Sports are more than just games: when we play or watch sports, we are forming the ways we look at our world and understand issues of sexism, racism, homophobia and nationalism. In this week’s special sports Issue of The Nation, academics, journalists and athletes report on how activists, fans, athletes and even corporations use sports to express both their politics and identity. 

On NPR’s Only a Game, Dave Zirin discusses why The Nation chose to devote an entire issue to sports and Sherry Wolf explains why the locker rooms of professional sports are America’s deepest closet despite opinion surveys showing broad acceptance of homosexuality among both sports fans and athletes. You can check out the Sports Issue here and Wolf’s article here. 

—Kevin Donohoe