ Crawford
via
Made By History
on
February 8, 2024
Before Taylor and Travis, There Was Helen and John
She was an actress. He was a shortstop. What we can learn from the press parade around this 19th-century power couple.
by
Scott D. Peterson
via
Zócalo Public Square
on
January 11, 2024
The Misunderstood History of American Wrestling
A recent biography of Vince McMahon presents him as an entertainment tycoon who changed culture and politics. The real story is as banal as it is brutal.
by
Nadine Smith
via
The Nation
on
November 10, 2023
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