Ryan Middagh is director of jazz studies and Beth Wiese is associate professor of tuba and euphonium at Vanderbilt’s acclaimed Blair School of Music. Both were part of a 100-piece band assembled to record music for EA Sports’ popular College Football video game for the third consecutive year. Middagh and Wiese join the show to discuss this “only in Nashville” experience.

Karim Zidan, Sports & Dictators Program Lead at the Human Rights Foundation, is an author and investigative journalist who focuses on the intersection of sports and politics. He is the founder of Sports Politika, a media platform dedicated to his niche, and host of Power Plays, a podcast examining historical connections between FIFA, the World Cup, and authoritarianism. He joins the show to discuss that history and the highs and lows of the 2026 World Cup on and off the field.

In May, Vanderbilt assistant athletic director Nate Bell helped lead a group of Vanderbilt student-athletes to Iceland for an immersive week of sightseeing, learning, and team-building. Bell, along with Thomas Jones of the Vanderbilt football team and Bailey Ratzburg of the women’s swimming team, join the show to discuss the highlights and meaning of the trip.

AnnaSofia Dickens is a teenage author, singer-songwriter, and flag football player from Southern California who has become a national advocate for the sport she loves. She joins the show to discuss flag football's explosive growth in the US and internationally and her work to grow the game.

Kelsey Davis, Episocpal priest and co-founder of Christian Athlete Circles, joins the show to discuss her work to provide an inclusive and non-proselytizing resource for college athletes. A former collegiate, national team, and professional soccer player, Davis says "being an athlete is a great gift and a great challenge. In a world centered around the commodification of bodies, high-pressure environments, and ruthless schedules, it is extremely difficult to simultaneously train and perform at a high level while trying to live a life that is centered and intentional with meaningful conversations around your experiences."

Our resident soccer expert Ricky Thrash guest hosts this episode with Vanderbilt women’s soccer coach Darren Ambrose. They discuss the meaning of soccer in Darren’s life, the rise of the women’s soccer program at Vanderbilt, and the state of the global game.

Filmmaker Michael Husain joins the show to talk about his incredible documentary, The Waiting Game. The film tells the little-known story of a renegade basketball league that inspired today's NBA – and the mostly Black players who have had to fight for decades for fair compensation and recognition. The ABA innovated pro basketball with the 3-point shot and slam dunk contest, and embraced Black culture in ways that the NBA had not yet. And despite the pioneering way the players of the ABA players played basketball, when the two leagues “merged” ABA players were forgotten in a business deal gone bad. The Waiting Game follows a dogged not-for-profit’s pursuit of benefits for former ABA players now struggling to survive. While the NBA generates $10+ billion a year, former ABA athletes struggle to buy life-saving medicines, avoid eviction, and worse. This documentary is about the fight to get them their due.

Author Danny Funt and Vanderbilt professor Eric VanEpps join the show to discuss the high societal costs of sports betting. Funt is the author of the highly acclaimed new book, “Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling.” The book looks at addiction, predatory marketing tactics, massive lobbying efforts, and the 180-degree shift by sports leagues in their embrace of sports betting. Along with colleague Jackie Silverman, VanEpps is studying how gambling on events makes people more willing to root for antisocial outcomes and the resulting degradation of empathy in society.