I’ve wanted to do a podcast on newspaper closures and the mostly hard-working men and women who fill them for ages. The idea drifts in and out of consideration, but it was brought to the forefront of my thoughts the other day when a friend sent me an article written by a one-time reader of the New York Times’ sports section, detailing that the Times were finally closing their sports section down. Another one bites the dust. This podcast is for all those newspapers no longer with us, a requiem of sorts. And for all of the hacks who once populated them and made them what they were.News arrived recently that the New York Times was closing its sports department. The relationship between sport and the rest of the newspaper was itchy at the best of times. The story is told, for example, of Robert Lipsyte, one of their star sports reporters of the 1960s, struggling to get the paper to recognise that Muhammad Ali no longer wanted to be called Cassius Clay. Get full written episodes of the show a day early on Substack.Check out The Luke Alfred Show on: Facebook YouTube