339. Chuck Klosterman:The Football Phenomenon

For many Americans, football is more than just a sport — it is a way of life. Year after year, it remains the most watched sport in the country, captivating millions every season. A recent study showed that 93 of the 100 most-watched programs on U.S. television were NFL football games. Football, whether we like it or not, is inescapable. Chuck Klosterman, New York Times bestselling author, journalist, and critic, visits Town Hall just after Super Bowl Weekend to discuss his newest book, Football. Here, Klosterman dissects the question of natural greatness, looks at football through various lenses such as gambling and war, explores the caricature of the uncompromising head coach, ponders the morality of necessary risk, and posits hypotheticals in which certain celebrities chose football over other fields. Football explains the sport as not only a cultural phenomenon but as a "hyperobject" — an entity so large in scale that it is able to defy human perception and understanding. Klosterman seeks both to enlighten and amuse as he offers examples of how football is woven into our collective identity. Whether you are a diehard fan or a more passive viewer, Klosterman's latest work goes beyond football as just an athletic competition. Chuck Klosterman is the bestselling author of nine nonfiction books, two novels, and a short story collection. He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, GQ (London), Esquire, Spin, The Guardian (London), The Believer, and ESPN. Klosterman served as the Ethicist for The New York Times Magazine for three years and was an original founder of the website Grantland with Bill Simmons. He was raised in rural North Dakota and now lives in Portland, Oregon. Buy the Book Football Elliott Bay Book Company