Babe Ruth and the Birth of Modern Celebrity

Babe Ruth and the Birth of Modern Celebrity

Babe Ruth and the Birth of Modern Celebrity

Big Fella author Jane Leavy talks Babe Ruth and the start of the celebrity athlete.

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

This week we speak to Jane Leavy, author of the new book Big Fella: Babe Ruth and the World He Created. It’s a unique look at the foundational athlete of the 20th century and the birth of the modern celebrity athlete in American society. 

Also we’ve got Choice Words about the University of Maryland’s effort to perfume its toxic football culture. We also have Just Stand Up and Just Sit Down awards to Darius Miles and Syracuse coach Jim Boheim, a special Kaepernick Watch, and more.

Jane Leavy
Twitter: @janelavy1
The Big Fella: Babe Ruth and the World He Created

Zirin
Of Course the University of Maryland’s Football Culture Is Toxic

Support The Nation’s June Fundraising Campaign

With the midterm elections now firmly upon us, the question is whether Democratic candidates will do more than merely occupy ballot lines as mild alternatives to the red-hot crisis that is Donald Trump.

As Trump spends over $1 billion a day on a globally destabilizing war on Iran and admits that he doesn’t “think about Americans’ financial situation,” millions across the country are struggling with the surging costs of essentials. Democrats must seize this moment and advance bold, small-“d” populist ideas—not settle for cynical caution that once again snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.

The Nation elevates progressive ideas, movements, and elected officials achieving real change across the country into the national conversation. At the same time, our journalists are exposing how crypto and AI-funded super PACs are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to knock out candidates they oppose, reporting on the devastating impact of the Supreme Court’s evisceration of the Voting Rights Act, and sounding the alarm on attempts by red states to quickly redraw electoral maps, disenfranchising Southern Black voters.

We can play this critical role because of support from readers like you. This June, we’re raising $20,000 to power The Nation’s independent journalism in the run-up to November’s immensely consequential elections.

It’s in our power to build a more just society, and your support at this critical moment brings us closer to that bold vision. I hope you’ll donate today.

Onward,

Katrina vanden Huevel
Editor and Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x