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:
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Ep. 266: Deconstructing a Very Disappointing Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker/Christmas, Santa Claus, the KKK and Jessie Jackson
Ep. 265: The True History of MKUltra, LSD, and the CIA's Poisoner in Chief
Ep. 264: How Neoliberalism Uses "Mindfulness" to Create Compliant and Weak People/The Politics of Limbic Capitalism, Pleasure, and Addiction
Ep. 263: Chris Hedges Warns That Impeaching Donald Trump Will Not Save America's Dying Empire
Ep. 262: David Cay Johnston Connects the Dots Between the Ukraine Scandal, Donald Trump the De Facto Crime Family Boss, and Impeachment
Ep. 261: The Truth Report -- Timothy Snyder Warns the Resistance That Just Opposing Donald Trump is Not Enough They Need to Offer a Better Vision of America's Future
Ep. 260: Christian Picciolini Reflects on His Descent Into White Supremacist Violence and How He Escaped
Ep. 259: "Never Trump" Patriot Tom Nichols Reflects on What It Was Like to be Called "Human Scum" by Donald Trump
Ep. 258: Dr. Cornel West on Maintaining Hope in the Time of Struggle and Darkness that is the Age of Trump
Ep. 257: Walter Mosley Reflects on How Words are Like Music, the TV series "Snowfall", and His Friend John Singleton
Ep. 256: Kevin Levin Exposes the Lie and Whitewashed History of So-Called "Black Confederate Soldiers" and the American Civil War
Ep. 255: Philip Zimbardo Explains the Psychology of Evil Inside of Trump's Concentration Camps
Ep. 254: The Truth Report with Chauncey DeVega: Dr. Justin Frank Explains the Real Reason that Donald Trump Hates the Ukraine Scandal Whistleblower
Ep. 253: Ibram X. Kendi Explains How to Be an Antiracist
Ep. 252: Christopher Leonard on "Kochland: The Secret History of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America"
Ep. 251: The Chosen One -- From Pat Robertson and The 700 Club to Donald Trump the Christian Fascist
Ep. 250: Chris Arnade on Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America/Sam Quinones on Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic
Ep. 249: Dr. Justin Frank Warns That Donald Trump's Mental Pathologies are Encouraging a Plague of Right-wing Violence in America
Ep. 248: Tim Alberta on "American Carnage" and How Donald Trump Seduced a Very Eager and Willing Republican Party
Ep. 247.5: The Truth Report with Chauncey DeVega: Tim Wise on White Rage, Donald Trump, and America's "Race War"
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