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Edge of Sports

Tom Alter & Eastern Conference Preview

Edge of Sports

Dave Zirin / The Nation

Sports, History, Sports News, News, Politics

4.8619 Ratings

🗓️ 20 October 2025

⏱️ 106 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week we talk to labor historian Dr. Tom Alter, fired from his teaching post at Texas State for speaking at a socialism conference and whose case is taken on a national profile for its blatant violation of free speech and academic freedom. We also talk to the basketball savant Arya Shirazi about the NBA Eastern Conference. 


Zirin, Black History Is for Everyone, and a Western Conference Preview

https://www.thenation.com/podcast/society/eos-10132025/



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Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to the Edge of Sports podcast brought to you by the Nation magazine.

0:15.2

I'm Dave Ziren.

0:16.6

Today, we are going to speak to Professor Tom Alter, a labor historian, tenured professor

0:23.1

of history at Texas State University.

0:25.8

You may know his name because he was recently fired from his job after a far-right

0:31.9

troll doctor to videotape of Alter speaking at a virtual socialism conference.

0:37.0

Obviously there's a lot to unpack there

0:39.1

with regards to Texas, with regards to the right-wing troll infrastructure that seems to be

0:44.7

running our government right now, and with regards to what it means to be a socialist, how safe

0:50.1

it may have been, and how perilous currently it can be in the current in the current terrain of academia.

0:58.7

I'm tempted to say, not that it was ever safe, but I got to say a few years ago, it certainly seemed a lot safer than it is now.

1:06.8

So we also have a part two of this show, of course, I as promised, we're going to speak to Ariya Shirazi with our NBA Eastern Conference preview.

1:15.8

Yes, it is called Edge of Sports for a reason.

1:18.2

We're not all about unjustly fired professors.

1:21.8

We got to give some sports with that.

1:23.9

But before we get to Ari, before you find out why we think the New York Knicks are all that and a bag of potato chips, we have Professor Tom Alter.

1:34.3

Professor Alter, how you doing, sir?

1:36.5

Good, good.

1:37.6

And go Pacers.

1:38.7

No.

1:39.7

Wrong show for that there, buddy.

1:42.8

Oh, yeah, but I know you have Indiana roots, actually.

...

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