Why people love watching sports | Kate Fagan | TEDxBoston

Imagine a packed crowd swooning, revved into a frenzy, being forced to disperse over... competitive women’s walking. In this hilarious, pointed talk, Kate shares surprising historical sporting headlines and describes the elements that are missing in the way media covers women’s sports today. At the highest levels of sportscasting and journalism, Kate recognizes the disconnects in the way we share these stories--in airtime, in content, in context. She shares the pitfalls of poor coverage and the proof points of what is possible when we tell the right stories. | Highlight: “Hot damn, ya’ll! People loved ladies’ sports! Wherever you find compelling storylines and agreed upon stakes, you will find people on the edge of their seats. So, who tells the storylines of women’s sports today?“ Kate Fagan is an Emmy-award winning journalist and the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of WHAT MADE MADDY RUN, which was a semi-finalist for the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sportswriting. Her first book was the coming-of-age memoir THE REAPPEARING ACT, and her third book, ALL THE COLORS CAME OUT, released in May 2021 from Little, Brown. She currently works for Meadowlark Media and co-hosts the podcast Off The Looking Glass. Kate previously spent seven years as a columnist and feature writer for espnW, and ESPN The Magazine. She also covered the Philadelphia 76ers for three seasons and played college basketball at the University of Colorado. She lives in Charleston, South Carolina with her wife, Kathryn Budig, and their two dogs. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at