Irv Muchnick is one of America’s leading sports journalists and investigative writers.
His essays and other writing have appeared in Sports Illustrated, People, The Washington Monthly, and the Sunday magazines of the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. He is the author of the books Chris & Nancy; Wrestling Babylon; Concussion Inc., Without Helmets or Shoulder Pads: The American Way of Death in Football Conditioning; and Underwater: The Greed-Soaked Tale of Sexual Abuse in USA Swimming and Around the Globe.
Irv Muchnick reflects on why the recent “revelations” about Vince McMahon’s alleged Caligula-like sexual exploitation of an employee, harassment, and of creating a larger environment of sexual predation at the WWE/WWF should in no way be a surprise given what has been publicly known for decades.
Irv also offers some context from his long history of reporting on the subculture(s) of professional wrestling and other sports such as swimming and gymnastics about how and why sexual harassment and abuse are unfortunately all too common both in those spaces and across American society.
And Irv connects the dots between Donald Trump and Vince McMahon and what he describes as the “Trumpification” of American politics and life.
Chauncey reflects on nostalgia, innocence, joy, pleasure, fan culture, and how to reconcile loving professional wrestling (and other things) with knowing about the real-life drama and human cost that it brings to its participants and others in that world. Ultimately, is innocence bliss?
And Chauncey shares a story about being a hero in your own neighborhood (even when sick), thanks everyone for their support during his battle with the cooties, and in that spirit makes a public health announcement about the merits of folk medicine and the all-powerful asafetida bag.
At the end of this episode of the podcast, there is also an “Easter egg” bonus segment from the archives with writer, movie producer, and director Barry Blaustein where he reflects on making the landmark professional wrestling documentary Beyond the Mat.
WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?
On Twitter:
https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega
On Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega
My email:
chaunceydevega@gmail.com
HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW?
Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com
Patreon:
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Ep. 415: Ukraine, the Middle East, and How the Future of Warfare is Here Right Now
Ep. 414: Kamala Harris Destroyed Donald Trump During Their First and Now Only Debate -- What Happens Next?
Ep. 413: Dr. Mary Trump on Escaping the Nightmare Black Hole That is the Age of Trump and the MAGAverse
Ep. 412: Kamala Harris Needs to Use a High Dominance Leadership Style To Defeat and Vanquish Donald Trump and the MAGA Movement
Ep. 411: American Madness -- An Attempt on Donald Trump's Life and President Biden and the Democrats are in Disarray
Ep. 410: The Force is Not Very Strong with Star Wars: The Acolyte
Ep. 409: The Truth Report -- Felon Donald Trump and The Mainstream News Media's Dangerous Obsession With "The Vibes"
Ep. 408: Introducing Convicted Criminal Felon Donald Trump/Deborah “Big Red” Cotton and the American Tragedy of Race, Guns, and Violence
Ep. 407: The Truth Report -- Donald Trump's Hush-Money and Other Criminal Trials Are Like a Blackhole or Bottomless Maw
Ep. 406: The Truth Report -- President Biden and the Democrats Need to Learn That Being Boring and Nice Will Not Defeat Donald Trump and the MAGA Movement
Ep. 405: The Truth Report -- From The Walking Dead to Hannibal Lecter: You Have Been Warned About Donald Trump’s Neofascist Horror Politics
Ep. 404: From O.J. Simpson to George Floyd -- Medical Examiner Dr. Michael Baden Reflects on his Decades-Long Fight for Justice in a Broken Legal System
Ep. 403: Glenn Kirschner Warns That Donald Trump and the Republican Party MAGA Fascists Are Trying to Murder American Democracy
Ep. 402: Heather Cox Richardson Warns That We Can Still Stop Dictator Trump and the American Fascist Movement – If We Have the Will and Fortitude to Do That Hard Work
Ep. 400: What Would America Be Like If Donald Trump's Jan. 6 Coup Had Succeeded?
Ep. 399: The Truth Report -- Dr. Bandy Lee Warns That Trumpism Is a Public Health Emergency Which is Reaching Terminal Levels For American Democracy and Society
Ep. 398: The Fog Monster -- A Very Special Christmas Story Episode
Ep. 397: On Jan. 6 Capitol Hill Police Officer Sgt. Aquilino Gonell Went to Work and Did His Job By Defending American Democracy
Ep. 396: A Reflective, Somewhat Serious, Funny, Titillating and Advice-Filled Special Thanksgiving Weekend Episode
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