Best Religion of Sports | PRX Podcasts (2025)

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COUNTERATTACK Part 6: The Comeback 31:29

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2+ y ago31:29

31:29

Telling their stories opens the door for Sinead Farelly and Mana Shim — and the NWSL itself — to undergo radical transformations.By Religion of Sports | PRX

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COUNTERATTACK Part 5: The Reckoning 29:17

2+ y ago29:17

29:17

Sinead Farrelly and Mana Shim go public with their stories of abuse and coverup in the NWSL and, in doing so, inspire a reckoning across women’s soccer.By Religion of Sports | PRX

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COUNTERATTACK Part 4: The Awakening 22:52

2+ y ago22:52

22:52

The creation of Angel City FC, a new NWSL team owned and operated by women, promises the kind of culture players have long envisioned for the league. But Sinead Farelly is deeply concerned that the league and its players will never reach their potential with coaches like Paul Riley still in positions of power. So, she decides it’s time to finally t…

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COUNTERATTACK Part 3: The Whistleblower 35:33

2+ y ago35:33

35:33

The National Women’s Soccer league launches, creating new opportunities for elite female soccer players, including Sinead Farrelly, Michelle Betos and newcomer Mana Shim. But the imbalance of power and lack of oversight that defined previous leagues persists; coaches remain powerful and unaccountable gatekeepers. Sinead vows to take her and Paul’s …

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COUNTERATTACK Part 2: The Reality 27:32

2+ y ago27:32

27:32

Sinead Farrelly leaves college early to go pro. But when she arrives, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Abysmal pay, poor conditions, and league instability create a culture in which players have little protection or power. But her coach, Paul Riley, is a soccer legend. He pushes her to play her best—but he also pushes beyond her personal boundar…

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COUNTERATTACK Part 1: The Dream 25:23

2+ y ago25:23

25:23

The US Women’s National Team’s historic World Cup win in 1999 changed the narrative for female athletes everywhere and inspired a generation of soccer-loving kids like Sinead Farrelly, a little girl in small-town Pennsylvania with big soccer dreams. Host and goalkeeper Briana Scurry relives that iconic summer and reflects on the legacy of activism,…

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COUNTERATTACK: Trailer 2:14

2+ y ago2:14

2:14

World Cup champion goalkeeper Briana Scurry follows the journey of Sinead Farrelly from young soccer phenom to league whistleblower to comeback kid in Counterattack, launching May 11. Sinead’s experiences in professional soccer and her brave decision to speak out ignited the revolution taking place in professional women’s soccer today. Through dete…

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ROS Presents: Elena Delle Donne on In The Moment with David Greene 35:06

2+ y ago35:06

35:06

Two-time MVP Elena Delle Donne is considered one of the best to ever play in the WNBA. In 2019, she led the Washington Mystics to their first WNBA championship in franchise history. Playing through three herniated discs, a broken nose and a knee injury, Delle Donne managed to dominate in the winner-takes-all Game 5 putting up 21 points, 10 rebounds…

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ROS Presents: Carli Lloyd on In The Moment with David Greene 33:08

2+ y ago33:08

33:08

In the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup final, the USWNT suffered a devastating loss to Japan after the 2-2 match went to penalty kicks. In 2015, the two teams faced each other again in the final and this time, Carli Lloyd and the USWNT had something to prove. Lloyd went on to become the first woman in FIFA World Cup history to record a hat trick in a f…

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ROUGHHOUSING Part 6: F*ck Closure 33:10

2+ y ago33:10

33:10

The trauma from violent hazing can lodge itself inside the victim, metastasizing in the years that follow. In our final episode, we’ll find out how Rodney, as well as other people who have more distance from their hazing incidents, have dealt with it years down the road.By Religion of Sports | PRX

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ROUGHHOUSING Part 5: The Good Fight 33:52

