Dr. Shane Hudson, Director of the Texas A&M Laboratory for the Study of Intercollegiate Athletics, joins us to chat about the role of Sports and Athletics in the University.  There is so much attention given to budgets and costs and sports is often a large expenditure department of the University.  Why do Universities has sports?  We cover that topic (and more) in this podcast!

Today is the second video and audio-only rebroadcast from the 2013 Huffines Discussion.  Up today in our series is Hall of Fame Coach Mark Johnson.  Coach Johnsons's talk is titled: "Athletics as the Front Porch of the University: Why Athletics is Important to a University's Mission".

As we talk about human performance, we should remember that Dancers also have performance and sports medicine issues.  Today's special guest is Dr. Suzanne Semanson who is a Dance Medical Therapist from the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries at NYU Langone Medical Center.  We have a great conversation regarding injuries and rehabilitation of dance performers, especially on the Broadway theater scene.  This is a great peek behind the 'theater curtain' as to how these athletes perform ...

Today's guest is Dr. John Chong of the Musician's Clinic of Canada.  Dr. Chong is another of our joint collaborations with the Athlete and the Arts initiative which is designed to apply sports medicine practices and knowledge to the Performing Arts (and vice-versa!).  Dr. Chong is the President of the Performing Arts Medical Association and a clinician who was a piano child-prodigy.  So, he speaks first-hand of the injuries, overtraining, and and medical needs of a performers.  Check out...

One of the continuing underlying topics in sports is the inclusion of a wide variety of individuals in sports, sports administration, and recreation.  Dr. Akilah Carter-Francique, one of the national experts on Diversity Management in Sports, joins us in the podcast today.  This is a great conversation and is probably a bit different than you might think. 

Randy Dick, co-founder and co-developer of the Athletes and the Arts initiative joins us today in the podcast.  This initiative is working to link the sports medicine world with the world of performing artists such as vocalists, musicians, and dancers.  As you've heard from several of our previous podcasts, there are many overlaps between sports medicine and performing arts so this initiative is timely.

We are starting our new season with a special interview with David Epstein, Senior Writer for Sports Illustrated.  Today is a special day because Mr. Epstein's new book - The Sports Gene - was released yesterday on August 1.  This book is an amazingly detailed, but hugely readable look at the Nature vs. Nurture question especially as related to sports proficiency.  In the book, Mr. Epstein considers the 10,000 Practice Rule (and why it is false), as well as the actual role of genetics in det...

Dr. Jon Welty-Peachy joins us today in the podcast to chat about the role of Sport in society development.  Dr. Welty-Peachy does work in using sport to reconnect the homeless back to society as well as using sport to promote World peace.  This is a broad-ranging and deep conversation about how we can use sport as a tool to develop individuals and society.

Many students get their athletic experiences during their junior-high/high-school education.  Thus, providing safe, well-coached, and organized athletic programs in a public school setting is critical.  Our podcast guest today - 2013 National High School Athletic Director of the Year Kevin Ozee, from the Southlake Carroll Independent School District - knows a lot about this subject and takes time to chat with us about the challenges, rewards, and motivation for providing great athletic programs ...

This week's tragedy at the Boston Marathon have made many people question safety at large events like this.  We are fortunate to have one of the nation's leading emergency planners here at A&M in Mike Caruso.  Mr. Caruso works in our Athletic Department and conducts sports event emergency planning and training around the country. So join us today as we delve in the little-appreciated world of sports event emergency planning.  It is a great conversation!