HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle

Robert Lipsyte on ESPN, Muhammad Ali, and Billie Jean King

Views: 763
Come June 1, the renowned sportswriter and novelist Robert Lipsyte will become the newest ombudsman for ESPN, the network that strives to cover professional sports journalistically while making big-dollar deals with all sorts of major leagues. The ombudsman is supposed to help keep ESPN's coverage of sports and society honest despite what Lipsyte himself says is a major conflict of interest.

The septugenarian scribe is the perfect man for the job. As a reporter for The New York Times in the 1960s, Lipsyte made a career of being a smart straight shooter who always discussed sports in the contexts of race, class, and gender. Where typical sportswriters defined athletics as a place free of social and political meaning and tension, Lipsyte understood that sport mirrors the society that revels in it. He was one of the first journalists to recognize that heavyweight champion Cassius Clay was not just a fighter but a cultural change agent who would transform America. He co-wrote Dick Gregory's searing 1964 memoir, Nigger, and he helped invent the genre of young adult fiction with novels such as The Contender. For the past half-century, he has been a keen observer of all aspects of American life, producing thousands of columns and a shelf of books on everything from male identity to cancer. Go here for Lipsyte's site and classic stories about Ali, The Beatles, and much more.

Reason's Nick Gillespie spoke with Lipsyte about the ESPN gig (1:08), why he thinks Muhammad Ali is at least partially responsible for the murder of Malcolm X (20:21), that The Nation has the best sportswriter in the country (7:20), that performance-enhancing drugs are OK (though Lance Armstrong is a liar) (46:59), and that tennis great Billie Jean King is the most important figure in all of sports over the past 50 years (26:49).

About 1 hr.

Produced by Anthony L. Fisher. Camera by Jim Epstein and Fisher.

Go to http://reason.com/reasontv/2013/06/01/robert-lipsyte-interview for downloadable versions and subscribe to ReasonTV's YouTube Channel to receive notification when new material goes live.
@ReasonVidsfollow
Thumbnail for BitcoinStore.com: A Young Entrepreneur Talks Real World Uses5:06
BitcoinStore.com: A Young Entrepreneur Talks Real World Uses
ReasonVids
826 views
Thumbnail for 10 Dumb Quotes About Video Games from Pols and Pundits1:20
10 Dumb Quotes About Video Games from Pols and Pundits
ReasonVids
940 views
Thumbnail for Shikha Dalmia: 5 Reasons Why Low Skilled Immigrants are Good for the Economy3:00
Shikha Dalmia: 5 Reasons Why Low Skilled Immigrants are Good for the Economy
ReasonVids
837 views
Thumbnail for Remy: People are Outraged!1:41
Remy: People are Outraged!
ReasonVids
883 views
Thumbnail for Supreme Court Appeal: Can States Bar You from Using Navigable Waters?15:23
Supreme Court Appeal: Can States Bar You from Using Navigable Waters?
IJvids
899 views
Thumbnail for American Health Care Killed My Father: Q&A with David Goldhill29:45
American Health Care Killed My Father: Q&A with David Goldhill
ReasonVids
923 views
Thumbnail for If We Can Put a Man on The Moon...Then Why Does Government Fail at Just About Everything Else?9:59
If We Can Put a Man on The Moon...Then Why Does Government Fail at Just About Everything Else?
ReasonVids
899 views
Thumbnail for What Happens After Cruise Ships Get Cut in Half | BRIGHT SIDE9:18
What Happens After Cruise Ships Get Cut in Half | BRIGHT SIDE
invidious
262 views
Thumbnail for Biden Is Clueless About Inflation3:51
Biden Is Clueless About Inflation
ReasonVids
1011 views
Thumbnail for UFC champ sends holes back to the kitchen 2:06
UFC champ sends holes back to the kitchen
bestofupgoat
456 views
Thumbnail for Graphene Hydroxide in the mRNA Vaccine Vial: Assassination of Dr. Andreas Noack17:02
Graphene Hydroxide in the mRNA Vaccine Vial: Assassination of Dr. Andreas Noack
AOU
1280 views
Thumbnail for How To Tie Shoelaces Correctly & Why | Genius Asian9:19
How To Tie Shoelaces Correctly & Why | Genius Asian
skills.topic
622 views
Thumbnail for Jews hire LGBT pedo to confuse students in class4:04
Jews hire LGBT pedo to confuse students in class
bestofupgoat
134 views
Thumbnail for Average American wife1:20
Average American wife
bestofupgoat
123 views
Thumbnail for Inside Sharknado 2: Mockbusters, Remix Culture, and the Earnestness of Camp4:09
Inside Sharknado 2: Mockbusters, Remix Culture, and the Earnestness of Camp
ReasonVids
887 views
Thumbnail for The 3 Best and Worst Moments of Last Night's GOP Debate3:26
The 3 Best and Worst Moments of Last Night's GOP Debate
ReasonVids
909 views
Thumbnail for Hopes and Fears for the Obama Administration3:45
Hopes and Fears for the Obama Administration
ReasonVids
889 views
Thumbnail for Ain't Nobody Needin Powered Electro-shock Dildos from Amazon0:38
Ain't Nobody Needin Powered Electro-shock Dildos from Amazon
bestofvoatxyz
803 views
Thumbnail for Surveillance State: Maryland is Listening to You8:12
Surveillance State: Maryland is Listening to You
ReasonVids
938 views
Thumbnail for This Ostrich, What a Goofball0:47
This Ostrich, What a Goofball
bestofvoatxyz
1069 views
Thumbnail for Surprise: Economic Mobility is Alive and Well in America!5:29
Surprise: Economic Mobility is Alive and Well in America!
ReasonVids
904 views
Thumbnail for Stossel: War on Electric Scooters5:54
Stossel: War on Electric Scooters
ReasonVids
812 views
Thumbnail for Stossel: Is 2018 The Year of the Libertarian Party?4:56
Stossel: Is 2018 The Year of the Libertarian Party?
ReasonVids
877 views
Thumbnail for Boondoggle in the Motor City: Detroit's Train to Nowhere5:48
Boondoggle in the Motor City: Detroit's Train to Nowhere
ReasonVids
829 views
Thumbnail for How Medicaid & Obamacare Hurt the Poor - and How to Fix Them4:57
How Medicaid & Obamacare Hurt the Poor - and How to Fix Them
ReasonVids
933 views

points

Permalink
Reply
robert lipsyte, muhammad ali (boxer), sports (industry), boxing (martial art), the beatles, billie jean king, notre dame, college athletes, one fat summer, the contender, nick gillespie, anthony l fisher, reason.com, reason magazine, reason tv, reason.tv, reason foundation, libertarian
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle