Comments

• I love RadioLab, and have done for a number of years, but unfortunately I have to agree with listeners who've posted below to comment on the fact that the show has of late become too anecdote-heavy and science-light. The chess story was good (although I think it's more or less common knowledge that a game of chess has more potential situations than there are atoms in the universe), but apart from that all we heard was a succession of very local stories about the importance of sport, and very little about the psychology or need/desire for sport. There seemed to be no attempt to use the particular in order to reveal something more universal, as RL has done to brilliant effect so many times in the past. Boxing might have been an interesting example here - a brutal and, in my opinion, barbaric sport - but nevertheless there's something very basic and primeval about it, with two people slugging it out with their fists until one participant is simply knocked unconscious. The fact that it's a "sport" that can sometimes prove fatal reveals something important about the nature of sport - it a harmless "fight to the death" that can often lead to emotional and physical harm being caused to the participants and supporters. Or at least feel like it. For example, what about football hooliganism? Some animals, such as ravens and chimps, are known to play, and I'm sure there are many others. Of course, play isn't always the same as sport, but there's a relation there. John Gray's book Straw Dogs discusses it briefly. Maybe sport is often a metaphor for the endless struggle and competition of life. But as for human play or sports (and here I admit I'm an Englishman obsessed with football, or "soccer", as some would have it), the idea of engaging in a harmless (and sometimes dangerous) battle of strength, skill, wits, speed, or whatever, is an important and interesting cultural achievement that needed more scientific and philosophical depth. Sorry for this - I still love the show and get excited when a new episode comes out.
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  Sunday August 28, 2011, 08:08 PM