Robert Lipsyte

Robert Lipsyte, a TomDispatch regular and author of the memoir An Accidental Sportswriter, was a sports and city columnist for the The New York Times, a correspondent for CBS and NBC news and the Emmy-award winning host of WNET’s nightly public affairs show. His 1975 goodbye-to-all-that (before he came back), SportsWorld: An American Dreamland, has just been reissued by Rutgers University Press with a new introduction.

Buffalo Bills players and staff pray for their teammate Damar Hamlin during the first half of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Monday, Jan. 2, 2023, in Cincinnati, which was postponed 59 minutes after Hamlin collapsed.

Is It Time to Cancel Football? Is It Time to Cancel Football?

Now, as the Super Bowl looms, is it time to turn your back on football? Or would you prefer to “man up” and leave any qualms about its violence in the dust of recent history?

Feb 10, 2023 / Robert Lipsyte

Houston Astros shortstop Alex Bregman hits a grand slam home run

Want World Peace? Ban the Home Run. Want World Peace? Ban the Home Run.

The dream of the game-changing home run has shaped our approach to so much, from sports to geopolitics—most significantly, our ability to solve problems through reason and diplomac...

Oct 20, 2022 / Robert Lipsyte

Golf’s Sportswashing of Saudi Arabia

Golf’s Sportswashing of Saudi Arabia Golf’s Sportswashing of Saudi Arabia

Not since the 1936 Berlin Olympics was used to cosmeticize Nazi Germany’s atrocities have sports and an otherwise despised government collaborated so blatantly.

Aug 25, 2022 / Robert Lipsyte

Anti-gun protest

As a Former Gun Owner, I Support Gun Control As a Former Gun Owner, I Support Gun Control

That means that you can’t enjoy the privileges of the past—and that’s a good thing.

Jun 15, 2022 / Robert Lipsyte

March for Reproductive Rights

There’s No Place for Bystanders in the Coming Abortion Battle There’s No Place for Bystanders in the Coming Abortion Battle

Sixty years ago, it seemed remarkably clear how crucial it was that men stop leaving women to face this nightmare essentially alone—and it still does.

May 20, 2022 / Robert Lipsyte

Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali Was Our Last Great American Hero Muhammad Ali Was Our Last Great American Hero

The American dream may be coming apart at the seams, but the glory of The Greatest is in full flower and still growing. Why?

Jan 31, 2022 / Robert Lipsyte

What We Can Learn From Sports Fandom’s Moral Drift

What We Can Learn From Sports Fandom’s Moral Drift What We Can Learn From Sports Fandom’s Moral Drift

Fandom has taken on the worst of the corrupted tribalism that has dominated so much of life outside the arena, the ballpark, and the stadium.

Dec 8, 2021 / Robert Lipsyte

Billie Jean King

An American Sports Icon’s Legacy of LGBTQ Rights An American Sports Icon’s Legacy of LGBTQ Rights

Billie Jean King’s long history of activism proved that the personal is political. 

May 28, 2021 / Robert Lipsyte

Donald Trump Rush Limbaugh

The Four Horsemen of the Media Apocalypse The Four Horsemen of the Media Apocalypse

The legacies of Trump, Limbaugh, Murdoch, and Ailes are a lasting plague of misinformation, propaganda, and fake news.

Mar 9, 2021 / Robert Lipsyte

President Donald Trump

Will American Sports Recover From Trumpism? Will American Sports Recover From Trumpism?

Over the past four years, Trumpism has gradually replaced sports as America’s most compelling live entertainment.

Feb 9, 2021 / Robert Lipsyte

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