Irv Muchnick is one of America’s leading sports journalists and investigative writers.
His essays and other writing have appeared in Sports Illustrated, People, The Washington Monthly, and the Sunday magazines of the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. He is the author of the books Chris & Nancy; Wrestling Babylon; Concussion Inc., Without Helmets or Shoulder Pads: The American Way of Death in Football Conditioning; and Underwater: The Greed-Soaked Tale of Sexual Abuse in USA Swimming and Around the Globe.
Irv Muchnick reflects on why the recent “revelations” about Vince McMahon’s alleged Caligula-like sexual exploitation of an employee, harassment, and of creating a larger environment of sexual predation at the WWE/WWF should in no way be a surprise given what has been publicly known for decades.
Irv also offers some context from his long history of reporting on the subculture(s) of professional wrestling and other sports such as swimming and gymnastics about how and why sexual harassment and abuse are unfortunately all too common both in those spaces and across American society.
And Irv connects the dots between Donald Trump and Vince McMahon and what he describes as the “Trumpification” of American politics and life.
Chauncey reflects on nostalgia, innocence, joy, pleasure, fan culture, and how to reconcile loving professional wrestling (and other things) with knowing about the real-life drama and human cost that it brings to its participants and others in that world. Ultimately, is innocence bliss?
And Chauncey shares a story about being a hero in your own neighborhood (even when sick), thanks everyone for their support during his battle with the cooties, and in that spirit makes a public health announcement about the merits of folk medicine and the all-powerful asafetida bag.
At the end of this episode of the podcast, there is also an “Easter egg” bonus segment from the archives with writer, movie producer, and director Barry Blaustein where he reflects on making the landmark professional wrestling documentary Beyond the Mat.
WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?
On Twitter:
https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega
On Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega
My email:
chaunceydevega@gmail.com
HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW?
Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com
Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow
Ep. 366: Nuclear Espionage? More Proof That Donald Trump is The Worst President in American History and a Traitor
Ep. 365: Marvel Comics Writer Jason Aaron Shares His Love of Great Storytelling in Comic Books, Graphic Novels, and Professional Wrestling
Ep. 364: The Truth Report -- Eddie Glaude Explains That America is in Great Pain and on a Horrible Journey and White Racial Innocence Will Not Save It
Ep. 363: Baz Luhrmann’s Great New Movie "Elvis" is Much More Than The Sum of Its Parts
Ep. 362: Jeff Sharlet’s Journey into the Dark Heart of the American Fascist Nightmare Fever Dream
Ep. 361: Your "Hashtag Activism", "Likes", "Shares", and "Tweets" Will Not Save You From the Fascist Nightmare or Other Political and Societal Disasters
Ep. 360: Confronting The Raw Truth About The White Supremacist Terrorist Attack on The Black Community in Buffalo
Ep. 359: The Battle to Save American Democracy From the Republican-Fascists Will Be Long and Difficult -- And Quitting Is Not an Option
Ep. 358: Honoring and Remembering Eric Boehlert
Ep. 357: The Truth Report -- Chris Hedges Reflects on the New Censorship and Authoritarianism of the 21st Century
Ep. 356: Advice on Navigating and Surviving the Emotional, Physical, and Spiritual Harm Caused by Living in a White Racist Society
Ep. 355: What is it Like When the Republican-Fascist "Critical Race Theory" Witch Hunt Comes After You?
Ep. 354: Life Lessons From General Smedley Butler, the (first) Jan. 6 Coup Plot, and How War is a Racket
Ep. 353: The Truth Report -- Donald Trump and the Republican Neofascists Have Pushed America to the Brink of a Second Civil War
Ep. 352: Racism Will Bring America's Ultimate Destruction
Ep. 351: New Year's Eve 2021 Potpourri -- 1980s Cold War Action Movies, the Meaning of a Good Death, and What Troubles Await America and the World in 2022 and Beyond
Ep. 350: The Life Wisdom of Artist Winfred Rembert and His Memoir of the Jim Crow South
Ep. 349: There is No "Nice" or "Kind" Way to Warn the American People About the Rising Fascist Tide and Disaster
Ep. 348: Are Terrible People Attracted to Power? Or Does Power Make Them Terrible?
Ep. 347: The Truth Report -- Tim Wise Explains How The Jim Crow Republicans "Critical Race Theory" Bogeyman is Powered by White Rage
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