The Sport of Life: Comedy, Film, Sports, and Music

US Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) chats with Trey Elling. Topics include:

• NIL in college sports (0:00)
• WADA's lack of Olympic transparency (11:15)
• Texas & Texas A&M resuming their football rivalry (14:35)

Former world champion debater Bo Seo chats with Trey Elling about GOOD ARGUMENTS: HOW DEBATE TEACHES US TO LISTEN AND BE HEARD. Topics include:

• Bo's goal with the book (0:27)
• Why disagreement is valuable in human interaction (2:30)
• Bo's outright avoidance of conflict changing in 2005 (4:52)
• The importance of topic analysis for debate (10:38)
• Why 'truth' and 'importance' are debate's two burdens of proof to convince a listener (15:49)
• Counterclaims as an embodiment for justifiable hope, according to Aristotle (28:14)
• Why rhetoric has such a negative connotation, and what good rhetoric looks like (32:02)
• Four qualifications that determine whether an argument is worth pursuing (37:02)
• How to disarm a name-calling bully in a debate (44:46)
• The greatest lesson he learned while coaching debate (48:10)
• Side-switching as another tool to prepare for debate (54:42)

New York Times bestselling author and science/psychology/human behavior journalist Claudia Kalb chats with Trey Elling about SPARK: HOW GENIUS IGNITES, FROM CHILD PRODIGIES TO LATE BLOOMERS. Did you know that Picasso and Yo Yo Ma discovered their brilliance in childhood? Or that the bubonic plague factored into Sir Isaac Newton's coming of age in his early 20s? Or how Julia Child's "middle-agedness" contributed to her appeal? And that Peter Mark Roget created the first edition of his famous thesaurus in his 70s, after a successful career in medicine? Claudia and Trey discuss these things plus the circumstances and attributes that assist in an individual's genius.

Actor & comedian Tim Meadows chats with Trey Elling, ahead of his Feb. 16-28 shows at Cap City Comedy Club. Topics include:

• Cheese plates (0:00)
• Starting standup late (1:41)
• Finding his standup voice (6:38)
• The Detroit Riots (14:16)
• The Talking Heads (15:57)
• Shane Gillis hosting SNL (20:23)
• Forgiveness (22:23)
• Curb Your Enthusiasm (24:36)
• A question he's pondering (27:27)
• An ode to standup (28:14)

Erin Brockovich joins Trey Elling to discuss SUPERMAN'S NOT COMING: OUR NATIONAL WATER CRISIS AND WHAT WE THE PEOPLE CAN DO ABOUT IT, including: the importance of stick-to-itiveness in fighting for such a cause, how Richard Nixon shows that the issue of clean water goes beyond politics, empowering communities with Community Health Book, the heartbreaking-but-inspiring story of Jeremy and Janey Ensminger, and more.