Origins with Ben Smith

The 4th of July is a celebratory time in our country, and one of the warmups for the day ahead on the 4th is when many Americans sit down in front of the tv and watch men and women dip hot dogs into water and consume as many as possible in 10 minutes. This week, Origins Host Ben Smith is once again joined by the guys, Rich Osborne, Mike Gorney and Chris Moon, for a special group ch

This past 4th of July, baseball was back in full! After the year that was 2020 and having to miss out on 4th of July baseball last year, 2021 gave us a full day of baseball along with something we haven’t had since the early 1960’s; a July 4th Doubleheader. The doubleheader was a staple of Major League Baseball from the early 1900’s, through the early 1960’s. Teams made the

Origins: Ep.31 - Fantasy SportsThe Fantasy Sports Industry has exploded in the last 10-15 years, growing at an astounding rate, projecting to be a nearly $50 billion dollar industry by the year 2027. Whether you’re a football fan, a baseball fan, basketball, soccer or a fan of any other sport, fantasy sports is an accessible, fun and sometimes heartbreaking activity.This week, Or

This week, Origins Host Ben Smith sits down with previous guests from our earliest episodes. In this bonus discussion, Ben and Gaming Historian from the University of Indiana, Raiford Guins, discuss the documentaries “atari: game over” about the search for what is called the worst video game of all time, the e.t. game for the atari console.Hundreds of thousands of e.t. Atari g

This week, Origins Host Ben Smith sits down with a previous guest on the show, Journalist/Author Anna Clark. This week is an extra bonus discussion from back in episode 4 on Instant Replay. (Link for that episode is listed below). In this bonus discussion, Ben and Anna break down her book, "The Poisoned City: Flint's Water and the American Urban Tragedy." The details behind the sto

This week, Origins Host Ben Smith tells two very different origin stories suggested to us by you, the listeners.We start with a suggestion from Katie in Traverse City, Michigan. Her suggestion is a sport that does not get the acclaim it deserves; softball. This origin story is hard to believe as it has these completely random events, with a group of random people coming together an

This week, Origins Host Ben Smith tells 3 different short origin stories in another "Potpourri Edition" of Origins; (Skiing - Ultimate Frisbee - “Take Me Out To The Ball Game.”)This week, we start with a classic winter sport, Skiing, which had a whole different reason for existing before Skiing became a leisure activity or a sport in and of itself.Then we tell the story of Ulti

No matter your age, no matter your abilities, bowling is accessible to all. It’s a sport, a leisure activity, a great hang out spot, and a sport that may be one of the oldest still in existence.This week, Origins host Ben Smith is joined by The Curator and Program Manager of the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame, Kari Smith, to discuss the origin of Bowling.Kari takes

This week, Origins celebrates 25 episodes with the man, the myth, the legend and the All-Time Teammate to the city of Detroit; Darren McCarty.This week, Origins Host Ben Smith sits down with McCarty in the MyBookie Studios at Woodward Sports HQ to break down a life fully lived. From his childhood in Leamington, Ontario, to moving away from his family as a teenager to pursue hockey,

There have been only two players in NBA history that averaged a triple-double throughout the regular season; Oscar Robertson in the 1961-1962 season and Russell Westbrook did that 3 seasons in a row from 2016 to 2019.This week, Origins Host Ben Smith tells the complicated story of the Triple-Double and its origin in the sport of basketball. We ask two questions this week; did this