"Stories From the Summits of Sport" with ESPN's Seth Wickersham episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 27, 2026 · 41 MIN

"Stories From the Summits of Sport" with ESPN's Seth Wickersham

from Talking Sports Books · host TIM CAPLE

Great sportswriting does more than explain who won. It asks why the contest mattered, what it cost, and what the people inside it were really chasing.That is the territory Seth Wickersham has made his own. Across more than two decades at ESPN, he has reported from locker rooms, family homes, private conversations, NFL power centres, and the edges of obsession quite literally. His new collection gathers 26 essays that show the full range of that work, from Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes to Kobe Bryant, Alex Honnold, NASCAR, football’s violence, and the strange cultural afterlife of “We Will Rock You”.Coming up on the TALKING SPORTS BOOKS SHOW this month ,this is the kind of book that invites a richer conversation than a standard sports biography. It is about winners, yes. It is also about ambition, loneliness, control, risk, memory, and the human need to turn performance into meaning.Coming up then we talk about a Kenyan runner who had both feet amputated, the story behind the most played piece of music in US stadiums and arenas, we look into some of the most lonely roles in sport with the vet's responsible for euthanising injured horses at racetracks and the young DA thrust into the global limelight when he took on the role of prosecutor going up against NBA icon Kobe Bryant .The Book is titled "Be On That Hill" it is available 9/22/26

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 27, 2026

Embed this episode

NOW PLAYING

"Stories From the Summits of Sport" with ESPN's Seth Wickersham

0:00 41:45

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Talking Sports Books?

This episode is 41 minutes long.

When was this Talking Sports Books episode published?

This episode was published on August 27, 2026.

Can I download this Talking Sports Books episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!