The Sport of Life: Chats w/ Comedians, Filmmakers, Sports Figures, Musicians, & Intellectuals

Actor, writer, and storyteller Paterson Joseph chats with Trey Elling about THE SECRET DIARIES OF CHARLES IGNATIUS SANCHO: A NOVEL. Sancho is an important figure in British history, who on top of being an 18th century abolitionist, writer, and composer, he was also the first British African to vote in Great Britain. Topics include: A brief introduction of Charles Ignatius Sancho (0:46) What Paterson most connects with about Sancho’s story (4:34) How Sancho’s actual writings influenced Paterson’s novelization of his life (8:54) Writing of Sancho dealing death through his own grief experiences (13:52) How much Paterson enjoyed writing his first book and what he enjoyed about the process (18:37) The key to a good story (23:14) Paterson’s performance on HBO’s The Leftovers (27:45) The cringeworthy joys of Peep Show (34:33)

Emmy-winning filmmaker Pat Kondelis chats with Trey Elling about CATCHING LIGHTNING. The new four-part documentary series on Showtime, directed by Kondelis, details the life of "Lightning" Lee Murray, a British MMA fighter with superstar potential, whose career and freedom came to an end abrupt after he was discovered to have pulled off the largest cash heist in British history. Topics include: Why he wanted to tell this story (1:24) Who Lee Murray is (2:42) What it took to get Lee’s wife on the record for the first time (4:28) The unique circumstances of Lee getting caught and punished (6:38) Whether he tried to speak with Lee in Moroccan prison (7:19) The one question he would ask Lee (8:37) The legendary story involving Lee & Tito Ortiz in a London street brawl (10:57) How he’s so good at re-create stories being told (12:59) How would’ve won a fight in 2004 between Tito Ortiz and Lee Murray (14:32) The most surprising element of Lee Murray’s story (16:12) Why he’s serving his punishment in Morocco and not England (18:07) Whether this series could help get his sentence overturned (19:12) The nature vs nurture element of Lee’s mistakes (22:01)

The main cast of AIR, chats with Trey Elling, ahead of its world premiere at  @SXSW . The film tells the story of how Nike and a young Michael Jordan came together for a shoe deal, whose long term effects completely altered the social fabric of basketball, shoe culture, and life. Interview subjects include: Writer Alex Convery (2:10) Chris Messina (6:06) Chris Tucker (8:40) Jason Bateman (12:07) Viola Davis & Julius Tennon (14:55) Matt Damon (17:56) Ben Affleck (22:37)

Associate Professor and Director of the Institute for Health Policy and Politics at Lehigh University Eduardo J. Gómez chats with Trey Elling about JUNK FOOD POLITICS: HOW BEVERAGE AND FAST FOOD INDUSTRIES ARE RESHAPING EMERGING ECONOMIES. Topics include: The book's inspiration (0:52) Why he focused on Mexico, Brazil, India, Indonesia, China, and South Africa (4:10) What he means by 'junk food industry' (5:15) How junk food politics is a two-way street (6:21) How the junk food industry is operating on its own fear (7:22) NAFTA's influence on the rise of junk food consumption in Mexico (10:33) Why these countries' presidents allow junk food to sway public health policy (12:19) Whether Mexico's soda & junk food tax has helped (16:09) Coca Cola exploiting feminism in India (18:18) Why junk food consumption exploded in Brazil in the mid-1990s (19:49) Junk food's influence on Brazil's Zero Fome public health campaign (23:11) The role of India's agricultural sector and food production in its junk food problems (25:59) India's history of malnourishment harming parents' perception of what makes for a healthy kid (27:33) India's attempts to limit junk food around schools (29:55) Coca Cola's roller coaster historical relationship with China (33:11) Snacking as a reflection of China's unique history (35:20) Big Junk Food's blatant marketing to kids in China (36:36) Coca Cola embedding itself into China's academic community (38:40) Nelson Mandela's initial hostility toward Coca Cola in the early 1990s (39:49) Indonesia unique relationship with junk foods& beverages (44:06) The Indonesian government's revolving door problem (46:29) A country that does a good job combatting junk food politics for the good of public health (47:22) Whether Eduardo is optimistic or pessimistic about the future (52:12)

Bob Odenkirk & Mireille Enos chat with Trey Elling on the red carpet at SXSW 2023, ahead of the premiere of their new AMC series, LUCKY HANK. Plus, a surprise interview with Mireille's husband, actor Alan Ruck! Mireille Enos (1:54) Alan Ruck (5:09) Bob Odenkirk (7:55)

Dan Lyons, NY Times-bestselling author, discusses his book STFU: THE POWER OF KEEPING YOUR MOUTH SHUT IN AN ENDLESSLY NOISY WORLD. Topics include talkaholism, impact on anxiety, shutting off technology, social media, health, work, parenting, love, emailing, leading by STFU, and the difficulty of listening.

