Thomas grew up in Northern California where he fell in love with music and photography while going to punk shows and shooting skate photos. He photography in college, which may or may not qualify him to host an art podcast. When he's not working on Art Uncovered, Thomas works as photographer, retoucher, and audio editor and also plays guitar in the band Sleepies. He lives in Queens, New York, for now.
https://www.btrtoday.com/thomas/feed/
Michael Oriard
This Week: In honor of the start of football season, I wanted to feature an interview with Michael Oriard. Michael is a writer, cultural historian of football, and former offensive lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs. He has written several books including King Football, Sporting with the Gods: The Rhetoric of Play and Game in American Literature, and Brand NFL: Making and Selling America's Favorite Sport. Earlier this year he published The Head in Football: The History of Concussions and the Future of the Sport. I first got in touch with Michael in 2012 after reading his piece in Slate about the death of Steve Sabol. Sabol was the creative force behind NFL Films and is responsible for a lot of the technical, visual, and narrative innovations that shape the way we watch football today. 00:00 - BTR Today 00:41 - Michael Oriard 02:34 - Watching as a Player 03:19 - Visual language of Football 06:23 - Storytelling 10:15 - Highlights as Art 12:01 - Marketing 14:30 - NFL Films in context 20:16 - The Glory of Violence 25:48 - The Future 28:23 - Finish