Podcast appearances and mentions of rob ruck

Liann Tsoukas and Rob Ruck on trailblazing Pittsburgh journalist and civil rights advocate Mal Goode

About the Show:"When you can collaborate with a wonderful person and have fun doing it, it makes the process a lot more fun, but also it makes the end product better."Rob RuckAbout the Guests:Liann Tsoukas and Rob Ruck: Liann Tsoukas is a researcher and author who has co-authored the book Mal Goode: Reporting the Life and Work of a Black Broadcast Trailblazer. Dr. Rob Ruck is a historian and author known for his extensive work on sports history, including his book on the Polynesian culture in football. Both Rob and Liann are associated with the University of Pittsburgh, the alma mater of Mal Goode, and have collaborated on bringing his story to light through their scholarly work.Episode Summary:In this episode of the I Am Northwest Arkansas podcast, host Randy Wilburn embarks on a deeply personal journey, exploring the life and legacy of his grandfather, Mal Goode, alongside authors Liann Tsoukas and Rob Ruck. As the pioneering first Black network newscaster with ABC News in 1962, Mal Goode broke significant barriers in broadcast journalism. This episode delves into the painstaking process behind the creation of a new book titled Mal Goode: Reporting the Life and Work of a Black Broadcast Trailblazer, shedding light on his profound impact on journalism and civil rights.Drawing from expansive family archives and interviews, Liann and Rob share their insights into Mal Goode's life, emphasizing his remarkable transition at age 54 into a groundbreaking role at ABC, an experience analogous to the tectonic social shifts taking place in America during the civil rights movement. They highlight the often-overlooked stories of collaboration and mentorship among civil rights pioneers and African American icons. Through rich personal anecdotes and historical context, they frame Goode's role not just as a pathbreaker in media but also as a mentor to African American athletes and figures like Jackie Robinson. His story becomes a testament to resilience, leadership, and progress, providing a blueprint for understanding and overcoming contemporary societal challenges.Key Takeaways:Mal Goode's Career Shift: At 54, Mal Goode transitioned to a career in network news, becoming the first Black newscaster at ABC, which was a groundbreaking achievement during the tumultuous civil rights era.Historical Context: The book encapsulates the intersection of Goode's life with pivotal civil rights moments, illustrating his contributions to both journalism and the African American community.Collaborative Biography: The episode uncovers the authors' extensive research journey, revealing untold stories and personal insights from Goode's family and contemporaries.Cultural Impact: Goode was a mentor to many, influencing figures like Jackie Robinson and impacting generations through his civil rights advocacy and work in media.Legacy and Influence: The podcast underscores the powerful legacy of Mal Goode, demonstrating how his principles and life lessons continue to inspire and educate.All this and more on this episode of the I Am Northwest Arkansas podcast.Important Links and Mentions on the Show*

This week we continue our series featuring book excerpts read by previous podcast guests. In this episode, Dr. Rob Ruck, a professor of history at the University of Pittsburgh, reads a section from his book entitled “The Tropic of Football: The Long and Perilous Journey of Samoans to the NFL”. We then rebroadcast his original interview (SoS 37, aired in April 2019), in which Dr. Ruck discusses the intersections between sports, history, culture, and health. You can learn more about Dr. Ruck’s work by visiting his website: http://robruck.com/index.php Email him at: rucco@pitt.edu Contact the Sausage of Science and Human Biology Association: Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation Website:humbio.org/, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Cara Ocobock, Website: sites.nd.edu/cara-ocobock/, Email:cocobock@nd.edu, Twitter:@CaraOcobock Chris Lynn, HBA Public Relations Committee Chair, Website:cdlynn.people.ua.edu/, Email:cdlynn@ua.edu, Twitter:@Chris_Ly Caroline Owens, Email: cowens8@emory.edu, Twitter: @careowens Theresa Gildner, Email: Theresa.E.Gildner@dartmouth.edu, Twitter: @TEGildner

From a young age my guest, Rob Ruck, has found humanity in the causes which mean a lot to him. His way of expressing this is obvious in his devotion to his writing. Some of the topics we cover here are related directly to those books. From the family bonds of American Samoa, to the flair of Latin American baseball you will learn about more than just sport. 

