Muhammad Ali’s brain scans show troubling signs to modern neurologists. But is there any way to look back and trace the damage itself? Author Jonathan Eig looks for answers and uncovers shocking statistics. The fatal effects of Ali’s commitment to his sport are told in this week’s episode.
Read MoreEvery athlete needs a pump-up playlist, even the World's Greatest. To get yourself psyched for the day, that big conference call at lunch, and the release of Ali: A Life, listen to Jonathan Eig's Muhammad Ali-inspired playlist. Get down with legendary artists Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and even recordings of Ali himself. Available now on Spotify through the link below.
Read MoreAuthor Jonathan Eig keeps an eye on eBay while he writes, looking for Muhammad Ali memorabilia. As a collector of Ali’s cologne and bed sheets, when he saw a listing for Ali’s record player, he had to have it. Listen to how a childhood record player unlocked a hidden story of the later years of The World’s Greatest.
Read More"A warm, compelling portrait of a winsomely enduring man. Eig's richly impressive roster of interviews informs an authoritatively critical biography that is always both punchy and sure-footed."—David J. Garrow, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Bearing the Cross and Rising Star.
Read More"Finally Muhammad Ali has a biography as big, complex, and memorable as the man himself—as close as any book can come. From panoramic views of Ali's place in racial, political, and cultural conflicts, to gripping accounts of his fights, to vivid close-ups of his outsized personality and relationships based on new sources, Ali will fascinate you from beginning to end."
—T.J. Stiles, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Custer's Trials and The First Tycoon
Read More"Some people want to grow up to be an astronaut. Or maybe even president. Or heavyweight champion of the world. I always wanted to be a story teller. The hardest story to tell is one that’s been told and told well before. In ALI, Jonathan Eig, a fearless reporter, as relentless on his turf as Muhammad Ali ever was within the ring, has taken on one of 20th century America’s biggest, baddest, most important stories and told it bigger and badder than it’s ever been told before. ALI: A LIFE floats like a butterfly and stings likes a bee. Stop the fight. It’s over. Eig in a knockout." —Jane Leavy, New York Times best-selling biographer of Sandy Koufax and Mickey Mantle.
Read MoreAli is a tour de force! It is an independent, insightful and masterful assessment of ‘The Greatest!’ Eig’s biography puts flesh and bone on Ali’s fuller humanity. It is a must read for sports fans, boxing fans, students of American history, culture and religion.”--Dr. Randal Maurice Jelks, professor of American Studies and African American Studies, University of Kansas.
Read More$1,000. That was Rahman Ali’s price for one answer about his older brother, Muhammad. Thankfully, Jonathan Eig’s persistence and connection with Ali’s manager, Gene Kilroy, earned him an interview with Rahman, and a closer look into the personal life of Muhammad Ali.
Read More“Ali" is a marvelous biography - deeply reported, illuminating, dripping with detail chapter after chapter- in every way worthy of one of the great figures of 20th century America." David Maraniss, Pulitzer-prize winning author of When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi.
Read MoreAfter one failed attempt, Jonathan Eig will stop at nothing to meet Muhammad Ali. This time, he brings a sidekick, and finds himself sitting just outside Ali’s bedroom. But will his efforts end in victory, or another vicious blow to the author’s book and lifelong dream?
Read MoreTelling the life story of Muhammad Ali meant spending a lot of time with people who knew him. But what about meeting the man himself? Jonathan Eig knew it wasn’t going to be easy to get to Muhammad Ali, and time was running out.
Read MoreFor two years, Jonathan Eig tried to get in touch with Don King, and when he did, he asked him one question that could have gotten him killed. He lived to tell the tale about one of boxing’s most successful promoters. In this week’s episode find out what Don King, Muhammad Ali and a Christmas party have in common.
Read More“A monumental study the scope of which has not been matched. An utterly absorbing and richly detailed account of the most charismatic and controversial athlete of the 20th century.”—Mike Silver, author of The Arc of Boxing: The Rise and Decline of the Sweet Science.
Read More"Jonathan Eig has proved conclusively that he knows how to get at the stories of larger-than-life individuals. Now he takes on—superbly—the largest of those large: Muhammad Ali. Eig presents the whole life from corner-to-corner. 'The Greatest' has found his chronicler.”—Seth Abraham, former president HBO Sports.
Read More"Finally, after so many works focusing on this fight or that, the whole man, the whole life, is presented here. And what a revelation it is--to be able to see how this remarkable man was shaped by his world, and how that world was, in turn, profoundly influenced by this exceptional and complicated kid from Louisville. Bravo!" —Ken Burns
Read MoreTurns out that Ali didn’t limit his fighting to his time in the ring. Listen as Jonathan Eig drives around South Florida with Muhammad Ali’s second wife Khalilah—and why Shakespeare's words still ring true: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. See what was in the priceless letter Jonathan found under Khalilah’s bed in his new book "Ali: A Life": http://bit.ly/EigAli
Read MoreTo write Muhammad Ali’s biography, author Jonathan Eig had to start somewhere. Tune in to find out why his interview with ring doctor Ferdie Pacheco was like taking a punch to the kidneys—and what he learned about Ali’s early signs of traumatic brain injury. Get the details about the impact boxing had on Muhammad Ali’s health in Jonathan Eig’s book "Ali: A Life": http://bit.ly/EigAli
Read MoreFor most of his childhood, the last face author Jonathan Eig would see each night before bed was that of Muhammad Ali, as shown in a poster hanging above his bed. Eig knew even then that Ali was a legend, but never dreamed he would end up writing his biography. Find out how this lifelong fan ended up knowing more about the greatest boxer of all time than even some of Ali’s closest friends. Find out more in Jonathan Eig’s book "Ali: A Life": http://bit.ly/EigAli
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