Inspired by my drive from Bluff (UT) through the Navajo Reservation, I talked to Michael Powell, author of Canyon Dreams: A Basketball Season on the Navajo Nation (which was the inspiration for the Netflix movie Rez Ball)

About this episode

Dax Jacobson interviews Michael Powell about his book on basketball in the Navajo Nation and their shared experiences with rez ball.

In this episode, I talk to Michael Powell, currently a staff writer for The Atlantic and author of Canyon Dreams: A Basketball Season on the Navajo Nation (which was the inspiration for the Netflix movie Rez Ball). Michael and I talk about our brief experiences playing rez ball (he calls it a “fast flowing stream”) and Michael talks about the inspiration for the book, the reservation basketball gyms that hold more people than the population of the towns they are built in, hours long road trip...

People in this episode

Host: Dax Jacobson

Guest: Michael Powell

Topics covered

• basketball
• Navajo Nation
• cultural experiences
• sports literature
• travel
• community

Keywords

• Navajo Reservation
• Canyon Dreams
• rez ball
• basketball
• Michael Powell
• Dax Jacobson
• The Atlantic
• community
• sports

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Atlantic

Books & works: Canyon Dreams: A Basketball Season on the Navajo Nation, Rez Ball

Places: Navajo Reservation, Bluff (UT)

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