Hi and welcome to Meanwhile in the Future. I'm Rose and I'm your host.

Meanwhile in the Future is a podcast about The Future.

Every week we tackle a specific possible future and try to really overthink how that might happen and what would happen next.

Every episode starts with a little trip into the future.

So let's go there now.

Today we're heading to the year 2039. There was a time not so very long ago when men clashed for sport.

The game was football.

A block by Rippenburg and Wisenberger smashes through the center of the

S.C. line for a 14-yard game.

And for a time the sport dominated American life.

And then, everything changed.

My son no longer remembers my name.

He's 34.

The fall began in Texas, the year 2021.

Today a judge in Texas awarded the family of Jackson McPhee, the high school boy who developed a degenerative brain disease, 70 million dollars in damages.

Schools across the country disbanded their teams.

Goalposts were removed. Stadia repurposed.

Pads retired.

Today we look upon football as a relic.

In the museums that tell the story of our civilization

lie many bloody artifacts. The helmets of the Coliseum. The

Helmits of the Coliseum, the blades of the swordsman, the gloves of the boxers, and now the brains of the swordsman, the gloves of the boxers, and now the brains of the footballers.

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