Renowned security technologist and New York Times bestselling author Bruce Schneier chats with Trey Elling about A HACKER'S MIND: HOW THE POWERFUL BEND SOCIETY'S RULES, AND HOW TO BEND THEM BACK. Topics include: A definition of hacking (1:03) The “Double Irish with a Dutch Sandwich” tax hack (2:30) Defending against ‘bad’ hacks (3:34) Why kids are such natural hackers (9:06) Hacking the airlines (12:05) Hacking sports (18:09) Hacking heaven in the 1500s (24:51) A simple computer financial exchange hack (26:47) Luxury real estate as a money-laundering hack for the super-rich (28:05) ‘Too big to fail’ as a hack (29:29) Venture Capital funding as a hack (34:36) How Uber hacks the system (37:09) How elected officials hack lawmaking (39:20) Why US elections are so expensive (42:39) Antitrust laws as a solutions to social media companies hacking cognitive systems (49:20) Solving the political bot problems (52:22) How AI will take hacking to a completely different level (54:55)

Oncology and hematology expert Chadi Nabhan, MD, chats with Trey Elling about TOXIC EXPOSURE: THE TRUE STORY BEHIND THE MONSANTO TRIALS AND THE SEARCH FOR JUSTICE. Dr. Nabhan served as the expert witness on Non Hodgkin Lymphoma for plaintiffs in the first three cases against Monsanto and glyphosate, the primary ingredient in their Roundup herbicide. Topics include: How Chadi’s medical training took focus on oncology and hematology (1:12) Explaining Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (4:23) What made him want testify as an expert witness against Monsanto (5:59) The shadiness behind glyphosate’s initial approval in 1974 (9:58) The EPA’s role in glyphosate not being labeled a carcinogen (13:47) Chad’s first deposition (17:55) Initially meeting the first plaintiff, Lee Johnson (20:14) Swedish research linking glyphosate and cancer (21:45) The Who’s 2015 report that shed light on glyphosate (24:48) Taking the stand in Lee John’s case against Monsanto (28:29) Learning of the guilty verdicts against Monsanto (33:54) Chad’s thoughts on the second and third trials (35:58) Why glyphosate is still allowed commercially, even though it’s no longer sold residentially in the US (37:38) Chad’s podcast, “Healthcare Unfiltered” (41:53) Ideas to help the broken US healthcare system (43:59)

University of Texas at Austin faculty member Sam Woolley, whose expertise focuses on the use of propaganda in new media and emerging technologies, chats with Trey Elling about MANUFACTURING CONSENSUS: UNDERSTANDING PROPAGANDA IN THE AGE OF AUTOMATION AND ANONYMITY. Topics include: The book’s goal (1:12) How propaganda initially came to be (2:20) Jacques Ellul’s influence on Sam’s belief’s (6:05) Defining computational propaganda (8:55) Social media bots (12:43) ChatGPT (16:06) Governments loving Facebook & Reddit for computational propaganda (17:53) Propaganda-bred apathy (20:55) Democratizing propaganda being bad for democracy (22:39) Why social media is bad for civil discourse (24:41) What he’s taken from recent #TwitterFiles & congressional testimony revelations (28:04) Treating social media companies as public utilities (31:07) If its possible to quantify the number of social media bots (34:02) Encrypted messaging like WhatsApp as a propaganda tool (38:23) The danger of automated political influencers (41:56) How journalists have been crucial in Sam’s understanding of political bots (45:28) Journalists leaning on social media posts for articles (48:33) Journalists using bots for good (49:29) Bots writing news stories (51:24) ChatGPT usage at the college level (52:52) China using social media to spread propaganda abroad (57:29) Why Sam is still optimistic about the future (59:00)

In the second of a two-part conversation, investigative journalist and bestselling author Jeff Guinn chats with Trey Elling about WACO: DAVID KORESH, THE BRANCH DAVIDIANS, AND A LEGACY OF RAGE. You can find part 1 of this interview HERE. This time around, the focus is on the 51-day seige, and fatal mistakes made by ATF- and FBI leadership. Topics include: How the ATF ended up on the Branch Davidians’ trail (1:22) How ATF agents were misinformed on two crucial elements before the initial raid (6:10) The ATF’s plan of action (9:30) Why the Treasure Department reversed their decision to nix the ATF’s planned raid (13:34) How the ATF’s raid lost its element of surprise (16:55) Whether choppers fired on the Branch Davidian compound during that initial raid (21:14) What the ATF agents who took part in the raid still resent the most (27:01) The no-win situation for the ATF agents on the ground that day (30:50) Two conflicting internal factors at play when the FBI took over (32:09) The likelihood of the FBI ever apologizing for mistakes they made in Waco (41:16) Whether Koresh close to surrendering before that final, fateful day (41:36)