Historian Taylor Branch, speaking at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn. on Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. (MPR Photo/Tom Weber)
The 2012 Ideas Festival gathered scientists, artists, politicians, historians, educators, activists, and other great thinkers for a week this summer.
Aspen Ideas Festival: What is the purpose of big time college sports?
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The authors of "The Shame of College Sports" and "Game On: The All-American Race to Make Champions of our Children" discuss their ideas with a college basketball coach and a NCAA vice president at the Aspen Ideas Festival.
Guests
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Taylor Branch: Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author. Former college football player. Wrote the October 2011 cover story in The Atlantic, "The Shame of College Sports." Best-known for his history of the civil rights era, "America in the King Years."
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Wallace Renfro: Vice president and chief policy advisor for the National Collegiate Athletic Association or NCAA.
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Craig Robinson: Head coach of Oregon State University's men's basketball team. He also coached at Brown University and was named Ivy League Coach of the Year. He is the author of "A Game of Character." Brother of First Lady Michelle Obama.
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Joe Nocera: Op-ed columnist at the New York Times and regular business commentator for NPR's "Weekend Edition." Former staff writer for The New York Times Magazine and Fortune. Author of "All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis."
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Tom Farrey: Moderator. Emmy Award-winning correspondent for ESPN and author of "Game On: The All-American Race to Make Champions of Our Children." Director of the Aspen Institute's Sports and Society program.
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