#074 The Bittersweet Science Pt.1

This week we have a change of tack, a complete break from the Donald and that jazz. We delve into the shady of world of Professional Boxing, with the former Boxing Manager, Gambler, Gangster, Jazz Pianist, Writer, and Fight-Fixer, Charles Farrell. Boxing is a sport that has always fascinated me. It’s much more than a mere sport - it’s a metaphor for life itself, full of light and shadow, failure and redemption. Charles has led a life of a pulp-fiction novel character, from living on the streets of Boston from the age of 12, and playing piano in the hotels and brothels of Boston, to managing former heavyweight champion of the world, Leon Spinks. Charles is also starring in a new documentary, Ditry Games, about the corruption and fixing in the world of sport, and is appearing in the new book ‘The Bittersweet Science’, a collection of essays from some of the greatest writers on boxing, which is due out early next year from the University of Chicago Press.

You can find out more about the film Dirty Games here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5068818/

And you can find out more about the book ‘The Bittersweet Science’ here:
http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/B/bo22758559.html

The music on this episode was:
'The Order of the Pharaonic Jesters' by Sun Ra and his Arkestra
'I Love This Place' by Charles Farrell