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

New Yorker staff writer and bestselling author Susan Orlean chats with Trey Elling about ON ANIMALS. Questions include: Why does she feel a lifelong connection with animals? (01:10) Why is she most interested in animals that straddle the line between domesticated and wild? (03:03) How does someone get comfortable enough with a lion to keep it as a pet? (14:54) What impresses her most about mules? (19:32) Why are rabbits the only animals we keep as pets and also readily eat? (25:12)

Writer and editor Laurie Woolever chats with Trey Elling about BOURDAIN: THE DEFINITIVE ORAL BIOGRAPHY. Laurie spent nearly a decade working as Anthony Bourdain's assistant and co-author, before his suicide in 2018. BOURDAIN is a result of conversations with a multitude of important people in Tony's life as a child, aimless college student, lover, cook, addict, writer, tv personality, father, celebrity, and more.

Investigative storyteller and bestselling author Mary Roach chats with Trey Elling about FUZZ: WHEN NATURE BREAKS THE LAW.

Villanova political science professor Mark Lawrence Schrad chats with Trey Elling about SMASHING THE LIQUOR MACHINE: A GLOBAL HISTORY. The guys discuss the history of temperance and prohibition as a tool of the oppressed in: Russia Sweden Germany Great Britain India The United States And as a bonus, Mark shares a story of drinking too much vodka, on a train from Russia to the Ukraine, that you don't want to miss!

Science journalist Leigh Cowart chats with Trey Elling about HURTS SO GOOD: THE SCIENCE AND CULTURE OF PAIN ON PURPOSE. Questions include: What is pain? (01:26) Why do endorphins help explain why pain can feel good? (02:25) How do fMRI scans differ between the brains of masochists and non when dealing with pain? (08:11) What do people get wrong about capsaicin, the chemical that causes the hot spice in peppers? (15:24) Why does she tend to notice how attention changes perception? (20:36) Where is the line when purposeful pain goes from good to bad? (22:25) Why is discomfort good for us? (25:11)

Clinical neuropsychologist William Stixrud and PrepMatters founder Ned Johnson chat with Trey Elling about WHAT DO YOU SAY? HOW TO TALK WITH KIDS TO BUILD MOTIVATION, STRESS TOLERANCE, AND A HAPPY HOME. The book serves as the follow-up to their 2018 bestseller, THE SELF-DRIVEN CHILD.

Particle physicist Dr. Harry Cliff chats with Trey Elling about HOW TO MAKE AN APPLE PIE FROM SCRATCH: IN SEARCH OF THE RECIPE FOR OUR UNIVERSE, FROM THE ORIGIN OF ATOMS TO THE BIG BANG. Questions include: Why is carbon the David Bowie of the periodic table? (09:58) How did Einstein prove the existence of atoms in 1905? (11:56) What makes Ernest Rutherford one of the greatest experimental physicists of all time? (16:34) Why is an English lab trying to make a (twinkle, twinkle little) star on Earth, and what exactly does that mean? (21:21) How are supernovas important in creating the elements required for life? (24:51) How can a particle be left- or right-handed? (48:24) Does an answer exist that fully explains the onset of the Big Bang Theory? (49:46)

Benjamin H. Milligan, an active member of the US Navy SEALs from 2001-2009, chats with Trey Elling about BY WATER BENEATH THE WALLS: THE RISE OF THE NAVY SEALS. The book chronicles the US military special forces and individuals who helped shape what ultimately became the US Navy SEALs.

Food writer Matt Siegel chats with Trey Elling about THE SECRET HISTORY OF FOOD: STRANGE BUT TRUE STORIES ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF EVERYTHING WE EAT. Learn all about the histories of: Vanilla (05:54) Ice cream (09:58) America's connection to apple pie (20:46) Cereal (22:57) Dildo bread (27:03) Corn (31:51) Honey (37:12) Fast food (45:24) Rebranded seafood like whore's eggs (49:12) Olive oil (51:27)

Filmmaker Nick Scown chats with Trey Elling about TOO SOON: COMEDY AFTER 9/11, which Scown co-directed with Julie Seabaugh. The film examines how September 11th affected the comedy scene, and th comedians and jokes responsible for the artform's rebirth in the weeks, months, and years that followed.