Two and a Half Men: Sportswashing w/ Tom Usher
Gregk is joined by Tom and Producer Thomas to discuss whether cultural reputation laundering is really such a new phenomena, and whether anything is even being washed at all.
Read Patrick Redford’s piece ‘The State of Sportswashing’ in Defector here.
Read Jack Crosbie’s piece ‘The White House UFC Fight Was Donald Trump’s All-American Dream’ in Rolling Stone here.
For more from Tom Usher:
– Check out his Substack
– Follow him on Bluesky and
– Follow Tangible Vibe Shift on Instagram
Image: Donald Trump accepts the inaugural ‘FIFA Peace Prize – Football Unites the World’ award during the Final Draw for the FIFA World Cup 2026™ at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC.
Blood Work is a Scam Goldin Production
This episode was produced by Thomas O’Mahony
Our theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis Tron
Our artwork is provided courtesy of KT Kobel
If you enjoyed this episode:
– Support Blood Work via Patreon
– Leave a rating or review on your podcast app
– Follow us on Bluesky / Instagram / Twitter
THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: Strange Bedfellows
ALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIO
This week’s newsletter is a mini-episode, unlocked for all listeners, taking a deeper dive into the history of the interlocking conflicts currently engulfing the Sahel, and trying to make sense of what Russia and Africa Corps (formerly Wagner Group) are really up to in West Africa.
Comments (15)
Related to the UFC, Joe Rogan, psuedo sciencey pipeline, I always thought this was how UK tabloids operated. Plenty of people who wouldn't consider themselves right wing ended up getting most of their news with a very right wing slant because they bought the Daily Mail or the Sun for the sports pages and this was the first place they saw any given news story.
If you guys ever feel like doing a film corner episode or episodes, you absolutely need to watch Rollerball (1975)- it feels so entirely of this moment, about the interplay of violent combat sports as political distraction, and an inspiration and justification for a society built on jeering cruelty, by a deconstructed corporate dictatorship who just do not want anyone thinking about anything, ever.
also on a serious note- really loved guest-tom's cop-out/non-cop-out answer / detailing of how he tries to (sort of) ethically engage w the sport he loves. like yeah- to just take care of ur basic necessities as a human rn is to fk ppl over and perpetuate violence of all kinds down the purchase pipeline(s), let alone to indulge in hobbies and passions and community events. i go thru the exact same thing w music and fashion on a daily basis. anyway tysm guest-tom! Cant wait to dive into all things Tangible Vibe Shift ! 🖤🫡
I’ve convinced myself wwe is doing sociology studies. My dad watches it 2-3 a week so I’ve watched it with him my entire life. Ik it’s entertainment, and I’m not sure how to articulate this. But the way they change personas. We call them the good guys and bad guys because it is portrayed as that black and white. But what intrigues me is how thousands of people can boo and genuinely dislike a wrestler… and then three weeks later they’re cheering him. I’ve always pondered this but Jey Uso’s explosion in popularity with his ‘yeet’ skit really got me thinking. He is SO lovable. Even I do the yeet motions. He walks down through the audience and people go nuts. Kids LOVE him. In short, if they’re not already conducting social experiments, I’d be surprised. While for the wwe the end goal is always profit, the right wing connection (trump bestie, mcmahon) makes me uncomfortable.
Sorry I still have like 20 mins left lmao but you mention how regular people weren’t let into the ufc event. To anyone who’s been to dc since he took office again, this was an obvious outcome, purely based on how terrified trump is. The White House is so barricaded and secret service and the national guard surround the property. There’s no WAY he’d let ‘normal’ people a the lawn.
BENCHING 16 COPIES OF WAR AND PEACE ON BOTH SIDES. lollll loved this ep luv u guyz gxdblesssss
A big piece of this puzzle is the embedded neo liberalism. Like how political correctness was implemented in the 90s and what it was supposed to do , or how the atomization was established around recycling. Or that until the last 5 years , leftist who engaged in violence was seen as an ignorant brute by liberals and other leftists in neo liberal states.
The way Producer Tom described the history of UFC and the way it used rapist Conor Mcgregor - god, if that isn’t sportswashing writ very very small I don’t know what is. It’s too bad he’s a rapist, because he’s phenomenal at the sport - fuck. Y’all. I vaguely know what whitewashing is from Huckleberry Finn! It’s a thick, shitty, white paint that needed to be reapplied regularly. You’d slap on another coat of whitewashing (or have your rascal of a nephew do it) when the fence or wall or whatever was looking dingy and dirty.
The thing with McGregor is that he fulfilled the UFC's need for a star fighter who could translate into the mainstream. Outside of the octagon, he acted in an outrageous and inflammatory way that the public had become familiar with in boxing decades earlier, which the public already knew how to engage with. He's not necessarily the sole reason for its crossover, but he is definitely a massive contributing factor. He eventually became bigger than the organisation (or at least he believed himself to be), and has spent the intervening time in disgrace as a rapist and a thug. He gained his relevance in the octagon, and now that he's a joke, that's why he's crawling back into it. Producer Tom xoxo
(midway through listening) good to see Patrick's piece getting the attention, unsurprised he brings up cycling given he's currently at the Tour de France. It is kntself an innately commercial, corporate beast, having been started as a way to generate stories to sell newspapers. All the teams carry their sponsor names as the team name, with the country of the team registration often being one where they almost never visit but nevertheless bankrolls the operation- eg team UAE Emirates-XRG have UAE registration, but they're based in Italy, their riders live in Monaco, Andorra and some not in tax havens and the squad as a whole goes to UAE maybe once a year.
The Israel thing though did give a little hope that sometimes sheer public pressure can turn some of it back, but that was an unusual situation and really took the particularly high public support for the people of Gaza that Spanish have to bring it to a head.
The Muhammad Ali Revival Act isn't so much a rolling back of regulations as it is adding new provisions that seem to be really good for boxers, but would make it harder for local boxing promoters to hold shows. It also has a specific provision for UBOs (Universal Boxing Organizations), which if a promoter can meet a set amount of qualifications, would be exempt from the Ali Act. Unsurprising that list of qualifications is very much met by TKO's Zuffa Boxing. It's a way for TKO to crush local promotions and monopolize boxing much like they've taken control of MMA. The good news is that after UFC 250, there has been a lot of pushback and new scrutiny from the Democrats that might make introducing the Ali Revival Act into the Senate a lot more difficult. There was speculation that Ted Cruz was going to introduce it shortly after it passed through the House of Representatives, but it's looking less likely now. Also, you could do a whole ass podcast series on the fascism and chicanery of the Gracie family before they helped create UFC in the 90's
Ludwig von Mises, I know, I’m trying to fix it. G
Woo brief Clapton shout out at the end :D
I remember when my team, the second Munich team, made it back into second league, after a couple of years in 3rd division, and the whole stands went crazy and rushed the pit. I got a bit of grass, while my boyfriend at that time got a piece of the goalposts. PS: haven't watched one game of the world cup. Principles. It's hard