Sports As A Weapon Podcast

Miguel welcomed Dr. Jennifer L. Rudolph to the podcast to discuss Baseball as Mediated Latinidad, including racist Latino Threat Narratives in baseball that are a microcosm of US white supremacy society.
Dr. Rudolph is an Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies at Connecticut College and author of Baseball as Mediated Latinidad: Race, Masculinity, Nationalism, and performance of Identity. Dr. Rudolph's research interests include U.S. Latino expressive cultures, Latino identity formation, transnationalism, urban studies, and teaching Spanish to heritage/native speakers.
First, Miguel asked Dr. Rudolph why it was essential for her to analyze new forms of media, such as social media, for her book, Baseball as Mediated Latinidad? Second, Miguel also asked Jennifer about her opening chapter, "La crema de Sammy Sosa," and her analysis of legendary Dominican and former Chicago Cubs star Sammy Sosa. Specifically, Miguel asked Jennifer to explain how specific events tied to Sosa's career and post-career intersected with race, class, and gender issues.
Next, Miguel and Dr. Rudolph discussed the controversy regarding Marc Anthony singing the national anthem at the 2013 all-star game and how it was another example of Anthropologist Leo Chavez's Latino Threat Narrative. Miguel and Dr. Rudolph also discuss how the World Baseball Classic and the 2017 Puerto Rico National team connect to nationalism, race, assimilation, and masculinity. For example, Dr. Rudolph discussed how her analysis of the Puerto Rican national team showed the contradictions between Latinos perceived as threats by white fans instead of representing nationalistic pride to Puerto Rican fans.
Furthermore, Miguel asked Jennifer about the connections between baseball, language, and racialized capitalism. Lastly, Miguel asked Jennifer about her chapter on Major League Baseball's development, labor structure, and practices at their academias in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. Dr. Rudolph summarized the system and explained how they resemble the history of US imperialism and colonialism in Latin America.
To end the podcast, Miguel gives you his Molotov MVP for episode 30, the legendary Pittsburgh Pirate and Hall of Famer, Roberto Clemente. Tragically, Roberto Clemente passed away in a plane crash 49 years ago today, on New Years' Eve 1972,

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!
Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Follow us on:
Twitter/X: @sportsasaweapon
Facebook: fb.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast
Instagram: @sportsasaweaponpodcast
TikTok: @SportsAsAWeapon
YouTube: @SportsAsAWeapon
BlueSky: @sportsasaweapon.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast (If you want)
Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon....

We are back! Miguel welcomed Independent Journalist Danny Haiphong (@SpiritofHo) to discuss Enes Kanter, Sinophobia, and Anti-China Narratives in sports.
Danny Haiphong is an anti-imperialist independent journalist and researcher in the US. He is a contributing editor to the Black Agenda Report, co-host of the Left Lens, and co-editor of Friends of Socialist China.
Subscribe to Danny Haiphong’s Substack and Patreon.
First, Danny and Miguel discuss Enes Kanter's anti-China crusade, and Danny chronicles how Kanter is a member of the Gulen movement. The Gulen movement is a conservative Islamist Fraternal organization founded by Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen, who fled to the US in 1998. Gulen currently resides on 25 acres of land in rural Pennsylvania, and the Turkish government considers Gulen a CIA asset.
Danny and Miguel also discuss the US Diplomatic Boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, fueled by the continued US claims of China committing Human Rights violations. However, the allegations originate from erroneous, right-wing sources connected to the US state department. Miguel also asked Danny about the importance of covering China from an anti-imperialist perspective and more!
Additionally, Miguel gives you his Molotov MVP for episode 29, LeBron James. The King responded to Enes Kanter’s criticism, and I enjoyed this segment. Lastly, Miguel gives you this episode's Chicano/Chicana sports history segment. Miguel highlights Ma Jin, a Chinese Diving Coach who has been the Head Coach of Mexico’s Olympic diving team since 2003.
Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is now part of the @Anticonquista Collective Media Network. Check out Anticonquista on YouTube and Instagram!
Be sure to listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts,

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!
Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Follow us on:
Twitter/X: @sportsasaweapon
Facebook: fb.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast
Instagram: @sportsasaweaponpodcast
TikTok: @SportsAsAWeapon
YouTube: @SportsAsAWeapon
BlueSky: @sportsasaweapon.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast (If you want)
Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon....

It's October, which means postseason baseball! This week, Miguel had three guests on the podcast to talk playoff baseball and the topic of unionizing minor league baseball players. Miguel was excited to welcome Alex Bazeley and Bobby Wagner, who hosts one of our favorite podcasts, the Tipping Pitches Podcast (@tipping_pitches). Miguel was also joined on the podcast by comrade Justin Williams of the Redspin Sports Podcast.
First, Miguel asked Bobby and Alex about their podcast and what inspired them to start it. Miguel also asked Bobby and Alex about their "unionize the minor leagues" t-shirts and the National Question of Baseball:
What would it look like to nationalize the national pastime?
Additionally, Miguel, Justin, Alex, and Bobby drive deep (into left field) and discuss unionizing minor league baseball players, the #FairBall protest, the upcoming labor negotiations between the MLB owners and MLPA, and predict if the players and MLBPA will strike for the first time since 1994-95. Lastly, they discuss the MLB postseason and weigh in on who they think will be awarded the MVP and Cy Young for the NL and AL. Note: Originally recorded on October 1, 2021. Unfortunately, you already know the Blue Jays and Mariners didn't make it to October, and the Cardinals and Yankees lost the wild card. But it was still a great episode, and I suggest you listen, trust me.
Miguel gives you his Molotov MVPs for episode 28, minor league right-handed Pitcher Kieran Lovegrove, and the Jersey Shore BlueClaws and Brooklyn Cyclones, minor league players. Finally, Miguel ends the podcast with another Chicana/o Sports History segment. This week, he highlights current Mexican and Chicano Major League Baseball Players playing this October in the Postseason.

