Podcast / Edge of Sports / Mar 3, 2025

Sports Under Fascism & All-Time NBA Injury What-Ifs

On this episode of Edge of Sports, a talk from 2023 on sports during authoritarianism and Arya on NBA injury what-ifs.

Edge of Sports
Edge of Sports

Where sports and politics collide, hosted by Nation magazine Sports Editor Dave Zirin

“Sports Under Fascism & All-Time NBA Injury What-Ifs”
byDave Zirin / The Nation

This week, we have a talk I gave two years ago about the social function of sports in an authoritarian society. It rings more true today, and I wanted to share it with you all. Also, I talked to basketball savant Arya Shirazi about the injuries that changed the course of NBA history.

Zirin, Why Democrats Won’t Throw a Real Punch

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/democratic-party-fecklessness/

http://www.edgeofsportspodcast.com/ | http://twitter.com/EdgeOfSportsPod | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: [email protected] | Edge of Sports hotline: 401-426-3343 (EDGE)

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Clipper Shaun Livingston is taken off the court after getting injured at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Monday, February 26, 2007.
(Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

This week, we have a talk I gave two years ago about the social function of sports in an authoritarian society. It rings more true today, and I wanted to share it with you all. Also, I talked to basketball savant Arya Shirazi about the injuries that changed the course of NBA history.

Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.

Edge of Sports
Edge of Sports

Where sports and politics collide, hosted by Nation magazine Sports Editor Dave Zirin

Boxing’s Rings of Dissent and NBA Awards Predictions
byDave Zirin / The Nation

This week, we talk to David Leonard, co-editor of the new book Rings of Dissent: Boxing and Performances of Rebellion. We also go into Part III of our NBA preview, joined by the savant Aryan Shirazi, where we make awards predictions and even early revisions. 

Zirin, Mumia Abu-Jamal Speaks With the Clear Voice of a Free Man

https://www.thenation.com/podcast/society/eos-10132025/

http://www.edgeofsportspodcast.com/ | http://twitter.com/EdgeOfSportsPod | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: [email protected] | Edge of Sports hotline: 401-426-3343 (EDGE)

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Subscribe to The Nation to Support all of our podcasts

Dave Zirin

Dave Zirin is the sports editor at The Nation. He is the author of 11 books on the politics of sports. He is also the coproducer and writer of the new documentary Behind the Shield: The Power and Politics of the NFL.

More from The Nation

Traffic moves along the Brooklyn Queens Expressway on October 26, 2025, in Brooklyn, New York City.

Why We Need a War on Cars Why We Need a War on Cars

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us: Doug Gordon and Sarah Goodyear discuss how to create more equitable forms of mobility.

Paris Marx

Dem Voters Triumph— Plus, That Springsteen Movie

Dem Voters Triumph— Plus, That Springsteen Movie Dem Voters Triumph— Plus, That Springsteen Movie

On this episode of Start Making Sense, John Nichols analyzes Tuesday’s elections, and Greil Marcus explains what’s missing in Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.

Jon Wiener

Donald Trump, left, greets John Roberts, chief justice of the US Supreme Court, arrives for a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, March 4, 2025.

Why the Supreme Court Will Never Stand Up to Trump Why the Supreme Court Will Never Stand Up to Trump

Podcast / The Nation Podcast / Mar 3, 2025 Sports Under Fascism & All-Time NBA Injury What-Ifs On The Nation Podcast: Elie Mystal on the Roberts court’s capitulation. D.

Podcast / The Nation Podcast

Donald Trump speaks in front of US Navy personnel on board the US Navy’s USS George Washington aircraft carrier at the US naval base in Yokosuka, Japan, on October 28, 2025.

After the American Empire After the American Empire

On this episode of The Time of Monsters: Trita Parsi on why Donald Trump’s retrenchment doesn’t go far enough.

Jeet Heer

Memphis vs. Musk, With Representative Justin J. Pearson

Memphis vs. Musk, With Representative Justin J. Pearson Memphis vs. Musk, With Representative Justin J. Pearson

“No matter how many billions you have, you don't have enough to buy our lives.”

Shilpi Chhotray

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with U.S. President Donald Trump in Busan, South Korea, Oct. 30, 2025.

Trump’s Asia Tour and Xi Summit, Massacres in Sudan by the RFK, Bombings of Boats Off the South American Coast by the US Trump’s Asia Tour and Xi Summit, Massacres in Sudan by the RFK, Bombings of Boats Off the South American Coast by the US

The news from American Prestige.

Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

x