Dave Zirin on Sports Beneath the Pyrotechnics

Dave Zirin on Sports Beneath the Pyrotechnics

Dave Zirin on Sports Beneath the Pyrotechnics

From Billie Jean King to Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown to Pat Tillman, the new film Not Just A Game: Power, Politics & American Sports examines just how linked politics and sports have always been.

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

Why do Americans worship athletes, and why do we continue to view sports as a near-holy sanctuary into which things such as politics should never enter? "We love sports because it provides escape and the promise of magic," says The Nation‘s Dave Zirin, "But beneath the pyro, it’s a fun-house mirror of who we are as a country." 

Zirin recently sat down with ESPN’s Scoop Jackson to explain why politics have always been an inextricable part of sports. In fact, Zirin made his new movie,  Not Just A Game: Power, Politics & American Sports, to examine this long and fruitful history of politics in sports. From Billie Jean King to Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown to Pat Tillman, "no matter the ‘ism’ we’re talking about," Zirin says, "racism, militarism, sexism, commercialism—the point of the film is that there is politics and promise woven throughout." 

Go here to read the full interview. Go here to watch a sneak preview of Not Just A Game and to learn more about the film.

Support independent journalism that does not fall in line

Even before February 28, the reasons for Donald Trump’s imploding approval rating were abundantly clear: untrammeled corruption and personal enrichment to the tune of billions of dollars during an affordability crisis, a foreign policy guided only by his own derelict sense of morality, and the deployment of a murderous campaign of occupation, detention, and deportation on American streets. 

Now an undeclared, unauthorized, unpopular, and unconstitutional war of aggression against Iran has spread like wildfire through the region and into Europe. A new “forever war”—with an ever-increasing likelihood of American troops on the ground—may very well be upon us.  

As we’ve seen over and over, this administration uses lies, misdirection, and attempts to flood the zone to justify its abuses of power at home and abroad. Just as Trump, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth offer erratic and contradictory rationales for the attacks on Iran, the administration is also spreading the lie that the upcoming midterm elections are under threat from noncitizens on voter rolls. When these lies go unchecked, they become the basis for further authoritarian encroachment and war. 

In these dark times, independent journalism is uniquely able to uncover the falsehoods that threaten our republic—and civilians around the world—and shine a bright light on the truth. 

The Nation’s experienced team of writers, editors, and fact-checkers understands the scale of what we’re up against and the urgency with which we have to act. That’s why we’re publishing critical reporting and analysis of the war on Iran, ICE violence at home, new forms of voter suppression emerging in the courts, and much more. 

But this journalism is possible only with your support.

This March, The Nation needs to raise $50,000 to ensure that we have the resources for reporting and analysis that sets the record straight and empowers people of conscience to organize. Will you donate today?

Ad Policy
x