Reliving a Masterpiece: David Foster Wallace, Michael Joyce, and the Psychology of Tennis
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Pablo Torre
4.7 • 2.6K Ratings
🗓️ 3 September 2024
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Thirty years ago, David Foster Wallace reported “The String Theory,” an essay about a pro tennis player named Michael Joyce. No, Joyce wasn’t as good as his fellow Americans (Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Michael Chang). But what Joyce taught Wallace — the best writer of his generation, and a former junior player himself — turned into the greatest tennis essay of all time. Today, in the middle of the U.S. Open, Pablo sits down with Michael Joyce — who’s since become a coach to players like Maria Sharapova — and they dissect the genius and the eccentricities of David Foster Wallace, who died in 2008. And we learn about the psychologies of two grotesque glories: writing and tennis.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The future is unpredictable at times, but the open university are the experts in online learning, allowing you to fit study around your life. |
| 0:11.3 | What's more, you'll have support from dedicated tutors every step of the way. |
| 0:16.1 | Now, suddenly your possibilities are open. |
| 0:20.2 | Registered by the 11th of September to get started. |
| 0:25.3 | The Open University, the future is open. |
| 0:32.6 | Welcome to Pablo Torre finds out. I am Pablo Torre, and today we're going to find out what this sound is. |
| 0:38.9 | Wimbledon is where I read it, and I remember reading and I was like, what the fuck is this? |
| 0:44.0 | Right after this ad. |
| 0:46.6 | You're listening to Draft Kings Network. |
| 0:53.8 | The Michael Joyce, do you know why I summoned you into this room today? |
| 1:06.2 | A little bit, David Foster Wallace. |
| 1:08.3 | Yeah, yeah. |
| 1:09.3 | I've never done an episode like this where I'm like, |
| 1:11.4 | let me talk to the subject of one of the greatest essays that has ever been written. |
| 1:17.3 | And I was just curious at the start, like, how often does this happen where someone wants to talk to you |
| 1:22.5 | about David Foster Wallace? You'd be surprised a lot. |
| 1:29.4 | Okay, so that actually does make sense to me. |
| 1:33.6 | It does make sense that I would be far from the only person who has wanted to find out the story behind a masterpiece of writing. |
| 1:42.2 | A masterpiece, by the way, |
| 1:45.5 | that you don't need to have read in order to appreciate this episode. |
| 1:48.7 | Although I do think that you need to meet |
| 1:50.5 | our pair of disparate, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Pablo Torre, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Pablo Torre and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.