Burn It All Down

In this episode, Lindsay Gibbs, Shireen Ahmed and Jessica Luther start the show with a few of their favorite U.S. Open moments. Then, they discuss the off-the-field mess in the National Women's Soccer League, including a high turn over of coaches, broadcasting issues and an overall lack of transparency and accountability. They also talk about what changes are vital for the league to improve...

This episode opens with words from Khalida Popal (in an interview with CNN), former Capitan of the Afghanistan Women's Football Team. Then, Shireen Ahmed talks with Kelly Lindsey, former coach of the Afghanistan Women's Football Team about how Khalida, Kelly and a small and formidable group of people were able to evacuate Afghan footballers, other athletes and vulnerable people to safety in recent weeks, with the help of Human Rights for All in Australia...

**TW: This episode contains content about domestic violence and sexual assault** In this episode, Shireen Ahmed, Brenda Elsey and Jessica Luther start the show with their most memorable first day of school moments. For the main topic, they discuss how Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse (DVSA) reports are handled (and ignored) in sports...

In this episode Jessica Luther interviews journalist Chloe Angyal about her new book Turning Pointe: How a New Generation of Dancers Is Saving Ballet from Itself. They discuss if ballet is a sport, an art or both, how gender and race impact dancers' success, and how safety and equity in ballet has a long ways to go. This episode was produced by Tressa Versteeg. Shelby Weldon is our social media and website specialist. Burn It All Down is part of the Blue Wire podcast network...

In this Hot Take, Jessica Luther interviews Kelly Crowley, a two-sport Paralympic athlete -- winning two gold medals in swimming at the 2004 Athens Games and two bronze medals in cycling at the 2012 London Games. They discuss Kelly's lifelong sport career as well as what her favorite moments, so far, of the Tokyo 2020/21 Paralympics. She also shares which events she's most excited about before the Games wrap up on September 5...

In this episode, Amira Rose Davis and Brenda Elsey start the show with their favorite football/soccer chants. Then, the historians talk in-depth about global football academies and the intentional invisibility of what goes on at them, which is exploitation, child labor, racial abuse and sex trafficking veiled as a school. They also discuss who is benefiting from this system and why reform is so slow and difficult. You'll also hear from African football scholar Gerard Akindes...

In this episode, Amira Rose Davis talks with Motoko Rich, New York Times Tokyo Bureau Chief, about reporting on the 2020/21 Tokyo Paralympics. They discuss Japan being the first and only nation to host the Paralympics twice, the impacts of Covid-19 on the games as well as on the country and what disability activists in Japan want from these games. This episode was produced by Tressa Versteeg. Shelby Weldon is our social media and website specialist...

This episode is a re-air of a 2018 interview (from Ep. 44) with an update regarding the 2020/21 Tokyo Paralympic Games. Dr. Amira Rose Davis talks with Dr. Jonna Belanger, A U.S. Paralympics Track & Field Classifier and Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at Penn State University. They discuss how the Paralympic classification system determines an athlete's eligibility to compete in a specific sport based on their ability, impairment and/or disability...

In this episode Jessica Luther, Amira Rose Davis, Lindsay Gibbs and Brenda Elsey preview the 2020/21 Tokyo Paralympic Games, which start TODAY, August 24, and close September 5, 2021. First they discuss some of the major storylines around the games, including fights for equity for disabled athletes, who is "inspiration" for?, and how the Paralympics show disparities between nation-states. You'll also hear from disability activist Katelyn Steele and 2x gold medal Paralympic swimmer Kelly Crowley...

This week, Burn It All Down is featuring conversations about the 2020/21 Tokyo Paralympic Games, which start Tuesday August 24. This episode is re-airing two interviews from September 2020, with updates at the end. Jessica talks with Kristen Duquette, disability advocate and a 5x American Paralympic record holder and Lacey Henderson, a track and field Paralympian and host of the podcast Picked Last In Gym Class. They discuss their athletic journeys, disability in sports and impact of COVID-19...