Today we are joined by Rob Ruck, Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh, and the author of Tropic of Football: The Long and Perilous Journey of Samoans to the NFL (The New Press, 2018). In our conversation, we discussed the origins of football in American Samoa, the disproportionate representation of Samoans in Division 1 college football and the NFL, and the cultural origins of Samoan sporting success. In Tropic of Football, Ruck addresses the paradox of Samoan accomplishment in American football. Samoans are roughly forty times more likely than non-Samoans to compete in the NFL. Ruck argues that their capabilities do not come from any genetic predisposition, but from the particularities of the Samoan way, the so-called fa’a Samoa, which emphasizes a warrior mentality, strong work ethic, rigid social hierarchy, deep family ties, and competition without fear. At the same time, Ruck also finds influences from outside of Samoa, including: the US Armed Forces, the Church of Latter Day Saints, and a range of savvy football recruiters willing to look beyond their usual hunting grounds in the Midwest and South. Fa’a Samoa propelled a wide range of footballers to success, including the first Samoan in the NFL, Al Lolotai, Junior Seau, and Troy Polamalu and Ruck’s analysis traces Samoan sporting triumphs in three locations: American Samoa, Hawaii, and California. In American Samoa, football battles divided competing villages but also provided the whole island with a sense of pride as an increasing number of men left with athletic scholarships to pursue education on the mainland. In Hawaii, the “Polynesian Pipeline” delivered footballers for annual battles between Honolulu’s top private schools and their north shore rivals, helping to create a rich multicultural web of sporting connections across the island. In California, the children of US marines used football as a way to integrate into American high school life, but they also brought a distinctly Samoan energy that appealed to coaches. In each case, as the fortunes of Samoan footballers rose, they also faced challenges associated with the loss of the fa’a Samoa in the face of Americanization and globalization. Even as Samoans provided outsize influence to America’s leading American football institutions, Ruck’s work also examines the long-term costs of football in Samoa. The same hyper-masculine culture that empowers Samoan footballs to play with no fear (no fefe), also stops them from reporting injuries. This is especially important as the threat of chronic traumatic encephalitis becomes better known. The growing medical crisis of CTE parallels other Samoan health emergencies associated with Americanization, including widespread diabetes and obesity. Much more than a sports history, Ruck’s work will appeal to scholars interested in American football, but also those interested in immigration/migration studies, Hawaiian history and US imperial history. Keith Rathbone is a lecturer at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. He researches twentieth-century French social and cultural history. His manuscript, entitled A Nation in Play: Physical Culture, the State, and Society during France’s Dark Years, 1932-1948, examines physical education and sports in order to better understand civic life under the dual authoritarian systems of the German Occupation and the Vichy Regime. If you have a title to suggest for this podcast, please contact him at keith.rathbone@mq.edu.au. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we are joined by Rob Ruck, Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh, and the author of Tropic of Football: The Long and Perilous Journey of Samoans to the NFL (The New Press, 2018). In our conversation, we discussed the origins of football in American Samoa, the disproportionate representation of Samoans in Division 1 college football and the NFL, and the cultural origins of Samoan sporting success. In Tropic of Football, Ruck addresses the paradox of Samoan accomplishment in American football. Samoans are roughly forty times more likely than non-Samoans to compete in the NFL. Ruck argues that their capabilities do not come from any genetic predisposition, but from the particularities of the Samoan way, the so-called fa’a Samoa, which emphasizes a warrior mentality, strong work ethic, rigid social hierarchy, deep family ties, and competition without fear. At the same time, Ruck also finds influences from outside of Samoa, including: the US Armed Forces, the Church of Latter Day Saints, and a range of savvy football recruiters willing to look beyond their usual hunting grounds in the Midwest and South. Fa’a Samoa propelled a wide range of footballers to success, including the first Samoan in the NFL, Al Lolotai, Junior Seau, and Troy Polamalu and Ruck’s analysis traces Samoan sporting triumphs in three locations: American Samoa, Hawaii, and California. In American Samoa, football battles divided competing villages but also provided the whole island with a sense of pride as an increasing number of men left with athletic scholarships to pursue education on the mainland. In Hawaii, the “Polynesian Pipeline” delivered footballers for annual battles between Honolulu’s top private schools and their north shore rivals, helping to create a rich multicultural web of sporting connections across the island. In California, the children of US marines used football as a way to integrate into American high school life, but they also brought a distinctly Samoan energy that appealed to coaches. In each case, as the fortunes of Samoan footballers rose, they also faced challenges associated with the loss of the fa’a Samoa in the face of Americanization