Joint Highpothesis

New episode out! Dr. Nik Dickerson is a scholar who talks about the connections between race, masculinity, sport, and of course, our ancestors’ favorite plant.

At the beginning of our interview, Nik shared how he got into sports sociology, how plant users are recognized in pop culture, why athletes use c@nnabis, and the importance of Black men defining their own identity. Unfortunately, this part of our interview is unavailable due to recording issues. We’d love to spend more time talking with Dr. Dickerson about plant-using athletes and stoner movies in the future. For now, please enjoy this interview centered on his recent paper for the Sociology of Sport Journal.

His identity as a Black American man has shaped his research, and he draws on references from Lovecraft Country, Toni Morrison, and Octavia Butler in order to discuss new ways of thinking about Black masculinity. He also discusses how he uses music in his papers and conferences to retell stories of Black athletes in an honorable way.

We end with him discussing how he relates to his own work as a Black man, and close out with our rapid fire round.

Guest Biography:
Dr Nik Dickerson graduated with a BA in Sport Sociology from Ithaca College in 2005. He then went on to receive an MA in the Cultural Studies of Sport from the University of Maryland (2007), and a PhD in the Cultural Studies of Sport from the University of Iowa (2012). His PhD examined how race, gender, and national identity informed mediated representations of recreational drug use in sport, advertisement, and film. After graduating he served as a lecturer in American Studies at the University of Iowa for three years, and then spent seven years as a Senior Lecturer in Sport Sociology at the University of Lincoln (UK).

He can be found at Fuhr_James83 on twitter.

** Note: This is our last episode of 2023, we will be taking some time to review the latest canna scholarship, travel, and most importantly rest. Happy holidays, please be safe and see y’all in 2024!

Ball is Life!!🏀⚾️🏈⚽️🎾🏅

Why do we view players like Lebron as an exception? Why do Serena Williams and Sha’Carri Richardson get so much pushback from athletic associations? Why are there so few Black women sports commentators?

So much of it has to do with race, class, and gender. In this episode we talk about everything from sports enhancement drugs to “fan energy” to Saint Louis having no basketball courts. Nadia also asks us to envision a world where we can appreciate the art and melodic motion of Black bodies so that they do not see the need for stimulants.

Guest Biography:
Nadia is from Norman, Oklahoma where she obtained her undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Oklahoma. Nadia is now a PhD student at Washington University in St. Louis but will be transferring to University of Minnesota’s Sociology PhD program in the
fall. She is broadly interested in the modern manifestations of racism and colorism, the Black experience, and the role sports plays in upholding racialized structures in the United States. She focuses primarily on the ways in which sport, particularly basketball and football, functions as a
paradigm for broader racialized dynamics within American institutions while also examining the intersectional dynamics of gender, class, and body image. She is currently working on a number of projects that include, but are not limited to, her Master’s Thesis, two academic publications, and partnering with local St. Louis sport organizations. Lastly, she is deeply invested in subjects
surrounding racism, athleticism, body image, and athlete-activism.

References:
Patricia Hill Collins - Black Sexual Thought and Black Feminist Thought
HostElle- A Black woman owned hostel in europe
www.hostelle.com/