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.
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Author 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"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 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.
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After 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?
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Telling 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.
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For 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.
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Turns 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
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To 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
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