Soderbergh Ep. 34: High Flying Bird (2019)

Roundball...talk?!?!?! That's right, it's the HIGH FLYING BIRD episode where we cover Soderbergh's second shot-on-iPhone feature, a 2019 direct-to-Netflix basketball lockout drama starring his old THE KNICK pal André Holland (and a totally different guy named Dr. Edwards). Join us for a great in-person (!) discussion of the intersections of sports, labor, race, and technology, and what exactly Soderbergh is trying to suggest he's really doing with this experimental distribution business. Plus we come up with some genuinely great names for basketball teams. Listen or we'll smoke you like the clown that you are!

Further Reading:

The Revolt of the Black Athlete by Harry Edwards

Black Ball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the Generation that Saved the Soul of the NBA by Theresa Runstedtler

"Harry Edwards, a giant of sports activism, still has people shook" by Lonnae O'Neal: https://andscape.com/features/harry-edwards-mexico-city-olympics-sports-activism-john-carlos-tommie-smith-1968/

"Michele Roberts vs. the NBA: Why the New Head of the Players Union Is a Hero for Progressive Sports Fans" by Will Leitch: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2014/11/michele-roberts-the-hero-of-progressive-sports.html

"Steven Soderbergh on the High-Speed Production of High Flying Bird" by Brian Raftery: https://www.vulture.com/2019/02/steven-soderbergh-high-flying-production.html

Further Viewing:

JERRY MAGUIRE (Crowe, 1996)

MONEYBALL (Miller, 2011)

LOGAN LUCKY (Soderbergh, 2017)

UNSANE (Soderbergh, 2018)

THE LAST DANCE (Hehir, 2020)

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Artwork by Jeremy Allison:

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 Produced by Ian Rhine and Jake Serwin. Additional production by Ryan Torgeson.