Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
For decades, sports sociologist Jay Coakley has helped shape how we understand the role of sport in society, looking beyond what happens on the field to the ways sport influences identity, relationships, and institutions.
As part of our Why We Play conversation series, Tom Farrey, Executive Director of the Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Program, sat down with Coakley at the Rose Bowl for a wide-ranging conversation about three of the project’s central themes: belonging, power, and freedom.
What can sport teach us about how society works? Who gets to belong, who holds power, and what happens to our sense of freedom as play becomes more organized? Watch the full conversation below.
For decades, sports sociologist Jay Coakley has helped shape how we understand the role of sport in society, looking beyond what happens on the field to the ways sport influences identity, relationships, and institutions.
As part of our Why We Play conversation series, Tom Farrey, Executive Director of the Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Program, sat down with Coakley at the Rose Bowl for a wide-ranging conversation about three of the project’s central themes: belonging, power, and freedom.
What can sport teach us about how society works? Who gets to belong, who holds power, and what happens to our sense of freedom as play becomes more organized? Watch the full conversation below.
