Episode 85 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast features Jeff with guest Steven Blush, author of the recent book Bustin’ Balls: World Team Tennis 1974-78: Pro Sports, Pop Culture, and Progressive Politics.
We talk about how drastically WTT has changed from the early days, the crucial importance of Billie Jean King and the 1973 Battle of the Sexes, and how WTT fit into the 1970s cultural milieu. As Steven tells it, the original WTT was revolutionary, even “proto-woke,” with a place for everyone, setting men and women on equal footing, and welcoming everyone from Black NBA star John Lucas to (eventually) transgender trailblazer Renee Richards. This is an in-depth look at a neglected but fascinating part of tennis history.
I had a great time recording this episode, so I hope you’ll give it a listen. And, of course, Steven’s book makes the perfect Christmas gift for the tennis fan in your life.
Fans of the TA podcast will also want to check out Dangerous Exponents, the new Covid-19 podcast that Carl Bialik and I are doing. We released episode 2 yesterday.
(Note: this week’s episode is about 63 minutes long; in some browsers the audio player may display a different length. Sorry about that!)
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