When I post a column, I select two pieces to represent firstly, how sports has become the face of normality in a confusing world – and that’s not always a positive thing; and secondly, reflecting how people are speculating about what comes after our current situation plays itself out. Because for me, that’s more important than just pointing at whatever outrage happened in the past week.
When I started this project in 2022, I simply did not think how wildly out of whack things in the political world would become; all while sports continue to show the face of a society functioning with what passes for “normality”.
As for how all of this ends – and what might come after – I have no idea. And if anyone tells you they do, they’re wrong. Unpredictability at home and abroad has become the touchstone of how we have decided to govern ourselves and there will be plenty of collateral damage before the dust clears.
The two links change with each weekly column – all the pieces are definitely worth reading. They’re linked here:
“Normality”
Donald Trump Suggests Re-naming NFL in ‘Football vs Soccer’ Debate, by Tom Gotti, in Sports Illustrated.
The State of Venezuelan Baseball is Strong, by Antonio Matheus, in Caracas Chronicles.
In a Year of Violent Tumult, the Sports World was Silent, by Dave Zirin, in The Nation.
Palm Beach Frozen Iguanas to make Class A baseball debut in 2026, in The Palm Beach Post.
Sports are an ideal home for Trump’s singular brand of ego stroking, by Andrew Lawrence in The Irish Times.
Dodgers go deep again by striking deal with Kyle Tucker, as much of the baseball world cries foul, by Steve Henson in the Los Angeles Times.
Five things we learned from the 2026 Baseball Hall of Fame election, by Jayson Stark in The Athletic.
The growing role of sports in President Trump’s political brand, at NPR‘s All Things Considered.
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“What might come after”
Rebuilding America After Trump, by Pete Buttigieg, in The New York Times.
What Comes After Trump’s Age of Monsters? by CJ Polychroniou and Alexandra Boutri, in Common Dreams.
What will happen once Trump leaves office? It’s not good, by Dace Potas in USA Today.
Trumpism After Trump – The Future of the Right by Gladden Pappin and David Leonhardt, in The New York Times.
What comes after Trump? Turning Point USA endorses Vance amid party discord, by The Associated Press.
Donald Trump’s Golden Age of Awful, by Susan Glasser in The New Yorker.
American democracy on the brink a year after Trump’s inauguration, experts say, by Lauren Gambino in The Guardian.
What will they do without him? Post-Trump politics in the US, by Lord Ashcroft for the International Democracy Union Forfum.
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States of Play 