and globalization. Even as Samoans provided outsize influence to America’s leading American football institutions, Ruck’s work also examines the long-term costs of football in Samoa. The same hyper-masculine culture that empowers Samoan footballs to play with no fear (no fefe), also stops them from reporting injuries. This is especially important as the threat of chronic traumatic encephalitis becomes better known. The growing medical crisis of CTE parallels other Samoan health emergencies associated with Americanization, including widespread diabetes and obesity. Much more than a sports history, Ruck’s work will appeal to scholars interested in American football, but also those interested in immigration/migration studies, Hawaiian history and US imperial history. Keith Rathbone is a lecturer at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. He researches twentieth-century French social and cultural history. His manuscript, entitled A Nation in Play: Physical Culture, the State, and Society during France’s Dark Years, 1932-1948, examines physical education and sports in order to better understand civic life under the dual authoritarian systems of the German Occupation and the Vichy Regime. If you have a title to suggest for this podcast, please contact him at keith.rathbone@mq.edu.au. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we are joined by Rob Ruck, Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh, and the author of Tropic of Football: The Long and Perilous Journey of Samoans to the NFL (The New Press, 2018). In our conversation, we discussed the origins of football in American Samoa, the disproportionate representation of Samoans in Division 1 college football and the NFL, and the cultural origins of Samoan sporting success. In Tropic of Football, Ruck addresses the paradox of Samoan accomplishment in American football. Samoans are roughly forty times more likely than non-Samoans to compete in the NFL. Ruck argues that their capabilities do not come from any genetic predisposition, but from the particularities of the Samoan way, the so-called fa’a Samoa, which emphasizes a warrior mentality, strong work ethic, rigid social hierarchy, deep family ties, and competition without fear. At the same time, Ruck also finds influences from outside of Samoa, including: the US Armed Forces, the Church of Latter Day Saints, and a range of savvy football recruiters willing to look beyond their usual hunting grounds in the Midwest and South. Fa’a Samoa propelled a wide range of footballers to success, including the first Samoan in the NFL, Al Lolotai, Junior Seau, and Troy Polamalu and Ruck’s analysis traces Samoan sporting triumphs in three locations: American Samoa, Hawaii, and California. In American Samoa, football battles divided competing villages but also provided the whole island with a sense of pride as an increasing number of men left with athletic scholarships to pursue education on the mainland. In Hawaii, the “Polynesian Pipeline” delivered footballers for annual battles between Honolulu’s top private schools and their north shore rivals, helping to create a rich multicultural web of sporting connections across the island. In California, the children of US marines used football as a way to integrate into American high school life, but they also brought a distinctly Samoan energy that appealed to coaches. In each case, as the fortunes of Samoan footballers rose, they also faced challenges associated with the loss of the fa’a Samoa in the face of Americanization and globalization. Even as Samoans provided outsize influence to America’s leading American football institutions, Ruck’s work also examines the long-term costs of football in Samoa. The same hyper-masculine culture that empowers Samoan footballs to play with no fear (no fefe), also stops them from reporting injuries. This is especially important as the threat of chronic traumatic encephalitis becomes better known. The growing medical crisis of CTE parallels other Samoan health emergencies associated with Americanization, including widespread diabetes and obesity. Much more than a sports history, Ruck’s work will appeal to scholars interested in American football, but also those interested in immigration/migration studies, Hawaiian history and US imperial history. Keith Rathbone is a lecturer at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. He researches twentieth-century French social and cultural history. His manuscript, entitled A Nation in Play: Physical Culture, the State, and Society during France’s Dark Years, 1932-1948, examines physical education and sports in order to better understand civic life under the dual authoritarian systems of the German Occupation and the Vichy Regime. If you have a title to suggest for this podcast, please contact him at keith.rathbone@mq.edu.au. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on the Sausage of Science, we are thrilled to welcome our first historian onto the show! Dr. Rob Ruck, professor of history at the University of Pittsburgh, chats with Chris and Cara about sports, history, culture, and health, interweaving many of our favorite topics. Dr. Ruck discusses his latest research on football in American Samoa, and the resulting book "Tropic of Football: The Long and Perilous Journey of Samoans to the NFL". Dr. Ruck's other documentaries include The Republic of Baseball: Dominican Giants of the American Game, Raceball: How the Major Leagues Colonized the Black and Latin Game, and Rooney: A Sporting Life, among others. To learn more about Dr. Ruck, check out his personal website: http://robruck.com/, or his University of Pittsburgh website :http://www.history.pitt.edu/people/rob-ruck.

