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:
https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow
Ep. 238: Malcolm Nance Warns That Post-Mueller Report America May Not Survive Donald Trump's Assaults on Democracy
Ep. 237: Is Game of Thrones Racist and Sexist?
Ep. 236: Ira Steven Behr Reflects on the Legacy and Meaning of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and the new documentary What We Left Behind
Ep. 235: Jonathan Metzl on Being Targeted by neo-Nazis/Tim Wise on White Privilege and White Christian Terrorists
Ep. 234: Kathleen Belew Explains the Long History of the White Power Movement and its Global Plans for "Race War"
Ep. 233: Jonathan Metzl Explains How Donald Trump's Voters are Dying of Whiteness
Ep. 232: Robert Reich Explains That Donald Trump is a Gangster Capitalist Tyrant and It is the Young People Who Will Save America
Ep. 231: Exploring the Politics and Meaning of Jordan Peele's New Film "Us"
Ep. 230: Laurence Tribe Explains Why Robert Mueller and Impeachment Will Not Save America From Donald Trump
Ep. 229: Tim Wise on White Privilege and the Varsity Blues College Cheating Scandal
Ep. 228: Tim Wise on the New Zealand Mosque Massacres and the Violence of White Privilege
Ep. 227: Chris Hedges on Bernie Sanders' "Race Problem" and America's Broken Politics of Spectacle and Corruption
Ep. 226: Vegas Tenold on the Rebirth of White Nationalism in America
Ep. 225: Dr. Bandy Lee Warns That Donald Trump's Mental Health is America's Real National Emergency
Ep. 224: How Black Americans Used the Sears Catalog to Fight Back Against Jim and Jane Crow Racism
Ep. 223: Eddie Glaude Jr on The Age of Trump vs The Black Freedom Struggle
Ep. 222: Colin Kaepernick, the NFL, and the Politics of the Black Athlete
Ep. 221: Tim Wise on White Privilege and the Trump Covington High School MAGA Mob
Ep. 220: Timothy Snyder Explains How Donald Trump's "National Emergency" Will Be Used to Overthrow American Democracy and the Constitution
Ep. 219: How Psychics and Ghost Hunters Are Using Technology to "Hack" the Paranormal and Supernatural
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free