2+ y ago33:52

33:52

When a violent hazing occurs, the natural impulse is to search for ways to make sure it doesn’t happen again. This effort to stop hazing has been going on in the U.S. for decades. But how effective has it been? And is it even possible to change something so ingrained in our culture?By Religion of Sports | PRX

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ROUGHHOUSING Part 4: The Snitch 37:15

2+ y ago37:15

37:15

We’ve all heard that ‘snitches get stitches.' It’s a rule on the streets but also on many sports teams. So what happens when kids speak out about being hazed in high school?By Religion of Sports | PRX

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ROUGHHOUSING Part 3: The Coach 32:12

2+ y ago32:12

32:12

What role do coaches and other school leaders have in a hazing incident? And how much oversight can parents expect when their kids participate in school sports? We look at Rodney’s coach, his background, and ask what, if anything, could have been done differently.By Religion of Sports | PRX

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Introducing: Roughhousing, Part 1: Hell Week 21:48

2+ y ago21:48

21:48

In Religion of Sports' latest podcast series, Host Iggy Monda takes listeners inside America’s locker rooms and field houses to explore hazing in high school sports today. Through deeply personal stories of kids who have hazed, parents who have fought for accountability, coaches who are scared of what their players do when they’re not looking, and …

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ROUGHHOUSING Part 2: The Line 31:41

2+ y ago31:41

31:41

What if the person being hazed is kinda having fun? Is all hazing a bad thing? A lot of guys on Rodney’s team say the locker room “tussling” just went too far in Rodney’s case. In this episode, host Iggy Monda looks at the range of hazing in U.S. culture, as well as in his own past, to try to find the line between horseplay and abuse.…

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ROUGHHOUSING Part 1: Hell Week 34:51

2+ y ago34:51

34:51

What does hazing look like in high school sports today? Our series begins in Mobile, Alabama, where Rodney Kim, Jr. was a freshman with dreams of making the varsity football team. But a brutal locker room initiation changed everything.By Religion of Sports | PRX

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ROUGHHOUSING: Trailer 2:56

2+ y ago2:56

2:56

Roughhousing is a new narrative series examining hazing culture in high school sports today. Host Iggy Monda takes listeners inside locker rooms to hear deeply personal stories from kids who have been hazed, parents who have fought for accountability, people who have hazed others, and coaches who are afraid of what their players might do when they’…

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ROS Presents: NFL Great Larry Fitzgerald on In the Moment with David Greene (and an announcement...) 34:42

2+ y ago34:42

34:42

Larry Fitzgerald is considered one of the best wide receivers of all time, and is expected to be a first ballot NFL Hall of Famer. He’s also executive chair for the Arizona Super Bowl LVII Host Committee. In his 17 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, he made it to the Super Bowl just once. In 2009, the Cardinals were the underdogs against the Pitts…

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ROS Presents: MLB Hall of Famer Pedro Martínez relives "Who's Your Daddy" rivalry on In the Moment with David Greene 7:16

3y ago7:16

7:16

When the Yankees lost the ALCS to the Astros this week, Hall of Famer Pedro Martínez turned an old insult back on the Yankees and their fans. "I have one question for all of New York: New York, who’s your daddy now?" he said. The former Red Sox ace was calling back to the 2004 ALCS when Yankees fans mercilessly chanted that phrase at him. This week…

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CRUSHED Bonus Episode: The New Steroid Problem 27:50

4y ago27:50

27:50

Joan Niesen, the host of Crushed, is back with a bonus episode exploring baseball’s latest steroid controversy. Find the entire seven-part series in season one of this feed. Today, on the rare occasion that a pro baseball player tests positive for anabolic steroids, it’s widely assumed that he’s a cheater and few people ever pause to consider that …

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FALSE IDOL Part 7: Culpability 33:46

4y ago33:46

33:46

Would Pistorius be convicted of murder? Finally, Judge Thokozile Masipa delivered her verdict, and it drew a visceral reaction from across South Africa. Afterward, how would the Steenkamp family, the prosecution team, and the Paralympic community move on?By Religion of Sports | PRX

