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Episode 2272: Episode 13 Of The “I’ll Tell You Wrote It” Second Captains Book Club – Norman Mailer’s ‘The Fight’, With Catriona Crowe

Wed 2nd Mar 2022
Eoin, Ken, Murph, Catriona Crowe

Norman Mailer’s ‘The Fight’ is the undisputed champ of sports books. It’s an inside-the-ropes telling of the Rumble In The Jungle – the world heavyweight championship bout between Muhammad Ali, and reigning champ and unbackable favourite George Foreman, in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo).

 

Mailer was a writer of massive talent, but with a horrendous private life, and we discuss how to separate the art from the artist with Catriona Crowe, the former head of special projects at the National Archives of Ireland, one of the country’s most prominent social and cultural commentators, and one of our favourite guests ever on our RTE Radio 1 show.

We talk about Mailer’s undoubted descriptive talent, his soaring ego, how likeable George Foreman is, and of course the man at the centre of it all, Muhammad Ali – whose unshakeable belief in himself created an upset for the ages, and forms the centre-piece of this brilliant piece of sporting storytelling.

 

Click the image at the top of the page to play the show. Monday’s shows are free to all and to listen to our programming throughout the rest of the week, join the Second Captains World Service. It’s independent, commercial-free and member-led with feature interviews, breaking news, Richie Sadlier’s Player’s Chair, The Politics Podcast and lots of added extras. You’ll also be supporting the development of our longer-form work, like our recent international series  ‘Where Is George Gibney?’.

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