Rob Ruck is a professor of history at the University of Pittsburgh. His documentaries include The Republic of Baseball: Dominican Giants of the American Game. He has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Salon, and other publications and is the author of Tropic of Football: The Remarkable and Bittersweet Rise of Samoans in the NFL (The New Press). He lives in Pittsburgh.

Rob Ruck, author of "Tropic of Football: The Long and Perilous Journey of Samoans to the NFL," joins The Professor to give a complete history lesson on Samoans in the National Football League. It’s a fascinating subject because it involves some of the NFL greats: Junior Seau, Jesse Sapolu, Troy Polamolu and so many others. (For those who follow Washington Huskies football, they know the impact of great Samoan players.) Ruck digs back in the history of how football started on the islands and goes through all the big names and top stories. He takes us through the tough conditions the players have on the field, but how the dedication and love of the game has made these players special.

This week we speak to Rob Ruck, author of the new book Tropic of Football: the long and perilous journey of Samoans to the NFL. We talk about the history of American Samoa and the importance of football to the islands. We also have ‘Choice words’ about the Dallas Cowboys, some special Just Stand Up and Just Sit Your Ass Down awards to Lebron James and Urban Meyer, as well as a special Kaepernick watch about an upcoming video game.  Rob Ruck Tropic of Football: The Long and Perilous Journey of Samoans to the NFL Zirin, If the Dallas Cowboys Are ‘America’s Team,’ Then Lord Help Us https://www.thenation.com/article/dallas-cowboys-americas-team-lord-help-us/ — http://www.edgeofsportspodcast.com/ | http://twitter.com/EdgeOfSportsPod | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: edgeofsports@gmail.com | Edge of Sports hotline: 401-426-3343 (EDGE) — Music: Eye Examination - Del the Funky Homosapien | Bow Down - Ice Cube | Get Up Stand Up - Bob Marley & The Wailers | One Love - Bob Marley | God Lives Through - A Tribe Called Quest Feat. Busta Rhymes | In the Flesh - Pete Rock & CL Smooth | My Way - Kanye West I Sky’s The Limit - Lil Wayne I 2 Dope Boys In a Cadillac - Outkast I Mr. Me Too - Clipse Feat. Pharrell I The Wire Theme

Neil Lanctot teaches modern American history at the University of Delaware. Recipient of the Seymour Medal from the Society for American Baseball Research, he is the author of Negro League Baseball: The Rise and Ruin of a Black Institution. His new book, Campy: The Two Lives of Roy Campanella, is the first biography of the Dodger great in decades and the most authoritative ever published. Campanella played eight years in the Negro Leagues with the Washington (later Baltimore) Elite Giants. When he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers, he became the first African-American catcher in the 20th century in the major leagues. Campy was a mainstay of the great Dodger teams of the late 1940s and 1950s and was a three-time MVP. Following an automobile accident in 1958 which left him paralyzed below the neck, Roy Campanella became another sort of pioneer, learning new physical therapy techniques and becoming an inspiration to other athletes and physically handicapped people.Award-winning historian Rob Ruck teaches at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of Sandlot Seasons: Sport in Black Pittsburgh andThe Tropic of Baseball: Baseball in the Dominican Republic. His documentary work includes the Emmy Award-winning Kings on the Hill: Baseball's Forgotten Men. In his new book, Raceball: How the Major Leagues Colonized the Black and Latino Game, Ruck shows how the colliding histories of black and Latin ballplayers ran the gamut from early collaboration in civil rights protests to simmering intraracial tensions. Integration of the major leagues was painful: it gutted the once vibrant Negro Leagues and often subjected Latin players to Jim Crow racism. From 27% of all major leaguers in 1975, African Americcans now make up less than one-tenth; the number of Latin Americans by contrast has grown to more than a quarter of all major leaguers. Ruck's research reveals a stunning truth: baseball has never been stronger as a business. never weaker as a game. Recorded On: Sunday, November 6, 2011