Sports

It’s do or die for the Dodgers in tonight’s playoff game against the San Diego Padres. If they win, there will be another game. If they lose, that’s it for them.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

A new Culver City gym filled with “American Ninja Warrior” staff is ready to scale any obstacle as the sport heads to the Olympics.

from KCRW Features

Ohtani became the first MLB player to hit 50 homers and steal 50 bases in one season. Plus UCLA and USC struggle in Big Ten, and the WNBA announces its MVPs.

Is Shohei Ohtani the best all-around baseball player ever?

Ohtani became the first MLB player to hit 50 homers and steal 50 bases in one season. Plus UCLA and USC struggle in Big Ten, and the WNBA announces its MVPs.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Clayton Frech is the father of Ezra Frech, who took home two gold medals at the Paralympics in Paris.

SoCal dad’s nonprofit helps his son become Paralympic champ

Clayton Frech is the father of Ezra Frech, who took home two gold medals at the Paralympics in Paris.

from KCRW Features

Hope Solo is one of the greatest soccer players of all time — and one of the most controversial. She tells her story in a new Netflix film .

Goalie Hope Solo’s controversies overshadowed her legendary soccer career

Hope Solo is one of the greatest soccer players of all time — and one of the most controversial. She tells her story in a new Netflix film .

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

USC and UCLA won their openers as new members of the Big 10 Conference. NFL season begins Thursday. And LA Dodgers’ Shohei Otani returns to his old stomping grounds in Anaheim tonight.

What’s ahead for college football and the Dodgers post-season

USC and UCLA won their openers as new members of the Big 10 Conference. NFL season begins Thursday. And LA Dodgers’ Shohei Otani returns to his old stomping grounds in Anaheim tonight.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Tennis star Jannik Sinner tested positive earlier this year for a banned substance. Authorities said it wasn’t intentional, but it does cast a shadow over this year’s U.S. Open.

Jannik Sinner’s minor doping scandal casts a pall over US Open

Tennis star Jannik Sinner tested positive earlier this year for a banned substance. Authorities said it wasn’t intentional, but it does cast a shadow over this year’s U.S. Open.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Mayor Karen Bass returned from Paris to LA on Monday, bringing the official Olympic flag with her.

LA Mayor Karen Bass on ‘no-car’ 2028 Olympics, homelessness

Mayor Karen Bass returned from Paris to LA on Monday, bringing the official Olympic flag with her.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

LA’s 1984 Olympics were the pinnacle of organization, profitability, and viewership. Can LA’s 2028 Games build on that and the momentum from 2024’s successful Paris Games?

Paris passes Olympic baton to LA. What can we expect?

LA’s 1984 Olympics were the pinnacle of organization, profitability, and viewership. Can LA’s 2028 Games build on that and the momentum from 2024’s successful Paris Games?

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

How Lionel Richie and a Soul Train dancer helped take break dancing from the streets of LA to the Olympic stage, 40 years before becoming an official Olympic sport in Paris.

Breaking's 1984 LA Olympics debut: The untold story before Paris

How Lionel Richie and a Soul Train dancer helped take break dancing from the streets of LA to the Olympic stage, 40 years before becoming an official Olympic sport in Paris.

from KCRW Features

After countless Olympic fans flew to Paris and American athletes insisted on A/C, France had a bigger-than-intended carbon footprint for the Summer Games.

How green were the Paris Olympics, what can LA learn for 2028?

After countless Olympic fans flew to Paris and American athletes insisted on A/C, France had a bigger-than-intended carbon footprint for the Summer Games.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Environmentalists are urging the Dodgers to drop a main sponsor, oil company Phillips 66, which owns the 76 chain of gas stations.

Dodgers fans call for team to cut ties with big oil

Environmentalists are urging the Dodgers to drop a main sponsor, oil company Phillips 66, which owns the 76 chain of gas stations.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Gender testing in sports is more complex than it sounds. Rose Eveleth of the podcast “ Tested ” explains why some elite female athletes face challenges to their ability to compete.

Gender testing: It’s tough to draw a clean line between men and women

Gender testing in sports is more complex than it sounds. Rose Eveleth of the podcast “ Tested ” explains why some elite female athletes face challenges to their ability to compete.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

“The Other Olympians” traces the history of queer athletes at the games, and how sex testing began with track before other sports adopted it.

‘The Other Olympians’: What fueled the rise of sex testing?

“The Other Olympians” traces the history of queer athletes at the games, and how sex testing began with track before other sports adopted it.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

The Olympic surf competition is underway in Teahupo'o, Tahiti, where waves can reach 50 feet and crash into razor-sharp coral.

Olympic surfers face life-or-death waves in Tahiti

The Olympic surf competition is underway in Teahupo'o, Tahiti, where waves can reach 50 feet and crash into razor-sharp coral.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

This may be the last Olympics for some of the most dominant American athletes in recent history. It’s also the first games for a new competitive sport inspired by break dancing.

Can Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky and Lebron James win Olympic gold?

This may be the last Olympics for some of the most dominant American athletes in recent history. It’s also the first games for a new competitive sport inspired by break dancing.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Ahead of the Olympics, Parisian officials are trying to convince people that it's safe for triathletes to swim in the Seine River. But recent water tests showed signs of E.

Will Olympians swim in the Seine? One American dared to do it

Ahead of the Olympics, Parisian officials are trying to convince people that it's safe for triathletes to swim in the Seine River. But recent water tests showed signs of E.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

California’s first bar dedicated to women’s sports, Watch Me!, will open this month in Long Beach. It will welcome all ages to inspire young athletes.

CA's only women's sports bar to open in Long Beach

California’s first bar dedicated to women’s sports, Watch Me!, will open this month in Long Beach. It will welcome all ages to inspire young athletes.

from KCRW Features

Hollywood’s below-the-line workers reach a tentative deal with major studios, and NBC plans to bring an A.l.-generated version of Al Michaels to Peacock for Paris Olympics highlights.

IATSE, studios reach tentative labor deal; A.I.-generated Al Michaels comes to Olympics

Hollywood’s below-the-line workers reach a tentative deal with major studios, and NBC plans to bring an A.l.-generated version of Al Michaels to Peacock for Paris Olympics highlights.

from The Business

Aside from his son’s youth basketball squad, the Lakers’ new hire has never coached a team. Did his relationship with Lebron James make all the difference in his latest job?

JJ Redick has never coached. Can he lead the Lakers?

Aside from his son’s youth basketball squad, the Lakers’ new hire has never coached a team. Did his relationship with Lebron James make all the difference in his latest job?

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand