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

Spy. Spook. Intelligence officer. However you label him, Douglas London spent 34 years with the CIA, working as a field operative in countries outside of the United States, establishing relationships with foreign nationals who could help the US with highly sensitive information. And he's sharing his story with Trey Elling as told in THE RECRUITER: SPYING AND THE LOST ART OF AMERICAN INTELLIGENCE. The book is part memoir, part how-to-spy guide, and part critique of how and why the CIA lost its way since 9/11 and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Legendary actor Anthony Michael Hall chats with Trey Elling about his new film THE CLASS. Topics include: THE CLASS as a sort of spiritual sequel to THE BREAKFAST CLUB (0:38) Taking a page from John Hughes with rehearsals (5:00) Playing a school administrator, and remembering Paul Gleeson (8:53) Humanizing the authority figures (13:17) Acting class memories (14:59)

Evan Puschak, the guy responsible for the wildly popular The Nerdwriter channel on YouTube, chats with Trey Elling about ESCAPE INTO MEANING: ESSAYS ON SUPERMAN, PUBLIC BENCHES, AND OTHER OBSESSIONS. Topics include: Coming into his own as a writer (1:46) Lessons learned from Emerson (6:35) Articulating like Jerry Seinfeld (10:03) The brilliance of standup comedy (12:43) Facebook's true customers (15:37) The greatness of public benches (23:38) Why Venice, Italy is Evan's favorite place to sit (28:11) Probing Superman's psyche (30:34) The perfect Superman movie (35:13) Identity with respect to friendship (38:23)

Philly-based standup David James chats with Trey Elling, a head of his shows at Cap City Comedy Club from Sept. 2nd - 4th. Topics include: Getting fired from a paper company (0:25) Working as a parole officer (2:35) His standup journey (4:33) Tik Tok standup "comedians" (5:57) Remembering the Alamo while murdering Bills fans in Buffalo (7:36) David's terrible NYE in San Antonio (13:29) What he hates about Philly (17:13)

Trey takes a break from interviews to discuss his recent departure from 104.9 The Horn, a sports radio station in Austin, TX where he hosted a midday show for the past five-plus years.

Journalist, screenwriter, and New York Times bestselling author TJ English chats with Trey Elling about DANGEROUS RHYTHMS: JAZZ AND THE UNDERWORLD. In the second of a two-part conversation with TJ, topics include: Jazz thriving through the Great Depression (0:15) How gangsters "mobbed up" jukeboxes during the Great Depression (2:40) Frank Sinatra as the main figure in the book's second half (4:40) Sinatra's mom providing him an 'in' with the Hoboken, NJ mafia (6:16) Frank using the mob to help settle a disputes with a fellow, and former, band members (7:36) How the mafia had pay those favors back (12:21) Why heroin became so popular with jazz musicians at the start of World War II (19:33) The Times Square joint Birdland as perhaps the most mobbed up club in history (23:56) How 1950s Havana, Cuba was different from other mob-run jazz scenes (29:45) Miles Davis reinvigorating US jazz in the late 1950s (32:50) Sinatra having the mob give JFK a boost in the 1960 presidential election (38:44) When and why the relationship between jazz and gangsters fizzled (44:25)

Journalist, screenwriter, and New York Times bestselling author TJ English chats with Trey Elling about DANGEROUS RHYTHMS: JAZZ AND THE UNDERWORLD. In the first of a two-part conversation with TJ, topics include: Why the birth of jazz was about more than merely creating a new sort of language (3:10) How lynchings helped form a bond Sicilian club owners and black jazz musicians in early-1900s New Orleans (6:29) The origins of the term 'jazz' (10:22) "Jellyroll" Morton (14:06) The influence of the "Sicilian Black Hand" (16:56) The scene surrounding the earliest Kansas City jazz clubs (20:02) Not shying away from the ugliness that surrounded jazz in its early days (25:19) Louis Armstrong's move from New Orleans to Chicago in 1922 (32:16) Al Capone hearts Fats Waller (40:50) The birth of the hipster (44:20)

Legendary race car driver and marijuana smuggler Randy Lanier chats with Trey Elling about SURVIVAL OF THE FASTEST: WEED, SPEED, AND THE 1980s DRUG SCANDAL THAT SHOCKED THE SPORTS WORLD. The book details how Randy became one of the most lucrative international marijuana traffickers in US history during the 1980s, part of which coincided with his rapid ascent in professional auto racing, before it all came crashing down.

Comedian, actor, and radio host Earthquake chats with Trey Elling, ahead of his shows at Cap City Comedy Club. Topics include: Today's kids being bored by the childhood entertainment of the past (0:44) Cancel culture (4:21) Why Washington DC cranks out so many funny comedians (5:17) How he was shaped by serving 11 years in the Air Force (6:41) Audience members attacking comedians (9:00) Will Smith going after Chris Rock at the Oscars (10:31) How he got the name "Earthquake" (11:18) Worst earthquake he's been in (12:43) What he loves about Dave Chappelle (16:04)

Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach, aka "the Bill Murray of College Football", chats with Trey Elling ahead of the 2022 season. Topics include: The collective impact of conference realignment, NIL, and possible playoff expansion on the sport (1:52) Wanting to chat with Elon Musk (20:13) Mike's offseason (23:33) Pikes Peak & Buffalo Bill trivia (28:33) Craziness in the Florida Keys (35:16) Bigfoot (38:36) Previewing Mississippi State football's upcoming season (42:52)