A former reporter, Associate Professor of Communication Michael Serazio turns his journalistic eye on sports in America in his new book, The Power of Sports: Media and Spectacle in American Culture (NYU Press, April 2019). After conducting more than 50 interviews with people in sports media as well as the business and marketing of sports, Serazio argues that the idea of sports as merely an entertaining diversion is a myth. Rather, he contends, sports has messaging on topics such as politics, gender, economic inequality, and other issues, and is a lens through which we can observe and understand American culture as it is today. Serazio also writes about the spiritual appeal of sports in a culture that is increasingly moving away from organized religion and, as one of the last remaining live television experiences, sports’ lucrative power in the field of advertising and branding. Serazio has written for The Washington Post and The Atlantic, among other outlets. His previous book is  Your Ad Here: The Cool Sell of Guerrilla Marketing. Serazio recently discussed his book on WNPV-AM.