NFL Films producer Courtland Bragg investigates the mysterious 1996 burning of Reggie White’s church in Knoxville, Tennessee, and in the process, shines a light on the greater legacy of the NFL Hall of Famer. In the midst of a rash of mid-1990s church burnings across the United States, White’s Inner City Church boasts a growing interracial congregation, and after the building is firebombed and reduced to ashes, White believes the attack is the work of racists. The podcast brings the story to...

The odds of seeing a Black American baseball player on the diamond were higher in the 1950s than they are today. Baseball's future will be defined by how it reckons with the past. But is it too little too late? Check out ABC Audio's "Reclaimed: The Forgotten League" on Apple Podcasts (https://tinyurl.com/27krwnxr), Spotify (https://tinyurl.com/mvejpt2t), Amazon Music (https://tinyurl.com/mrxxfkmu), or wherever you're listening now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Baseball's institutions fail to recognize Negro Leaguers as pressure builds for the sport to reconsider who counts as one of the greats. Check out ABC Audio's "Reclaimed: The Forgotten League" on Apple Podcasts (https://tinyurl.com/27krwnxr), Spotify (https://tinyurl.com/mvejpt2t), Amazon Music (https://tinyurl.com/mrxxfkmu), or wherever you're listening now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Jackie Robinson is signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers, he opens a door that was closed for decades. The move changes baseball forever and sets Negro Leagues players on a new trajectory. But integration comes with a heavier price than they could've ever imagined. Check out ABC Audio's "Reclaimed: The Forgotten League" on Apple Podcasts (https://tinyurl.com/27krwnxr), Spotify (https://tinyurl.com/mvejpt2t), Amazon Music (https://tinyurl.com/mrxxfkmu), or wherever you're listening now. Learn...

To draw crowds to their games, Black baseball players develop a signature style of play. It captivates audiences around the world — even gets the attention of one of Latin America's most notorious dictators. Check out ABC Audio's "Reclaimed: The Forgotten League" on Apple Podcasts (https://tinyurl.com/27krwnxr), Spotify (https://tinyurl.com/mvejpt2t), Amazon Music (https://tinyurl.com/mrxxfkmu), or wherever you're listening now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The newly founded Negro Leagues struggle to catch on — until savvy businessmen and fierce rivalries propel Black baseball to the national stage. Check out ABC Audio's "Reclaimed: The Forgotten League" on Apple Podcasts (https://tinyurl.com/27krwnxr), Spotify (https://tinyurl.com/mvejpt2t), Amazon Music (https://tinyurl.com/mrxxfkmu), or wherever you're listening now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing a new series, "Reclaimed: The Forgotten League," from our partners at ABC Audio. For decades, Black baseball players were excluded from the major leagues and forced to create their own space: the Negro Leagues. In the new season of the award-winning podcast "Reclaimed," Vanessa Ivy Rose, granddaughter of Negro Leagues star Norman “Turkey” Stearnes, brings us on a quest to excavate his story and those of other Black players who were shut out of the majors, a legacy that still...

To unravel how a top college recruit’s NBA dreams ran into a sprawling federal investigation, reporter Paula Lavigne explores his early years. Billy Preston and his mom struggle to get by in L.A. An active kid, Billy finds basketball through his mom’s partner, a high school coach and former professional player. Billy’s star rises in youth leagues. He generates buzz as an NBA prospect. Top colleges vie for his talents, and his family pulls out all the stops to support his goals. Learn more...

Billy’s mom Nichole lets her son focus on improving his game. Meanwhile she fields all the onlookers who want Billy on their team. To play for a top college, Billy couldn’t accept any money or he’d ruin his eligibility. Yet offers to circumvent that abound: aka, the bag game. In the college recruitment dance, Billy gets his top pick and Nicole makes a connection that promises to secure the family’s finances. But Billy’s dream is short-lived. And Nicole’s dealings later get federal...

The NCAA’s amateurism rules kept schools from paying players like Billy, so money wouldn't sway their college decision. But Paula learns how the youth teams delivering top recruits could serve as a go-between, where influence could be peddled. We hear one youth coach in Florida court much-needed funding from big-time shoe companies, only to land in hot water for what he promises in return. He didn’t know he was being recorded. The bag game unravels, as the feds’ secret investigation comes to...

