Episode 95: “Don’t Catch Crabs,” or David Halbertstam’s The Amateurs, Part I

About this episode

The episode discusses David Halberstam's book 'The Amateurs', focusing on the competition for a spot on the 1984 Olympic rowing team.

We continue Bagg’s “Revenge of the Jock-Nerds” series (the last series of Season Three!), with David Halberstam’s The Amateurs, which tells the story of four men competing for the single solo sculling spot on the 1984 Olympic team. Halberstam, who usually worked on more popular sports and in bigger political arenas, offers a nuanced glimpse into the small, hermetic, oral world of American rowing, where athletes compete in a sport where “the rewards cannot justify the efforts.”

People in this episode

Host: Bagg

Topics covered

• sports
• rowing
• Olympics
• competition
• American culture

Keywords

• David Halberstam
• The Amateurs
• rowing
• 1984 Olympics
• sports competition

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Amateurs

More episodes of Upper Middlebrow

• Episode 101: ‘What Thrums Below,’ or Herman Melville’s Billy Budd · May 18, 2026 · 59 min
• Episode 100: “Dutiful Dreams,” or Project Hail Mary 2026 Film · May 4, 2026 · 54 min
• Project Hail Mary Part I (REPOST) · March 12, 2026 · 1h 14m
• Episode 99: More Robot Friends!: Isaac Asimov’s ‘Robot Visions’ Part 1 with Justin Reich. · December 1, 2025 · 54 min
• Episode 98: ‘Minor League Stew,’ or John Feinstein’s Where Nobody Knows Your Name, Part II · November 17, 2025 · 52 min
• Episode 97: “Baseball’s Ballast,” or John Feinstein’s Where Nobody Knows Your Name: Life in The Minor Leagues of Baseball · November 4, 2025 · 59 min