Advertise on podcast: Unexpected Curves

Before it becomes a Netflix film, The Girls of Summer is worth revisiting. This week, longtime New York Times reporter Jere Longman joins the show to discuss his book The Girls of Summer: The U.S. Women's Soccer Team and How It Changed the World (the story that inspired Netflix's upcoming adaptation), and why the 1999 U.S. Women's National Team still matters more than 25 years later. The conversation explores how a tournament with little marketing became the largest women's sporting event in history, why the success of the '99 team was about far more than soccer, and how the movement they helped build continues to shape women's sports today.

"If you let me play sports, I will learn what it means to be strong". More than 30 years later, those words remain one of the most recognizable messages in women's sports. This week, we catch up with Janet Champ, who started her career at Wieden+Kennedy and went on to build some of Nike's most influential campaigns, including If You Let Me Play. At a time when women's sports received little attention from advertisers, Champ and her creative partner Charlotte Moore began creating ads that weren't really about products. They were about ambition, fear, confidence, identity, and the process of becoming. Together, we explore how stories shape culture, why women saw themselves in Janet's work, and how a young writer who never intended to work in advertising helped change the language of women's sports.

Producer and writer Kishori Rajan, co-founder of Viva Maude alongside Tessa Thompson, joins the show to unpack the making of Is God Is, a genre-bending thriller that centers Black women, sisterhood, and rage in ways Hollywood rarely does. This conversation covers a lot of ground. We get into bringing an ambitious creative vision to life, why Kishori is drawn to stories that challenge cultural assumptions, and a question that resonates far beyond film and into sport: who gets permission to be angry, competitive, flawed, and fully human?

This past weekend at Coachella, Justin Bieber showed us the future of fame: raw, self-referential, and direct-to-consumer. It was a stark contrast to the "Hard Power" and superhuman sacrifice of Beyoncé’s legendary 2018 Homecoming performance. While the pop world was debating these generational shifts in the desert, a group of women were cracking the same code on a different field of play just a week earlier. In this episode, we go behind the scenes of Project Stella. The team took on The Speed Project (TSP) the unsanctioned 340-mile relay from the Santa Monica Pier to the Las Vegas sign. In a "no rules, no spectators" nonstop push through the heat of the Mojave Desert, they shattered the previous record by 2 hours and 54 minutes, finishing in 30 hours and 19 minutes at an average pace of 6:30 per mile. This all-women’s squad didn't just lower the record; they built their own digital Main Stage by providing live, raw updates across the entire record attempt on their Instagram feed. I sit down with project architect Hannah Jackson to discuss the "Bieber treatment" of live-streaming sport, the logistics of managing elite talent in the middle of the desert, and what the future of Project Stella holds. The StellaChella Squad: Sophie Manners (@sophmannerss) Hannah O'Connor (@oconnorrhanna) Ella Neyman (@ellaneym) Christina Welsh (@christinajwelsh) Maddy Ackerley (@maackerley) Kate Dickman (@kateedickman)

A lot has to come together for an athlete to perform at their best. Coaches, physio, family, talent, work ethic, a little luck, and a lot of faith. Tara Woodhall Davis has all of that, but what sets her apart is her energy. Every time she steps onto the runway, there’s an expectation of performance, and it’s her unapologetic energy that continues to push her to the next level. I caught up with Tara in Tokyo at the World Championships to talk about what it means to bring a big personality to a small sport still fighting to make its name. We get into Athlos, the moment she almost walked away from the sport, her journey to becoming an Olympic and World champion, and why the long jump, in her eyes, represents all of track and field.

A new year often comes with a renewed focus on health. Setting routines, getting organized, and trying to “start fresh.” In sport, that mindset can be powerful, but it can also come with hidden risks, especially for women. In this episode, I’m joined by researcher and athlete Melissa Lodge to unpack the realities of under-fueling and RED-S, why so many female athletes are affected, and how sport systems often miss the mark. From the lab to the lived experience, this conversation explores what it actually takes to create healthier starting lines, and why better support early on can change everything.

What does the rise of Pilates reveal about women, power, and the bodies we value most? This week, I’m joined by fitness instructor, creator, and writer Mary Beth to unpack how her viral New York Times feature connects Pilates to larger political and cultural trends. We talk about going viral, desirability, privilege, and what the most radical future for fitness could look like.

This week we're talking about the fictional characters that made all the athletic girls feel validated, and gave women and girls a chance to see themselves on screen. I'm joined by filmmaker Jac'leen Smith to discuss her short film Flex Venus, inspired by her experiences as a track athlete. Jac'leen is currently crowdfunding for her project. You can find out more about her film, and support her and her team here.

Doping scandals often make headlines with a clear villain and a rule broken. But the story is often more complicated than that. In this episode, I’m joined by Olympian and American record holder Emily Sisson, in the shadow of the recent news that world record holder Ruth Chepngetich tested positive for a banned substance. Instead of focusing on individual choices, we explore the deeper forces shaping athletes today: the blurred line between personal accountability and systemic expectation, the emotional toll of competing on uneven ground, and how to hold space for grief and frustration without losing love for the sport.

Christina Henderson has been running forever, and now she’s helping shape its future. As the event director of The Running Event, North America’s premier trade show for the running industry, Christina brings together brands, retailers, race organizers, coaches, and media for three days of connection, innovation, and big-picture conversations. In this episode, she shares what it’s like to lead one of the most influential gatherings in the sport, why TRE matters to the business of running, and how women are making powerful strides behind the scenes.

After years of chasing the elusive sub-two-minute 800m, Skylyn Webb finally did it- but not without a long stretch of feeling stuck in the middle. In this episode, I talk with Skylyn about the slow, often invisible middle parts of pursuing a goal, the burnout that nearly pushed her out of the sport, and how letting go became the key to unlocking her breakthrough. We also get into her next chapter with Meridia, the new athlete-led pro team she's joined, her passion for mental health, the brave act of marriage, and how her coach Julie Benson has been a game changer in her journey.

With record-breaking attendance, viewership, and cultural buzz, the WNBA is no longer just ‘having a moment’, it’s shaping the future of sports. In light of the league’s continued rise, I'm re-airing this conversation with filmmaker Dawn Porter about her documentary The Power of the Dream, which captures the WNBA’s pivotal 2020 season. The film intimately explores how the league’s players used their platform to demand justice, and how that season became a turning point in sports activism. We get into her start in filmmaking, why she chose to tell the story of the WNBA, and what makes female-identifying athletes especially primed to make a difference.

Happy Father’s Day weekend! We’re re-airing a favorite from Season 1, Episode 2 with my dad. This conversation is all about fatherhood, sport, and how the people closest to us can shift the way we see ourselves. We talk about building real-life support for girls beyond hashtags, and the power of relationships that grow through movement. If you missed it the first time around take a listen!

This weekend, thousands of women will take to the streets of Los Angeles for the Nike After Dark Tour LA. In this episode, we catch up with Ayahna Wilbon, founder of Frnds Table and a first-time half-marathoner. Her journey to the starting line is personal, but it also mirrors a broader shift happening across the country. More women are moving on their own terms and redefining what wellness and fitness look like in 2025. Run clubs, once niche and often male-dominated, have evolved into powerful spaces of connection, empowerment,

Nia is many things. An Ivy League graduate, U.S. champion, Olympian, and singer-songwriter. In this episode, we dive into the unique intersection of songwriting and sport. Nia shares how music has shaped her mindset as an athlete, and how she balances the grind of elite competition with the vulnerability of creative expression. We also get into what it means to chase multiple dreams without compromise. Hint: You don’t have to stay in your lane.