While sports of all kinds have been put on pause, we bring you favorite stories from back when people were still on football fields, boxing rings, and basketball courts.
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Prologue
Host Ira Glass talks to sportswriters Jason Kirk and Spencer Hall about life in a sportsless world. Read Jason and Spencer’s essay about this. (7 minutes)
Friday Night Floodlights
Lisa Pollak tells the story of a high school football team in Mississippi getting ready to play its first game just a month after Hurricane Katrina upended everything. (18 minutes)
Song:
Dunk and Go Nuts
Producer Nancy Updike talks to her friend Mary Conway about the strangest-looking trophy she got in her years playing basketball. (11 minutes)
Those Who Can’t Play
Daniel Alarcón’s dad was obsessed with soccer when he was growing up, but he was only average at soccer. But those who can’t do...find something else to do. Daniel first told this story on his show Radio Ambulante. (6 minutes)
The Girl With the Golden Gloves
A story about someone with a complicated relationship with the sport she loves, from Meema Spadola. (12 minutes)
Related
Act One: Yes 2024
Act Two: Distant Replay
Story #3: Fabric
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Act V
A group of inmates at a high-security prison stage a production of the last act of Hamlet.
Harper High School - Part One
We spent five months at a high school in Chicago where in the last year 29 current and recent students were shot.