Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee! This week, we’re stepping into the ring with Michael Mann’s biographical epic ALI.

We talk a lot about Will Smith’s physically impressive transformation into one of the greatest athletes who’s ever lived, Jon Voight’s uncanny turn as Howard Cosell and Mann’s signature kinetic, documentarian direction. The film captures a tumultuous decade in the life of a global sports and cultural icon, and we do the best job that three white people from Kentucky can in talking about that.

In our bonus feature segment, we focus on a part of Ali's legacy outside the ring: Parkinson's disease. We discuss Ali's diagnosis, his brave public fight with the neurodegenerative condition, and how his high-profile advocacy, alongside contemporaries like Michael J. Fox, fundamentally shifted public understanding and funding for Parkinson's research.

Does ALI matter in 2026? Let’s square off.

SHOW NOTES: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zhUnPnz0Zq1BVYa-ZdkG15QiQN9t8luBfH1pjaUL3Uo/edit?usp=sharing

NOT ANOTHER 2001 MOVIE PODCAST is a limited series exploring movies released in the first year of a chaotic century.

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