The Sports Gene

KUER 90.1 | By Doug Fabrizio

Published November 6, 2013 at 3:42 PM MST

Every high school has its star athletes who are so good it seems like they were born to throw a football, run the 100-meter dash or swing a baseball bat. The sports writer David Epstein has spent a lot of time around exceptional athletes, and he started to wonder if their skills were the result of freak genetic programming or just lots and lots of practice. Epstein has written a book that examines the science of extraordinary athletic performance and he joins us Thursday to talk about it. [Rebroadcast]

GUEST

David Epstein is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, where he covers sports, science, medicine and Olympic sports. His new book is called The Sports gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance [Amazon|Indiebound].

Health & Science

Doug Fabrizio

Doug Fabrizio has been reporting for KUER News since 1987, and became News Director in 1993. In 2001, he became host and executive producer of KUER's RadioWest, a one hour conversation/call-in show on KUER 90.1 in Salt Lake City. He has gained a reputation for his thoughtful style. He has interviewed everyone from Isabel Allende to the Dalai Lama, and from Madeleine Albright to Desmond Tutu. His interview skills landed him a spot as a guest host of the national NPR program, "Talk of the Nation." He has won numerous awards for his reporting and for his work with RadioWest and KUED's Utah NOW from such organizations as the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah Broadcasters Association, the Public Radio News Directors Association and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

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