Season 1
Nov. 17, 2024
NFL Confidential by Johnny Anonymous
This month, the Sports Literati sit down to ponder and ruminate over one of the most high brow, intellectual books they have ever read. Okay, maybe not. But it just might be one of the most fun books they've ever read.
Sept. 24, 2024
Range by David Epstein
This month on the Sports Literati, we get out of our comfort zone and test our range by reading David Epstein's ideas about the power of diverse groups and why early specialization might not be great for children.
June 25, 2024
How Soccer Explains the World by Franklin Foer
The Sports Literati reconvene to talk about the beautiful game, through the lens of Franklin Foer's classic soccer book How Soccer Explains the World , first published in 2004.
April 28, 2024
The Jordan Rules by Sam Smith
The Sports Literati revisits one of the seminal sports books of the 1990s: The Jordan Rules by Sam Smith. A close examination of the 1990-91 Chicago Bulls, we talk about an up and coming Michael Jordan and how misery just mi…
Feb. 16, 2024
The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
The Sports Literati convene to discuss how the United States 8 man crew rose from the depths of the Great Depression to take down the big, bad Nazis at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Nov. 8, 2023
Breathe by Rickson Gracie
The Sports Literati enter the world of mixed martial arts for the first time, as they dissect the memoir of Rickson Gracie, the undefeated legend of Brazilian Jujitsu.
Aug. 29, 2023
Across the River by Kent Babb
The Sports Literati take a look at Kent Babb's fly-on-the wall account of the 2019 Edna Carr high school football team as it sought a fourth consecutive Louisiana state championship. The book examines the hopelessness afflic…
May 10, 2023
Into Thin Air by John Krakauer
The Sports Literati convene to discuss John Krakauer's seminal classic about an ascent on Mount Everest that goes horribly wrong. What constitutes a sport? How do intelligent human beings manage to make such a series of bad …
March 24, 2023
The Sense of Wonder by Matthew Salesses
This week, the Sports Literati convene to discuss Linsanity, one of Dave's favourite topics (try to guess which Dave!). Matthew Salesses is a Korean American writer who has written, as far as we know, the first literary nove…
Feb. 6, 2023
The Game of Our Lives by Peter Gzowski
The Sports Literati turn back the pages on a hockey classic, Peter Gzowski's The Game of Our Lives , a behind the scenes account of the 1980-81 Edmonton Oilers, led by a young Wayne Gretzky. They also discuss hockey as Canad…
Oct. 23, 2022
Game by Grant Hill
This month, the Sports Literati reconvenes to discuss the memoir of their collective, favourite basketball player of all time! And no, it's not Lebron James!
Sept. 24, 2022
Undisputed Truth by Mike Tyson
This month, the Sports Literati reconvenes to discuss Mike Tyson and his totally raw and visceral autobiography Undisputed Truth . Is Mike Tyson a good guy or a bad guy? Who's the biggest villain in Tyson's life? Join the Sp…
July 20, 2022
Swing Kings by Jared Diamond
This month, the two Daves convene to discuss America's past time. They reminisce about their own memories of baseball and listening to games on the radio before diving into Jared Diamond's book about how the new science of h…
May 22, 2022
Unguarded by Scottie Pippen and Michael Arkush
The Sports Literati sit down to talk about Scottie Pippen, the 1990s Chicago Bulls, and that big, bad, bald elephant in the room, Michael Jordan. If you're a casual basketball fan who only knows about Michael Jordan, or a ba…
April 9, 2022
Boys Will Be Boys by Jeff Pearlman
The Sports Literati sit down to talk about America's Team, also known as the Greatest Sports Team of All-Time according to Dave Hsu, the 1990s Dallas Cowboys. They break down the behind the scenes antics, the Jerry Jones/Jim…
Feb. 12, 2022
The Sports Gene by David Epstein
The Sports Literati returns after a hiatus to discuss The Sports Gene by David Epstein, a book that examines the science and genetics behind elite level sports performance. Intro and Outro Music: Sergei Rachmanioff Prelude i…
Jan. 8, 2022
Soccernomics by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski
In this episode from the Sports Literati Vault, the two Daves step out of their comfort zone and talk about Soccernomics, a book that tries to make sense of the analytics of world soccer, and answer such vital questions as w…
Oct. 30, 2021
The Victory Machine by Ethan Sherwood Strauss
In this Sports Literati Classic episode, the two Daves sit down and discuss The Victory Machine: the Making and Unmaking of the Warriors Dynasty by Ethan Sherwood Strauss. They talk about the factors that went into the fall …
Sept. 20, 2021
Open by Andre Agassi
The two Daves dig into one of the most highly touted sports books in recent memory, Open by Andre Agassi. Andre Agassi was a child tennis prodigy who eventually became one of the top players in the world. If you followed spo…
Aug. 17, 2021
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
The Sports Literati take a look at the business side of sports and the early years of one of the foundational brands in the modern sports world. Shoe Dog is a bestselling memoir of Nike's early years as told by the company's…
June 27, 2021
The Game by Ken Dryden
The Sports Literati induct the founding book title into the Pantheon of Sports Literature. The Game by Ken Dryden was published in 1983 and remains quite possibly the most highly regarded hockey book, if not sports book, of …
May 19, 2021
Gridiron Genius by Michael Lombardi
This month, the two Daves sit down to discuss Gridiron Genius: A Master Class in Winning Championships and Building Dynasties in the NFL by Michael Lombardi. They follow Lombardi behind the scenes on Bill Walsh's 49ers dynas…
March 30, 2021
Three-Ring Circus by Jeff Pearlman
In the premiere episode of The Sports Literati, Dave and Dave break down Three-Ring Circus by Jeff Pearlman, a scintillating look at the Shaq-Kobe Lakers dynasty of the early 2000s, from the dark days following Magic Johnson…