I never imagined I’d go to Tokyo. I always said there was so much to see in the US that the thought of traveling overseas seemed so… foreign to me. But, in the Fall of 2016 I found myself with the opportunity to travel to Japan with a group of 12 -14 year old female gymnasts, two of their coaches, a parent chaperone and my husband, the delegation leader, for […]
I like sports, but I love sporting events. Few experiences rival the theatricality and pageantry of, say, a pro football game, from fanatical fans to enthralling entrances – all with constant emotional engagement. Wait a second – isn’t that what live performance is supposed to do? The most popular sports go well beyond entertainment: they captivate the community, inspire across generations, and build unrivaled anticipation. So in team spirit, what if creatives borrowed from our […]
Like many other Americans, one of my defining childhood memories is baseball. Fenway Park was a menagerie of chaos and uncouthness then: the rowdy blue-collar crowd, the swearing, the harassing of the Yankees even if there was no Yankee within a hundred miles, the cult-like chanting to Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline. I loved going to Fenway with my father in the 1980s and 90s. Attending a game was a […]
Yeah, we know. We’re working that sports metaphor to death here at Pregame. But it’s warranted. Whether we admit it or not, we’re playing to win. So why do we compartmentalize the lessons learned in and from sports? Especially in creativity and art, we act as if sports don’t exist. Blame it on a vague feeling of competition (and perhaps, in the professional realm, resource envy), but those of us who […]
Whenever you enter the field of play, it’s usually with some semblance of a goal in mind. Unless you’re hopelessly enthusiastic or a small child, the conceit of being happy just to be there rings a little hollow. Even the most starry-eyed rookie has something in mind when they approach the field for the first time. Getting into the game, let alone the right one, can be hard enough; your […]
On this week’s show, Natalia, Neil, and Niki debate the decline of democracy in North Carolina, the trend toward legalization of marijuana, and the dominance of Alabama football. North Carolina In a recent piece for U.S. News & World Report, Niki argued that North Carolina had become a “laboratory of illiberalism” because of recent measures to disenfranchise voters and strip power from elected officials. Natalia outlined North Carolina’s history as […]
In this week’s end-of-the-year flashback episode, we revisit segments on three historical figures who died in 2016: David Bowie, Muhammad Ali, and Phyllis Schlafly.
In this week’s episode, Niki, Natalia, and Neil debate the history of the world series, texting while driving, and the history of Vegas. The World Series The presence of the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians in the 2016 World Series is making history! Niki discussed Sterling HolyWhiteMountain’s essay for ESPN.com on what it meant to grow up on the Blackfeet Reservation as a fan of the Cleveland Indians. Natalia recommended Philip Deloria’s book Playing […]
On this week’s Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss Colin Kaepernick and the national anthem, the burkini, and crime at Walmart. Colin Kaepernick San Francisco 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick remained seated during a recent pre-game national anthem in protest against racial discrimination in the country. Neil argued Kaepernick likely chose that moment to lodge his protest in reference to other black athletes who have done the […]
Marc Bamuthi Joseph is creating in theater, site specific performance, and creative ecosystems. He is an inaugural recipient of the United States Artists Rockefeller Fellowship, the winner of the 2011 Alpert Award in Theater, and an inaugural recipient of the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award. He is the founding Program Director of the exemplary non-profit Youth Speaks, and is a co-founder of Life is Living, a national series of one day […]