How Stadiums Became The American Public Square

Fresh Air

NPR

Tv & Film, Arts, Society & Culture, Books

4.4 • 34.4K Ratings

🗓️ 20 August 2024

⏱️ 49 minutes

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Summary

As 50,000 people attend the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, we look at the history of politics, protest and play in American stadiums. "We fight our political battles in stadiums," Columbia historian Frank Andre Guridy says. "They become ideal places to stake your claims on what you want the United States to be." His new book is The Stadium.

Also, as part of his series celebrating albums turning 50 this year, Ken Tucker revisits Neil Young's On the Beach.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for this podcast and the following message come from Dignity Memorial.
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0:13.7	For additional information visit dignity memorial.com.
0:17.9	This is fresh air. I'm Tanya Mosley.
0:20.3	And right now, tens of thousands of people have converged on the United Center Stadium in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention.
0:28.0	We hereby call the in-person portion of 49th Quadrennial Democratic National Convention to order.
0:37.0	Like the Fisur Forum in Milwaukee for the RNC a few weeks ago.
0:43.6	The United Center Stadium has transformed into the beating heart of the DNC in the presidential
0:48.9	race.
0:50.2	It's a tradition that has endured for over 150 years.
0:53.9	Stadems are the epicenter of politics, sports, and entertainment.
0:58.5	And as my guest today writes in his new book,
1:00.9	there are also venues where people go to wrestle with defining the soul of America.
1:06.0	Frank Garritti's new book, The Stadium, an American history of politics, protest, and play,
1:12.0	is a deeply researched look at the role of stadiums in the
1:15.2	United States.
1:16.9	From the 1920s pro-Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden to the 2020 Barclay Center Racial Justice protests in the wake of George Floyd's
1:25.1	murder. Stadiums, Garriddy writes, are our nation's public squares where we
1:30.0	battle over race, class, gender, and sexual inequities.
1:35.2	He also delves into how stadiums have become
1:37.2	billboards for corporations and their influence
	...

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