About this episode
Sociologist Dr. Jennifer Earl discusses how the Internet has changed the way we come together to change the world. Plus an old-time catcher celebrates the good old days that never were and Lefty Gomez is tortured into gaining weight. TABLE OF CONTENTS Piggybacking on Christy Mathewson’s Rep*Lefty Gomez Has a Weight Problem*Jennifer Earl: Life in Arizona*Remote versus In-Person Teaching*Optimized Teaching*Life Before vs During the Internet (One Approach to the Scientific Method)*Starting a Movement Online*“Bowling Alone” and Movements Without Money*Flash Activism/A Sports Example*Boaty McBoatface and Harry Potter Fandom*J.K. Rowling Confronts Harry’s Autonomy and “Pro-Sumption”*The Positive and Negative of Affiliation*“The Karens”*Too Much Optimism on Police Reform?*The Evolving Consensus on Protest*Fake Social Movements*The (Now-Rescinded) ICE Order*Goodbyes. The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’ll try to solve the puzzle that is the Infinite Inning: How do you find the joy in life when you can’t get anybody out?