This weekend is Super Bowl Sunday. Now, I am admittedly a fair-weather sports fan, but my hometown team is playing, so I’ll be tuning in. (Go Pats! Don’t come at me.) But when you dig deeper into what sports mean in America, you’ll find all kinds of stories that intersect with our lives.
Growing up, we had no shortage of investigative sports news. But gradually, those programs have disappeared. In comes Pablo Torre, a veteran sports journalist who is conducting some of the best sports stories of our time. On his podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out, he covers all manner of sports material, from the financial shenanigans of the LA Clippers to a cheating scandal leading up to the Winter Olympics. Pablo isn’t afraid to go after the people in power, who often make decisions based solely on financial gain. Sounds a lot like what we do here at the Center for Investigative Reporting! And in fact, Pablo joined forces with my colleague Madison Pauly to report on the rise of Riley Gaines, a former college swimmer who has become a conservative voice against trans athletes. You may have heard that episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out right here on More To The Story. I also encourage you to take a listen to the excellent reporting from Reveal in the episode “How Sports Became a Battleground Over Trans Rights.”
In this conversation with Al Letson, Pablo talks about race and Black Lives Matter in the NFL and NBA, how sports gambling is more prevalent than ever, and how money is affecting college sports. And we ask the question: Why does Bad Bunny make MAGA so mad?
It is undeniable how sports continually intersect with our lives. So I hope you’ll take a listen to this episode of More To The Story and enjoy the game this Sunday.
—Kara McGuirk-Allison
