Season Two of the podcast Badlands will delve into stories at the intersection of sports and true crime, including infamous sagas involving O.J. Simpson, Tonya Harding, and Pete Rose.
Badlands Season 2: Sportsland will premiere on September 22nd with two episodes. One will be about the violence and erratic behavior that’s marred the career of boxer Mike Tyson, while the other will examine the murder conviction against former Olympic and Paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius.
Sportsland is hosted by Jake Brennan, who also created the music and true crime podcast Disgraceland; he also helmed Badlands Season One: Hollywoodland, about the more seemly side of the entertainment world. “I’m obsessed with exploring the darker side of any story, and up until now, that’s been mostly music,” Brennan tells Rolling Stone via email. “For every story about Frank Sinatra’s mob ties or Jerry Lee Lewis’ murder accusation, there is something equally, if not more insane in the world of sports. Being from Boston, sports are in my blood, so transitioning from music with Disgraceland to Hollywood’s darkest tales in Badlands season one, to Sportsland has been thrilling, and will hopefully give listeners some entertainment between kick-offs.”
Sportsland will also dig into the stolen memorabilia incident that landed Simpson in jail, Rose’s gambling scandal, and Harding’s conspiracy to take down her figure skating rival, Nancy Kerrigan. Other stories will center around Evel Knievel, Sonny Liston, Aaron Hernandez, Spider Sabich, and Ty Cobb.
Subsequent episodes of Sportsland will drop each Wednesday following the premiere, although the entire season will be available in full to Amazon Music subscribers.