Episode 23: 'High Flying Bird,' Colin Kaepernick and 'The Revolt of the Black Athlete'

Low Key

Stephen Soderbergh's "High Flying Bird" imagines black pro athletes bypassing mostly white team owners to finally reap the profits of their own athleticism. Is it just a dream, or could Colin Kaepernick's fight with the NFL be the start of something like the nascent revolt in the film?

The film imagines what would happen if the mostly black athletes in the NBA discovered a way to profit from their own hard work without white team owners taking a massive cut of the profits. Super agent Andre Holland plays Ray Burke, who uses social media to circumvent the league and TV networks, and gives his rookie client Erick (Melvin Gregg) a potential map toward a future in which athletes, not owners, control their destinies.

Our talk soon turns to Colin Kaepernick's fight with another league, the NFL, and whether it... made any sense. Finally, we discuss "The Revolt of the Black Athlete," the book Zazie Beetz's character starts reading at the end of "High Flying Bird."

We also talk about Muhammad Ali, O.J. Simpson, J. Cole, and finally, what's really going on with the Lakers.

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