We all love an underdog story. But why? This hour, we take a look at underdogs from David and Goliath to Rocky to The World Cup.

GUESTS:

• A.J. Jacobs: Author of The Year of Living Constitutionally: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Constitution’s Original Meaning. His previous books include Drop Dead Healthy and The Year of Living Biblically. He is also host of the “Hello, Puzzlers!” podcast. His Substack is “Experimental Living”
• Louisa Thomas: Staff writer for The New Yorker. She is the author of Louisa: The Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams, among other books
• Maria Tatar: Professor Emerita of Folklore and Mythology at Harvard University. She is author of books including The Heroine with 1001 Faces and Arachnomania: Spiders and the Cultural Work They Do for Us
• Iceman John Scully: Former World Ranked Light Heavyweight Contender and a Current Boxing Trainer

Music featured (in order):

• Gonna Fly Now – Maynard Ferguson
• Underdog – Spoon
• Born Under A Bad Sign – Albert King
• Pick Yourself Up – Ella Fitzgerald
• David and Goliath – Take 6
• Gonna Fly Now – Rocky Orchestra
• Punching Above My Weight – Snakecharmer