Episode 31: Maya Moore, the Activist Athlete with Kurt Streeter

In this episode, Johanna and Nathan are joined by Kurt Streeter to discuss the remarkable work of WNBA superstar Maya Moore to free the wrongfully imprisoned Jonathan Irons. Kurt Streeter is a sports journalist at the New York Times, where he primarily writes stories related to race, gender and social justice. Prior to coming to the NYT in 2017, he wrote for ESPN, the Baltimore Sun, and the Los Angeles Times. He is also a former athlete, and in his younger days played college tennis at California Berkeley and was world ranked by the ATP Tour for three years.

The first half of the interview breaks down the Maya Moore and Jonathan Irons saga. Kurt succinctly explains details of the case and Maya Moore's involvement and grapples with questions related to racism, the carceral state, and the politics of racialized women athletes, as well as the challenges of reporting a story of this nature. In the second half of the episode, Kurt reflects further on his own experiences in the sport media complex, including his time at ESPN, as well as his long-time choice not to write on sport despite his own athletic history. Finally, at the end of the episode, Kurt, Johanna, and Nathan puzzle out the complex dynamics of non-revenue college sport and the way racism shapes higher education in the United States.

You can find Kurt's recent story on the freeing of Jonathan Irons here. You can find his story on the activism of women athletes outside of the limelight here. You can find his lengthy feature on why Maya Moore left basketball here. You can find his massive feature on Jim Thorpe here.

Check out some of Kurt’s other work below:

https://aidsoversixty.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/kurt-streeter-latimes-amid-ill-and-dying-inmates-a-search-for-redemption-care-atonement-first-of-two-parts/

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2012-apr-23-la-me-riot-rodney-king-20120423-1-story.html

https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-c1-cal-freshmen-20130816-dto-htmlstory.html

https://niemanstoryboard.org/stories/the-girl-a-surprise-in-the-ring/

 

Click Here for transcription of this episode (credit to friend of the show @punkademic). 

 

After listening to the episode, check out our recent piece "Canceling the College-Football Season Isn't Enough" published in The Chronicle of Higher Education 

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@Derekcrim

@JohannaMellis

@Nkalamb

@EndofSportPod

www.TheEndofSport.com

 

**For a transcription of this episode please click here. Huge thanks to @Punkadmic for making this happen!**