Chess
For as long as chess has been around – and we’re talking 1,500-plus years – someone has tried to ban it. But why? The answer is complicated. But it begins by trying to understand why global leaders feel so threatened by games.
EPISODE NOTES
•David Shenk’s The Immortal Game
• Bryn Barnard’s The Genius of Islam
• Kevin Pyle and Scott Cunningham’s Bad For You: Exposing the War on Fun
• The Lip TV’s report on Saudi Arabia’s ban
• An Easy Introduction To The Game Of Chess – the 1816 book containing the anecdote about the anti-chess landlord
• The Scientific American’s 1895 anti-chess report
• “Chess Was Once Deemed A Menace To Society” – io9 Gizmodo
• Ann Coulter’s anti-soccer column, 2014
• “To Stay on Schedule, Take A Break.” – New York Times, 2012
• Theme music: Caspar Babypants
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