Articles By: Dave Zirin
Named of the UTNE Reader's "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Our World", Dave Zirin writes about the politics of sports for the Nation Magazine. He is their first sports writer in 150 years of existence. Zirin is also the host of Sirius XM Radio's popular weekly show, Edge of Sports Radio. He has been called "the best sportswriter in the United States," by Robert Lipsyte. Dave Zirin is, in addition, a columnist for SLAM Magazine, the Progressive, and a regular op-ed writer for the Los Angeles Times. He was Press Action's 2005 and 2006 Sportswriter of the year. His latest book is "A People's History of Sports in the United States," part of Howard Zinn's People's History series for the New Press. As former Yankee and Ball Four author Jim Bouton said of this work, "Finally, the long-awaited prequel to all the sports books you've ever read. Put this first in the line of sports books on your shelf. It will help make sense of all the others." He is also the author of "Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports" (with a foreword by the immortal Chuck D.). Sports Illustrated wrote that Terrordome is "a provocative, sometimes chilling, look at sports and society right now." His first book "What's My Name, Fool?" Sports and Resistance in the United States" (Haymarket Books) has entered its third printing and is available in stores and at haymarketbooks.org. Zirin has brought his blend of sports and politics to multiple television programs including ESPN's Outside the Lines, MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, ESPN Classic, MSNBC's Morning Joe, CNN's The Campbell Brown Show, MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, Comcast Sports Network's Washington Post Live, Al-Jazeera's The Riz Khan Show, C-SPAN's BookTV, and Democracy Now with Amy Goodman. He has also been on numerous national radio programs including National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation and All Things Considered; Air America's 'On the Real' with Chuck D; The Laura Flanders Show; ESPN radio; Stars and Stripes Radio; The Joe Madison Show; Pacifica's Hard Knock Radio, and many others. He is also a weekly commentator for Canada's Hard Core Sports Radio. Zirin has debated FOX Sports president Ed Goren on college football's Bowl Championship Series for National Public Radio, Bridgestone Firestone President Dan Adomitis in the pages of the LA Times on whether his company should be the "official tire of the Super Bowl" while in court for using child labor in Liberia, and the issue of steroids in sports with Jose Canseco and John Rocker. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Daily News, New York Newsday, the Baltimore Sun, the Houston Chronicle, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Pittsburgh Courier, The Source, and numerous other publications.