The Rhythm of DC’s Resistance & What’s The Deal With UFC?
On this episode of Edge of Sports, author Maurice Jackson joins the show to discuss his new book, and Ari Drennen discusses an important study on UFC and politics.

Where sports and politics collide, hosted by Nation magazine Sports Editor Dave Zirin
This week, we talk to Dr. Maurice Jackson, author of the new book Rhythms of Resistance and Resilience: How Black Washingtonians Used Music and Sports in the Fight for Equality. We also talk to Ari Drennen from Media Matters about their recent study about the politics of the people behind the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Rhythms of Resistance & Resilience
https://press.georgetown.edu/Book/Rhythms-of-Resistance-and-Resilience
Zirin, With ICE Out of Control, How Can the US Cohost the 2026 World Cup?
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/ice-fifa-world-cup-north-america/
—
http://www.edgeofsportspodcast.com/ | http://twitter.com/EdgeOfSportsPod | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: [email protected] | Edge of Sports hotline: 401-426-3343 (EDGE)
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

President Donald Trump, along with FBI Director Kash Patel and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Elon Musk and his son watch Australian fighter Alexander Volkanovski and Brazilian fighter Diego Lopes during an Ultimate Fighting Championship fight, at the Kaseya Center, on April 12, 2025 in Miami, Florida.
(Joe Raedle / Getty Images)This week on Edge of Sports, we talk to Dr. Maurice Jackson, author of the new book Rhythms of Resistance and Resilience: How Black Washingtonians Used Music and Sports in the Fight for Equality. We also talk to Ari Drennen from Media Matters about their recent study about the politics of the people behind the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.

Where sports and politics collide, hosted by Nation magazine Sports Editor Dave Zirin
This week, we speak to Chris Buccafusco about his organization, Atlanta Bravest, and what they are doing to combat indigenous mascoting. Also, sound from the March for Mumia onto the grounds of his prison, which took on the issue not only of Mumia’s incarceration but also of elder and medical abuse inside our prisons.
Zirin,“This Is Historic”: FIFA and UEFA Presidents Are Accused of Aiding Israel’s War Crimes
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/fifa-uefa-war-crimes-israel/
—
http://www.edgeofsportspodcast.com/ | http://twitter.com/EdgeOfSportsPod | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: [email protected] | Edge of Sports hotline: 401-426-3343 (EDGE)
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Subscribe to The Nation to Support all of our podcasts
Disobey authoritarians, support The Nation
Over the past year you’ve read Nation writers like Elie Mystal, Kaveh Akbar, John Nichols, Joan Walsh, Bryce Covert, Dave Zirin, Jeet Heer, Michael T. Klare, Katha Pollitt, Amy Littlefield, Gregg Gonsalves, and Sasha Abramsky take on the Trump family’s corruption, set the record straight about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s catastrophic Make America Healthy Again movement, survey the fallout and human cost of the DOGE wrecking ball, anticipate the Supreme Court’s dangerous antidemocratic rulings, and amplify successful tactics of resistance on the streets and in Congress.
We publish these stories because when members of our communities are being abducted, household debt is climbing, and AI data centers are causing water and electricity shortages, we have a duty as journalists to do all we can to inform the public.
In 2026, our aim is to do more than ever before—but we need your support to make that happen.
Through December 31, a generous donor will match all donations up to $75,000. That means that your contribution will be doubled, dollar for dollar. If we hit the full match, we’ll be starting 2026 with $150,000 to invest in the stories that impact real people’s lives—the kinds of stories that billionaire-owned, corporate-backed outlets aren’t covering.
With your support, our team will publish major stories that the president and his allies won’t want you to read. We’ll cover the emerging military-tech industrial complex and matters of war, peace, and surveillance, as well as the affordability crisis, hunger, housing, healthcare, the environment, attacks on reproductive rights, and much more. At the same time, we’ll imagine alternatives to Trumpian rule and uplift efforts to create a better world, here and now.
While your gift has twice the impact, I’m asking you to support The Nation with a donation today. You’ll empower the journalists, editors, and fact-checkers best equipped to hold this authoritarian administration to account.
I hope you won’t miss this moment—donate to The Nation today.
Onward,
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editor and publisher, The Nation
