From History Now, a special issue on sports, including Mark Naison on why sports history is American history, and essays on Jim Thorpe, Satchel Paige, Muhammad Ali, Title IX, and women's baseball. Football is galvanising action to deliver education for all children, but can football help achieve development goals? When sports help economies score: Sports events like the soccer World Cup stimulate trade around the world and spotlight the host country; hosting the Olympic Games and other mega sporting events is an honor many countries aspire to — but why?; countries that bid for the Olympics are sending a signal that they are ready to open up trade; if life is like cricket, then the luck of a good first job matters a lot in a successful career; and a review of Soccernomics by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski. The black athletes who don't play basketball: The term "the Tiger Woods of [sport]" has become common shorthand for a certain kind of athlete — the kind who is "changing the face of the game". The Michael Jordan of India: Meet Sachin Tendulkar, the best athlete you've never heard of. Can't Canada just leave hockey alone? Hockey is Freudian for Canadians — it puts the id in their collective identity. A review of The Empire Strikes Out: How Baseball Sold US Foreign Policy and Promoted the American Way Abroad by Robert Elias. Two books chart the rise and fall of the people of the politicized black athlete. From Taki's Magazine, Steve Sailer on the death of spectator sports. If Darwin were a sports psychologist: Jesse Bering on evolution and athletics. The Unsporting Event: Do the Paralympic Games encourage athletes to win big by aiming low? A review of European Football in Black and White: Tackling Racism in Football by Christos Kassimeris. A review of Football and Philosophy: Going Deep.