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FALSE IDOL Part 6: Swart Gevaar 35:04

4y ago35:04

35:04

During his murder trial, Pistorius claimed he’d mistaken Reeva for an intruder, when he shot her in his home. He listed instances where he’d been the victim of crime. But for many South Africans, there was a coded message in Pistorius’ words –– the fear of black people invading white people’s homes. They even have a term for this fear: Swart Gevaar…

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FALSE IDOL Part 5: Ready to Run? 38:24

4y ago38:24

38:24

Pistorius was arrested and charged with murder, and prosecutors Gerrie Nel and Andrea Johnson took the case. Nel and Johnson reviewed the crime scene, the evidence, the witness testimony, and were of the opinion that Pistorius killed Reeva on purpose. They viewed this as a case of gender-based violence, in a country where such crimes are sadly comm…

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FALSE IDOL Part 4: Reeva 34:32

4y ago34:32

34:32

In this episode, we remember the life of Reeva Steenkamp. She was an activist, a mentor, an aspiring lawyer, and a model whose career was about to take off. Her future was looking bright, when she met Pistorius in the Fall of 2012. Then three months later, he shot her dead in his home.By Religion of Sports | PRX

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FALSE IDOL Part 3: A Loaded Gun 36:46

4y ago36:46

36:46

As Pistorius rose to fame, the media began learning more about him, and some of the details seemed … troubling. He drove at excessive speeds. He had an obsession with guns. He crashed a boat into a jetty. And the details of his private life were worse. In hindsight, it’s easier to see the warning signs we missed, or chose to overlook, along the way…

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FALSE IDOL Part 2: Oscarmania 38:07

4y ago38:07

38:07

Pistorius was so dominant, he set his sights on a new goal: running against able-bodied athletes at the Olympic Games. Now he faced more questions, more scrutiny. Scientists wondered if the races would be fair, and Pistorius struggled to qualify. But he was buoyed by the support of his home country, South Africa, where he was considered a hero.…

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FALSE IDOL Part 1: The Blade Runner 43:53

4y ago43:53

43:53

In the early 2000s, the Paralympics were headlined by star sprinters Marlon Shirley and Brian Frasure, when suddenly a new challenger emerged –– a teenager from South Africa named Oscar Pistorius. He immediately began dominating the sport, winning medals, setting records, and signing endorsement deals. But Shirley and Frasure had questions about ho…

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FALSE IDOL: Trailer 3:40

4y ago3:40

3:40

False Idol re-examines the rise and fall of Oscar Pistorius, the Paralympic sprinter who murdered his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Journalist Tim Rohan traces Pistorius’ path to infamy, deconstructs his heroic image, and remembers the life of Steenkamp, as he tries to understand how a tragedy like her death could have happened. Launching August 26th…

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Introducing False Idol 6:29

4y ago6:29

6:29

Joan Niesen talks with Tim Rohan, host of False Idol, the latest narrative podcast from Religion of Sports and PRX. The new series re-examines the story of Oscar Pistorius, the Paralympic sprinter who killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine’s Day 2013. False Idol launches with two episodes in this feed on August 26th.…

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New Jersey Turnpikes 47:07

4y ago47:07

47:07

In 1999, a comedy about the ABA -- the upstart 70s basketball league -- was supposed to be released. The movie starred Orlando Jones, Kelsey Grammer and Jason Segel, and featured cameos by Jim Brown, Roy Jones Jr, and Julius Erving. Everyone involved thought the movie was going to be a classic. But it never came out. Most of the actors never even g…

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Hartford Whalers 40:27

4y ago40:27

40:27

The Hartford Whalers logo is everywhere, worn by celebrities from Snoop Dogg to Adam Sandler….even though the team no longer exists. But the small state capital was once home to hockey greats like Gordie Howe and Ron Francis, before the team was uprooted to North Carolina. Ben returns to his home state to find out how Hartford once had a NHL team, …

