Something in the Water: Where Do Great Athletes Come From?

Competitive sports give athletes structure, community and purpose. And an outlet for their passion. So what happens when, because of injury or age, they can’t play anymore? Does the competitive drive find a new home? Or get slowly extinguished? Jody talks to aging expert Tracey Gendron, Olympian, turned chef, Dawn Burrell, and soccer legend Carli Lloyd about finding grace and direction when closing a chapter. Transcripts for Good Sport are available at go.ted.com/GStranscripts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We often take gender for granted as a “natural” division in sports and life. But did you know the first decisions to divide sports into “male” and “female” categories were in many ways the result of women beating men in mixed gender competitions? In this episode, Jody chats with Veronica Ivy, a trans world cycling champion, about the pitfalls of dividing sports by gender. Then he hears from Laura Pappano, a journalist and researcher about the fascinating (and modern) history of gender segregation in sports. Finally, Jody returns to his Ultimate Frisbee roots as he and Raha Mozaffari, a two-time National Champion in the Mixed Division, talk about what we could learn from sports if we stopped using gender as the primary way to categorize athletes -- and explored all the other ways we could create games that are safe, fair, and competitive. Transcripts for Good Sport are available at go.ted.com/GStranscripts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

No one loves to lose. But even if you are a GOAT on a great AND lucky team (and sure, we can debate about who the GOAT is – drop us a line at [email protected]), no one wins every time. So how do people who face loss after loss keep fighting to win? Jody speaks with Nikky McCray, a retired WNBA player who played on three All-Star teams and now coaches at Rutgers, about the secrets to perseverance. Then he chats with psychologist and neuroscientist Ian Robertson to discuss what losing can teach us about winning. Transcripts for Good Sport are available at go.ted.com/GStranscripts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If a sport isn't thinking about how to entertain its fans, it usually doesn't last long. And with so much competing for our attention, what makes someone follow a specific team, or show up to a game? In this episode we look to two exploding fanbases: Formula One Racing and … Banana Ball? Jody speaks with Jessica Smetana and Spencer Hall, the co-hosts of the Formula One podcast “DNF”, about what Netflix has to do with F1’s success. Then Jody talks to Jesse Cole, the owner of The Savannah Bananas, a baseball team that’s selling out games and gaining millions of followers on TikTok – at the same time Major League Baseball continues to bleed fans. Jessie’s approach to cultivating a “fans first, entertainment always” mentality is literally reinventing how we play and think about sports. Transcripts for Good Sport are available at go.ted.com/GStranscripts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stadiums are not just a place for sports fans to cheer on the home team – they’re also concert venues, convention centers and even serve as makeshift shelters in emergencies. Stadiums are important. So why does it seem that instead of enjoying them, cities end up dealing with the mess (and the bill) that dealmakers leave behind? In this episode, Jody talks to David Samson, the former president of the Miami Marlins, who was in charge of one of the “worst stadium deals in history” about what really happens in a negotiation room. Then Jody speaks to sports economist Andrew Zimbalist and urban planner Mirela Fiori to ask directly if we can build stadiums better – and if so – how?! Transcripts for Good Sport are available at go.ted.com/GStranscripts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.