'The Nation' Trades Politics For Sports

Politics is something of a sport here in the United States and for 146 years The Nation has filled its pages with political reporting and commentary. Now, for only the second time in its history, the magazine is dedicating an issue to actual sports.

The August 15/22 edition of The Nation is titled, "Sports: Views From Left Field," and features short and long-form pieces on the athletes and games we love and the larger societal issues they reflect. There are also remembrances from unlikely sources: Ralph Nader reveals his sports hero was Lou Gehrig; Dennis Kucinich remembers learning of Jim Thorpe's death; and Dan Rather looks back on his days as a cub reporter in Buffalo covering Rube Walker, a former big league baseball player managing in the minor leagues.

Bill Littlefield talks with the issue's guest editor, Dave Zirin, about some of the features. He's also joined by Sherry Wolf, whose article "America's Deepest Closet," looks at homosexuality and homophobia in major sports.