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CRUSHED Bonus: The Sticky Solution 15:48

4y ago15:48

15:48

More than 100 years after banning pitchers from using foreign substances on balls, MLB is finally enforcing that rule in an effort to resurrect lagging offense. But is the league cracking down on the right culprit? In this bonus mini-episode, Joan explores the physics of ball doctoring and asks what baseball’s current scandal can tell us about the …

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Holyfield's Ear 47:05

4y ago47:05

47:05

In 1997, Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield squared off in arguably the most notorious and strange fight in boxing history. It is remembered in infamy as The Bite Fight. Lesser known is that the piece of Evander Holyfield's ear that Mike Tyson bit off and spit out went missing. Ben ventures to find out what happened to that chunk of human flesh and w…

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NCAA Football Video Game 40:42

4+ y ago40:42

40:42

For years, EA Sports produced an extremely popular, and extremely accurate, college football video game— with all the NCAA teams, stadiums, mascots, traditions, and, yes, the actual players. And then it was gone, leaving its cult fanbase enraged and fighting to keep the game alive. Ben explores the NCAA Football video game series, how it was made, …

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The AND1 Mixtapes 48:15

4+ y ago48:15

48:15

In 1999, a small apparel company named AND1 released a VHS tape of streetball highlights set to a hip hop soundtrack that quickly became a worldwide craze. AND1 was soon hosting games all over the world, and the players were international celebrities. But then, just as quickly as it rose, it all disappeared. Twenty years later, Ben untangles the co…

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Masters of the Gridiron 46:13

4+ y ago46:13

46:13

The Cleveland Browns are the most tortured franchise in sports. They have never won a Super Bowl. But in 1986, in the middle of the season, the players on the team filmed a time travel sorcery movie that prophesied they would do just that— it featured the novelty-singer Tiny Tim, had ninjas and sword fighting, a castle, a shotgun, and even a black …

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Introducing: Lost in Sports 1:57

4+ y ago1:57

1:57

Join host and journalist Ben Baskin on his journey as he takes on some of the biggest questions in sports history— and some you never thought to ask. Every episode of Lost in Sports explores the mysteries of the lost, the forgotten or the disappeared, and undertakes a quest for answers.By Religion of Sports | PRX

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CRUSHED Part 7: The Fallout 36:33

4+ y ago36:33

36:33

Baseball still feels the aftershocks of the steroid era. Has it recovered, or has it just forgotten and moved on? And what happens when a sport that's built on nostalgia ignores its own history?By Religion of Sports | PRX

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CRUSHED Part 6: The Reckoning 40:40

4+ y ago40:40

40:40

In 2005, Congress forced star athletes and baseball leadership to finally confront their steroid problem on national television and answer questions on Capitol Hill. There were a lot of things the government got right that day, but some very important things it got wrong.By Religion of Sports | PRX

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CRUSHED Part 5: The Dirty Truth 35:08

4+ y ago35:08

35:08

In the years after Barry Bonds was crowned home run king, baseball's steroid problem became too big to ignore. Fans began to look for someone to blame, a villain—but truth and accountability remained elusive.By Religion of Sports | PRX

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CRUSHED Part 4: The Cheater's Rulebook 33:07

4+ y ago33:07

33:07

Baseball has always had a murky code of ethics, a rulebook that feels more like a suggestion. Did that culture pave the way for steroids? And, in baseball and in life, where do we draw the line between advancement and cheating?By Religion of Sports | PRX

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CRUSHED Part 3: The Magic Shot 38:44

4+ y ago38:44

38:44

At the height of the steroid era, players across baseball had to decide if they should use—and reap the benefits—or stay clean. We meet two such players and follow the ripple effects of their choices.By Religion of Sports | PRX

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