Federal prosecutors tell the college sports world, “We have your playbook." As court cases begin, details come out on secret payments. Who made them and for whose benefit? Who was the victim of all this and what, exactly, was the crime? Why were no head coaches called to testify? Prosecutors break their silence and reveal their legal strategy. After playing overseas, Billy returns for the NBA draft. His name and the Kansas program have been swept into the case. Sentences come down for...

ESPN and 30 for 30 Podcasts present "The Bag Game." Investigative reporter Paula Lavigne shines light on the biggest pay-to-play scandal in college basketball, through the story of Billy Preston. He was a five-star recruit set to start for Kansas, when his path crossed a sprawling federal investigation. The complex case ensnared major athletic programs, coaches, apparel executives and agents. But did it clean up corruption in college sports? And what did it mean for players like Billy? Coming...

Growing up Iranian American, Shima Oliaee found her mother didn’t talk much about where she came from. Watching soccer, though, was a portal to Iran, a place that was in large part a mystery. Shima delves into the stories she didn’t hear growing up: Iran's mandated modernization and how soccer played a role, the women-led 1979 revolution, and her parents’ mistaken-identity love story. Shima and her mom meet Zeinab Sahafy, a young Iranian woman and avid soccer fan whose love of the game led to...

This episode starts with two questions: If women equally led the 1979 revolution, why were their rights stripped away first? How does this happen to an emboldened part of the population? At first, the women fight back, chanting “Azadi! Azadi!” [translation: “Freedom! Freedom!”] in the streets until the clerics back down. But in a story told by legendary writer and activist Mehrangiz Kar, women’s rights erode one by one – leading us to the nationwide ban on women at stadiums. This is when...

One game sets off a movement. In 1997 Iran surprisingly makes the World Cup in the last three minutes of play against Australia. When Iran's national team gets helicoptered into Azadi Stadium to celebrate, women are asked to stay home. They don't listen, and thousands rush the stadium. This is the origin story of the White Scarves, a group that uses international soccer matches to defy the regime and take back their country. As the White Scarves gain international fame, they face grave danger...

(Warning: this episode includes description of a suicide). The newest generation of Iranian girl soccer fans take a bold new approach. They cross-dress as men to sneak into Azadi Stadium, documenting their rebellion live on social media - an irreverent middle finger to the government. One of those girls is Zeinab Sahafy, from Episode 1. One night four of her friends are arrested and she flees for her life. Another girl, still in the country, loses her life. In a moment described as “a...

In Iran, women are banned from soccer stadiums. But some dare to defy that. From 30 for 30 Podcasts, Pink Card tells a story of Iranian women fighting for their rights across three generations. They use ingenious tactics and risk their lives to take back their stadiums and their joy in the game. Created by Shima Oliaee (Dolly Parton’s America, Radiolab), Pink Card will forever change how you see fandom and freedom. Available December 8th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

Baseball holds its records sacred. Most home runs, strikeouts, career wins. But what about the longest game ever? That honor goes to a 1981 AAA game, when the Pawtucket Red Sox and Rochester Red Wings slugged it out from dusk to dawn. The record-breaking 33 innings brought hope, despair and drama on and off the field. Radio Diaries and 30 for 30 Podcasts take listeners to that frigid, surreal night with the voices who lived it – including Hall of Famers Wade Boggs and Cal Ripken Jr. Most...

Streetball. It's a style of basketball defined by trash talk, windmill dunks, no-look passes, and broken ankles. You can find streetball at city parks and rec centers, driveways and playgrounds, pro-am leagues and even -- in spirit -- NBA arenas. Through it all, you might even call it hoops in its purest form. Drawing inspiration from hip hop mixtapes, this podcast explores how streetball – and the way it’s played around the United States – has shaped not just the game of basketball, but the...

Nipsey’s life story lives on in his music, but only a handful of people witnessed Hussle in creation mode. Meet the brothers behind the beats and hear some of the secrets of the “slaps.”

Nipsey traveled across the world, but all of his love and loyalty funneled back to the community that raised him. With the corner of Crenshaw Boulevard and Slauson Avenue as his headquarters, this episode looks at Nipsey’s devout local commitment — and how that played out in the worlds of business, philanthropy and social justice as many young Black men in the NBA began to actively engage in those areas as well. In death, Nipsey left a blueprint for this friends to follow, and through them,...

There are a ton of descriptions that could properly summarize Nipsey Hussle’s music career. But “overnight” isn’t one of them. A decade-plus-long journey through time that weaves in the highs, lows, joys and pains of Nipsey’s voyage to his debut album ‘Victory Lap.’ And how that marathon ran parallel with the NBA players who were in awe of his every move.