Public Talk – Alexander Wolff (Sports Illustrated)

The Audacity of Hoop: Basketball and the Age of Obama

Alexander Wolff Senior Writer at Sports Illustrated

Monday, February 8 12:20PM-1:35PM Konover Auditorium, Dodd Center

Free and Open to the Public

About the Event: In his new book The Audacity of Hoop (Temple University Press, 2015) celebrated sportswriter Alexander Wolff examines Barack Obama, the person and president, by the light of basketball. This game helped Obama explore his identity, keep a cool head, impress his future wife, and define himself as a candidate. Wolff also chronicles how Obama turned the Oval Office into “the world’s most elegant locker room,” including frequent visits by the UConn men’s and women’s programs. Equal parts biographical sketch, political narrative, and cultural history, The Audacity of Hoop shows how the game became a touchstone in Obama’s exercise of the power of the presidency.

About the Speaker: New York Times bestselling author Alexander Wolff is a senior writer at Sports Illustrated, co-author (with Armen Keteyian) of Raw Recruits: The High Stakes Game Colleges Play to Get Their Basketball Stars–and What It Costs to Win, and the author of Big Game, Small World: A Basketball Adventure. Visit him online at http://www.TheAudacityofHoop.com.

This event is hosted by the Departments of Journalism and Political Science.