Muhammad Ali was the greatest. He was a sports icon who stood up for his beliefs at a time when being an outspoken black man was not acceptable. One can imagine that the athletes who have taken a knee this season have been inspired by Ali’s example. The authors of two new, groundbreaking books about Ali join us to examine the life of a courageous fighter. Jonathan Eig, bestselling author of books about Jackie Robinson and Lou Gehrig, used conversations with Ali’s former wives, new material gleaned from thousands of pages of FBI and Justice Department files, and hours of recently discovered audiotaped interviews to write Muhammad Ali: A Life. Eig is working with Ken Burns to turn his book into a documentary. Former Boston Globe columnist and senior writer at Sports Illustrated Leigh Montville focuses on Ali’s refusal to serve in the US military during the Vietnam War and the social and cultural implications of that decision in Sting Like a Bee: Muhammad Ali vs. the United States of America, 1966–1971, which Kirkus Reviews referred to as a “dramatic, pleasing tale of a sports iconoclast fighting for his rights." The inimitable Bill Littlefield, commentator on NPR’s Morning Edition, host of Only a Game on WBUR, and author of Take Me Out, will moderate.