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. Sports As A Weapon is now part of the @Anticonquista Collective Network. Check out Anticonquista on YouTube and Instagram!
Be sure to listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music,

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!
Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Follow us on:
Twitter/X: @sportsasaweapon
Facebook: fb.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast
Instagram: @sportsasaweaponpodcast
TikTok: @SportsAsAWeapon
YouTube: @SportsAsAWeapon
BlueSky: @sportsasaweapon.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast (If you want)
Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon....

Miguel spoke to Dr. Tracie Canada (@tracie_canada) this week, a socio-cultural anthropologist and assistant professor at Notre Dame (Department of Anthropology and Africana Studies). Dr. Canada’s ethnographic research uses sport to theorize race, kinship and care, gender, and the performing body. Her work focuses on the lived experiences of Black football players. Dr. Canada is currently working on her first book, “Tackling the Everyday: Race, Family, and Nation in Big-Time College Football.”
First, Miguel asked Dr. Canada about her two recent articles, “The NFL’s Racist ‘Race Norming’ Is an Afterlife of Slavery” and “Brotherhood and Anti-Blackness in College Football.” Next, Dr. Canada explained the practice of race-norming and how the NFL used it against former players impacted by brain trauma during their playing career. Additionally, Miguel and Dr. Tracy Canada discuss the lawsuit by former NFL players Kevin Henry and Najeh Davenport against the NFL, who accused the NFL of “explicitly and deliberately” discriminating against them and black players filing dementia-related claims.

Dr. Canada also explained how race-norming is an afterlife of slavery, and Miguel and Dr. Canada discussed how injuries and concussions are structurally crucial to the NFL as a business. Lastly, as one cultural anthropologist to another, Miguel asked Dr. Canada why Miami Dolphins rookie WR Jaylen Waddle’s draft-day press conference caught her attention and the difference between football teammates and football brothers. Note: Originally recorded on September 2, 2021.
Next, Miguel gives you his Molotov MVPs for episode 27, former NFL running back Najeh Davenport and former NFL linebacker Kevin Henry. Finally, Miguel ends the podcast with another Chicana/o Sports History segment. This week, he highlights the 2021 NFL Hall of Fame Inductee and the first Mexican/Chicano and Latino Head Coach to win a Super Bowl, Raiders legendary Head Coach Tom Flores!

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. Sports As A Weapon is now part of the @Anticonquista Collective Network. Check out Anticonquista on YouTube and Instagram!
Be sure to listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify,

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!
Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Follow us on:
Twitter/X: @sportsasaweapon
Facebook: fb.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast
Instagram: @sportsasaweaponpodcast
TikTok: @SportsAsAWeapon
YouTube: @SportsAsAWeapon
BlueSky: @sportsasaweapon.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast (If you want)
Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon....

In this episode, Miguel interviewed Daniel Montero, a Cuban journalist, producer, and director with Belly of the Beast Cuba. Miguel spoke to Daniel about his documentary film director debut, Little League Dreams, which dropped on Belly of the Beast Cuba's YouTube page. You can watch the film here.
The documentary Little League Dreams chronicles the journey of the 11 – and 12 – year olds from the Bayamo (Granma) Little League team that represented Cuba at the 2023 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, Panama eliminated Baymo Little League, 3-2, on Sunday, August 20, 2023. However, these kids should be proud of representing Cuba and winning against Australia 11-1 on Saturday, August 19, 2023.
Miguel also asked Daniel about the impact of the 61-year U.S. Embargo policy on the Bayamo Little League team and Cuban society in general. I hope you all enjoy this episode!
Daniel Montero was co-winner of a One World Media Award and a Telly Award for his work on the Belly of the Beast acclaimed documentary series, The War on Cuba. Daniel has been interviewed on Democracy Now! and published in The Guardian. He graduated from the University of Havana School of Communications in 2020 with a degree in journalism. Daniel was a reporter and presenter for Radio Havana's Cuba's English broadcast for two and a half years, where Daniel ran two shows. In 2018, he was a co-winner of a Caribbean Broadcasting Union Award for his work on Cito del Arte (The website of the arts).
You can follow Belly of the Beast Cuba on:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BellyofTheBeastCuba
Twitter: @bellybeastcuba
Instagram: bellyofthebeastcuba
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bellyofthebeastcuba/
Links:
Cuba's first Little League World Series team has family ties to MLB's Gurriel brothers (USA Today)

The War on Cuba Series (Belly of the Beast Cuba)
The U.S. blockade, and the "1 cent 4 Cuba" campaign to challenge it (Dr. Helen Yaffe)

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!
Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Follow us on:
Twitter/X: @sportsasaweapon
Facebook: fb.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast
Instagram: @sportsasaweaponpodcast
TikTok: @SportsAsAWeapon
YouTube: @SportsAsAWeapon
BlueSky: @sportsasaweapon.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast (If you want)
Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon....