This episode takes us on a sporting journey—on and off the field and track, inside the minds and lives of athletes known and unknown, as well as those who write about them. We have a great cast of readers, many of whom are rather well known sports writers and sports persons, people who have been immersed in the field. This genre, I’m discovering, is as much about the magic of what happens in formal and informal arenas as about the dynamics—the politics--that permeate broader social and cultural life. The readings offer some glimpses into the breadth of this genre.

Books featured in this episode:

Born to Run: the hidden tribe, the ultra runners and the greatest race the world has never seen by Christopher Mcdougall (read by Karunya Keshav)

Ten for Sixty Six and all that by Arthur Mailey (read by S Giridhar)

Playing with Fire by Nasser Hussain (read by Ananya Upendran)

The Test by Nathan Leamon (read by Shikha Pandey)

What’s my Name, Fool? Sports and Resistance in the United States by David Zirin (read by Sharda Ugra)

My Way: a biography of M L Jaisimha by A Joseph Anthony and Jayanthi Jaisimha (read by Agnes George

The Wit of Cricket by Brian Johnston (read by S Upendran)

You can also check out these books by our some of the readers in this episode:

The Fire Burns Blue by Siddhantha Pattnaik and Karunya Keshav

From Mumbai to Durban by S Giridhar