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Podcast: New Books in Popular Culture
Episode: Karen Eva Carr, "Shifting Currents: A World History of Swimming" (Reaktion Books, 2022)
Description: Today we are joined by Dr. Karen Carr, Associate Professor Emerita in the Department of History at Portland State University and the author of Shifting Currents: A World History of Swimming (Reaktion Books, 2022). Shifting Currents is the winner of the 2023 North American Society for Sports History Monograph Book Award. In our conversation, we discussed the historical, cultural, and geographic divisions between swimmers and non-swimmers; the reasons for the rise and fall of swimming in Northern Eurasia; and the racialization of swimming starting in the 13th century.In Shifting Currents, Carr offers a comprehensive history of swimming from the pal...