How far are we willing to go in the name of "better sport"? Athletes have long sought to push the limits of human potential, but the advent and application of new knowledge, science, and technologies has taken elite sports into uncharted territory. It's no longer enough to break records—today's sport is about athletes surpassing their "natural" limits in the name of accomplishing the impossible. With highlights across the spectrum of professional athletics from ski jumpin...

In the first half of the twentieth century, Jack Trice, Ozzie Simmons, and Johnny Bright played college football for three Iowa institutions: Iowa State University, the University of Iowa, and Drake University, respectively. At a time when the overwhelming majority of their opponents and teammates were white, the three men, all African American, sustained serious injuries on the gridiron due to foul play, either because of their talents, their race, or, most likely, an ugly combination of ...

Although girls and women account for approximately 40 percent of all athletes in the United States, they receive only 4 percent of the total sport media coverage. SportsCenter, ESPN's flagship program, dedicates less than 2 percent of its airtime to women. Local news networks devote less than 5 percent of their programming to women's sports. Excluding Sports Illustrated's annual "Swimsuit Issue," women appear on just 4.9 percent of the magazine's covers. Media is a powerf...

When the colonies that became the USA were still dominions of the British Empire they began to imagine their sporting pastimes as finer recreations than even those enjoyed in the motherland. From the war of independence and the creation of the republic to the twenty-first century, sporting pastimes have served as essential ingredients in forging nationhood in American history.This collection gathers the work of an all-star team of historians of American sport in order to explore th...

The New York Times bestseller – with a new afterword about early specialization in youth sports – by the author of Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World.The debate is as old as physical competition. Are stars like Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, and Serena Williams genetic freaks put on Earth to dominate their respective sports? Or are they simply normal people who overcame their biological limits through sheer force of will and obsess...

New York Times BestsellerPo Bronson and Ashley Merryman's work changes the national dialogue. Beyond their bestselling books, you know them from commentary and features in the New York Times, CNN, NPR, Time, Newsweek, Wired, New York, and more. E-mail, Facebook, and Twitter accounts are filled with demands to read their reporting (such as "How Not to Talk to Your Kids," "Creativity Crisis," and "Losing Is Good for You")....

**New York Times Book Review"[S]mart, delightful... a splendidly entertaining education in ethics, activism and science.”Editors's Choice, New York Times Book Review**An impassioned defense of intellectual freedom and a clarion call to intellectual responsibility, Galileo’s Middle Finger is one American’s eye-opening story of life in the trenches of scientific controversy. For two decades, historian Alice Dreger has led a life of extraordin...

American boys are failing to meet their potential—the author of the New York Times bestseller The Collapse of Parenting explains why, and what we can do about it, in this updated edition.A growing proportion of American boys are failing. From kindergarten to college, boys are becoming less resilient and less ambitious, and the gender gap in college attendance and graduation rates ...

**“Up to Speed is a roadmap and toolbox for athletes of all ages. Every coach should read it and discuss it with their athletes. I wish I had been able to read this book while I was competing.” —Kara Goucher, Olympic long-distance runner and author of The Longest RaceHow the latest science can help women achieve their athletic potential**Over the last fifty years, women have made extraordinary advances in athletics. More women than ever are playing sports ...

In this must-read guide, four leading doctors and advocates offer a bold action plan to prevent, care for, and treat Parkinson's disease—one of the great health challenges of our time."Shines an essential spotlight on Parkinson's." —Helen Matthews, Deputy CEO, The Cure Parkinson's TrustBrain diseases are now the world's leading source of disability. The fastest growing of these is Parkinson's: the number of impacted patients has doubled to ...

“[An] electrifying debut…Through in-depth and compassionate reporting, Barnes breaks down the misunderstood science surrounding sex and gender that has been used to keep cisgender women out of sports and has fueled debate over trans athletes participation in women’s sports.”—Shannon Carlin, TIMEmagazine, “100 Must-Read Books of 2023”For decades women have been playing competitive sports, thanks in large part to the protective cover of Title IX. Sinc...

A TIMES AND DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEARSHORTLISTED FOR THE SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2024Sharron Davies is no stranger to battling the routine sexism of the sporting world. She missed out on Olympic Gold because of doping among East German athletes in the 1980s; now, biological males are being allowed to compete directly against women under the guise of trans 'self-ID'.This callous indifference towards women in sport...