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

Award-winning writer David Sax chats with Trey Elling about THE FUTURE IS ANALOG: HOW TO CREATE A MORE HUMAN WORLD. Topics include: How the pandemic exposed the flaws of going too digital (0:22) The value of working at an office with your coworkers (3:28) The false promises of technology evolving education (18:45) What schools could learn from kindergarten (26:42) The initial vision of e-commerce vs what it became in this era of Amazon (36:19) The analog value of cities (45:38) The importance of shared, live experiences (49:32) Analog conversations healing loneliness and depression through "social prescribing" (54:09) Unplugging for the good of the soul (59:25) David's thoughts on the Metaverse (1:07:05)

Two-time UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas and her trainer & fiancé Pat Barry chat with Trey Elling about THUG ROSE: MIXED MARTIAL ARTIST from the red carpet, prior to its world premiere at the Austin Film Festival. The film documents the highs and lows from Rose's life and career. Pat Barry (0:00) Rose Namajunas (3:37)

Rose Namajunas and Marius Markevicius chat with Trey Elling about THUG ROSE: MIXED MARTIAL ARTIST. The documentary about Namajunas' life and career, directed by Markevicius, premieres on November 9th on UFC Fight Pass.

James Beard- and Emmy-winning chef, tv personality, and author Jacques Pépin chats with Trey Elling about ART OF THE CHICKEN: A MASTER CHEF'S PAINTINGS, STORIES, AND RECIPES OF THE HUMBLE BIRD. Topics include: What he loves about chickens (1:32) Giving recipes in a narrative style (3:05) Cooking over live fire (5:28) Working at Hôtel Plaza Athénée, Paris (6:29) Moving from France to NYC in 1959 (7:43) Choosing Howard Johnson over the Kennedy White House (8:39) Making chicken cracklings (13:18) The value of a cooked chicken carcass (14:41) Deboning chickens, quickly and correctly (15:00) Why he & Julia Child were lampooned by SNL (15:47) Eggs, the MOST valuable ingredient (18:41) A love for painting AND painting chickens (19:19)

Joe Maddon, a longtime MLB manager who led the Tampa Bay Rays to their first ever World Series appearance and the Chicago Cubs to their first World Series title in more than 100 years, chats with Trey Elling about THE BOOK OF JOE: TRYING NOT TO SUCK AT BASEBALL AND LIFE. Topics include: The book's goal (2:14) Slogans helping to get a message across (4:08) A football coach who shaped his leadership style (7:24) How he got into coaching baseball (8:53) His favorite championship (10:52) The importance of struggling (12:48) The hardest player he ever had to cut (16:08) Gene Mauch's impact on Joe (17:58) The Cubs' mistreatment of Joe, heading into his final season with the team (19:50) The next ideal managerial situation (21:45) Whether computers should call balls and strikes (24:11)

European history and nuclear arms policy expert Benjamin Abelow chats with Trey Elling about HOW THE WEST BROUGHT WAR TO UKRAINE: UNDERSTANDING HOW U.S. AND NATO POLICIES LED TO CRISIS, WAR, AND THE RISK OF NUCLEAR CATASTROPHE. Topics include: NATO's expansion east over the past 30 years (0:35) Why NATO would've promised not to expand east in the early 1990s (2:46) NATO adding Poland is a member in the late '90s (6:09) George W. Bush withdrawing the US from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in late 2001 (8:48) NATO's failed attempt to add Georgia and Ukraine in 2008 (11:00) The US's role in Ukraine's 2014 coup (17:16) Russia's response to the coup (26:26) US actions in Romania in 2016 (29:50) Trump surprisingly continuing aggressive policies toward Russia (33:53) NATO & US diplomacy with Ukraine intensifying in 2021 (38:20) The immediate future of the current conflict (47:15) The likely culprit(s) of the Nord Stream Pipeline attacks (53:25) Ben's concern about a nuclear weapon being used (1:02:40)

Award-winning television producer and documentary filmmaker Natasha Lance Rogoff chats with Trey Elling about MUPPETS IN MOSCOW: THE UNEXPECTED CRAZY TRUE STORY OF MAKING SESAME STREET IN RUSSIA. Topics include: Why Sesame Street asked her to bring the show to Russia (2:00) Starting with getting past Russia's gatekeepers (8:29) Finally finding Russian financing (14:42) The difficulty of convincing Russians to diversify the show's music (17:07) The Russian production team not understanding America's racism (23:59) Russia's culture and values worth exposing to its children with Sesame Street (30:11) Important details for the Russian Sesame Street neighborhood (39:05) The sadness involved with casting Russian child actors (43:41) Creating the Russia-specific Muppet puppets (47:27) Finally getting to the television premiere in October 1996 (52:26) The lasting legacy of Russian Sesame Street (54:41)

George Mason University Professor of Economics and New York Times bestselling author Bryan Caplan chats with Trey Elling about DON'T BE A FEMINIST: ESSAYS ON GENUINE JUSTICE. Topics include: Feminism (0:22) Orwellian 'othering' (13:49) Public school classes are too touchy-feely (18:41) Happiness (22:39)

Decision-making expert, bestselling author, and former professional poker player Annie Duke chats with Trey Elling about QUIT: THE POWER OF KNOWING WHEN TO WALK AWAY. Topics include: Why we have have a hard time quitting (2:17) Richard Pryor (5:26) Why NYC cabbies in the 1990s were bad quitters (8:17) The difficulty of quitting in the red (13:03) California's high speed train money pit (16:22) Monkeys and pedestals (21:13) Sears not being able to quit itself (24:48) Daniel Kahneman providing a blurb for QUIT (29:29)

Comedian John Crist chats with Trey Elling about DELETE THAT (AND OTHER FAILED ATTEMPTS TO LOOK GOOD ONLINE). Topics include: Writing a memoir at 38 (:31) John's unique childhood (2:20) Failure (6:58) Early affirmations from a comic who had 'made it' (10:47) Louie Anderson's generous offer (13:51) Getting over a fear of discussing his spirituality on stage (17:00) Mocking both sides of a topic (22:22) A Sophie's choice for John (25:51) Those little motivators early in a standup career (29:52)