Notes and Links to Rus Bradburd’s Work

Rus Bradburd’s latest book is the satirical novel, “Big Time.” Rus attended Chicago Public Schools for eleven years before graduating from North Park College. After coaching basketball for fourteen seasons at UTEP and New Mexico State University, he left the game to study with Robert Boswell and Antonya Nelson—and pursue a life in writing. His five books focus on the intersections of sport, social progress, politics, and race. Rus has remained connected to the game through his acclaimed Basketball in the Barrio summer program in El Paso, as well as serving as NMSU’s television “color analyst.” He was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to return to Ireland to work on his next book about refugees in Belfast, “Almost Like Belonging.” An accomplished fiddle player, he lives in Chicago, Belfast, and New Mexico.

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Rus Bradburd's Website

At about 2:00, Rus gives background on his fiddle playing and his time as color commentator for New México State University

At about 3:40, Rus talks about Big Time as his first work of fiction, as well as its nice timing, and he details how he worked on the book for many years

At about 5:40, Rus outlines some of the book’s exposition and plot, and talks about the current Colorado Football connections

At about 6:40, Rus talks about Univ of Chicago’s 1939 dropping of football and other stimuli for the book’s genesis, including Rick Russo’s work, and Dave Meggyesy's book

At about 8:40, Rus talks about satire and fiction and ideas of how fiction often gets at truth so well

At about 10:00, Rus gives more background on committee workloads and how the proliferation of committees and on particular example worked their ways into his book

At about 12:25, Rus talks about normalization of budget imbalance in universities

At about 13:30, Pete and Rus discuss the book’s epigraph, and Ruis talks about how the book satirizes college athletics, while he’s “knee-deep” in sports still

At about 15:30, Pete details a compare and contrast lesson that he teaches

At about 17:00, Rus responds to Pete’s question about the book’s opening and main characters Mooney and Braverman, history professors, working concessions at football games

At about 18:40, Rus gives background on “pop poet” Layla, and the ways in which she and the two history professors work together; Rus connects today’s conversations around student protests and protests in the book

At about 20:30, Rus talks about the downfall of the Coors State English Department in the book

At about 22:00, Rus cites the Missouri Football protest in fodder for a similar situation in his book

At about 23:00, Rus speaks about rich owners often asking taxpayers to finance big building projects

At about 24:20, Pete asks Rus about any inspirations for Layla, and he expands upon how the character evolved in his writing

At about 27:50, Pete charts the roles and importance of some characters in the book

At about 28:35, Rus discusses the financial costs and gains of big sport universities, and argues that the sporting program is taking away from education and educators

At about 33:00, Rus talks about a flawed system that puts so much work and so little compensation for adjunct instructors and showcases much hypocrisy

At about 35:00, Pete points out links between Braverman and Mooney’s activism and civil rights movements, and Rus connects to the push and pull that governs his own thoughts with regards to activism

At about 38:00, Rus talks about how the book’s events are in many ways reminiscent of fractures on the political Left

At about 40:25, Pete and Rus talk about NlL and how it relates to topics covered n the book, and whether/how NIL affected Rus’ writing

At about 44:00, Rus cites Dagoberto Gilb as an example of a writer who is successful while not being preachy, and how through satire, one can be a “little more message-heavy”

At about 45:50, Rus responds to Pete’s questions about satire and hyperbole and highlights how his writing the book made him love his characters

At about 48:45, Pete asks Rus about doing dystopia in The Age of Trump, and Rus cites David Shields and a tantalizing book idea that is now obsolete

At about 51:10, Pete wonders about Rus’ thoughts on the frenzied rise of legalized sports gambling, and Rus talks about further normalization of formerly-”sacreligious” things like beer sales at college games

At about 53:20, Rus cites Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk as an influence on his book and talks about using a real beer company’s name

At about 54:45, Pete compliments Rus’ use of stream of consciousness

At about 56:30, Rus shares out information on readings and book events coming up, including one with Beto O’Rourke, and contact and book buying information

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Please tune in for Episode 263 with Fernanda Trías, award-winning author of three novels and the short story collection No soñarás flores; awarded the National Uruguayan Literary Prize, The Critics’ Choice Award Bartolomé Hidalgo, and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz International Prize in Mexico for Pink Slime/Mugre Rosa.

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Episode 262 with Rus Bradburd, Author of Big Time, His First Novel that Connects to Four Nonfiction Works Passionately and Thoroughly Exploring Intersections Between Sport, Race, and Larger Culture

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