And I think that's where like progressive could maybe really distinguish themselves on this issue,

because theoretically you do care about people who are marginalized and made vulnerable.

And it's really easy to fall into the right-wing tropes that, you know, take all the focus off

of the people who are actually experiencing harm and getting like hyper-focused on this like imaginary,

shadowy enemy. For all of the like 20-focused on this like imaginary shadowy enemy.

For all of the like 20-something years that supposedly human trafficking has been a priority for the

U.S. government, the numbers of the traffickers that they say are out there has never matched.

Welcome to the Edge of Sports podcast. I'm Dave Ziron.

This week we talked to journalist and author of Playing the Hore, The Work of Sex Work, Melissa Jira Grant, about Bob Kraft and The Sting Operation in Jupiter, Florida at a massage parlor where there were accusations of sex trafficking that the owner of the New England Patriots was involved with,

and we're going to get Melissa Girogrant to unpack that entire story in a way that you have not

heard on just about any other outlet.

Also, I've got some choice words about the NBA

and whether or not they have a mental health problem.

I also have a Just Stand Up and Just Sit Down Award and more,

but first, let's go to Melissa Jira Grant.

So my first question is, what was your reaction when you heard about the Bobcraft story? Honestly, my first reaction is like, oh, God, here we go.

You know, like one of these big headline grabbing national kind of sex work stories that still

appears to be mostly about sex work and not necessarily about human trafficking, just to put

that out there now.

I think this is like the worst stage on which to try to take these issues apart, whether we're talking

about sex work, whether we're talking about celebrity customers or, you know, immigration,

the specter of trafficking.

...