Podcast with Ben Rothenberg, author of “Naomi Osaka”

Naomi Osaka, detail of book cover

In July 2021, Naomi Osaka—world number 1 women’s tennis player—lit the Olympic Cauldron at the Tokyo Olympic Games. The half-Japanese, half-American, Black athlete was a symbol of a more complicated, more multi-ethnic Japan—and of the global nature of high-level sports. Osaka is now about to start her comeback, after taking some time off following the birth of her child. She’s not just an athlete: she’s a media entrepreneur, venture investor, and mental health advocate—with that latter label coming with difficult conversations about the well-being of high-performance athletes, and their obligations to the media.

 

 

Naomi Osaka: Her Journey to Finding Her Power and Her Voice, en Rothenberg (Dutton, Text Publishing, January 2024)
Naomi Osaka: Her Journey to Finding Her Power and Her Voice, Ben Rothenberg (Dutton, Text Publishing, January 2024)

Just in time for her comeback tour, tennis writer Ben Rothenberg is here with a new biography of the tennis star: Naomi Osaka: Her Journey to Finding Her Power and Her Voice.

Ben Rothenberg is a sportswriter from Washington, DC who has covered Naomi Osaka around the world since she emerged onto the WTA Tour in 2014, both in print for The New York Times—for which he covered tennis from 2011-2022—and on his podcast, “No Challenges Remaining”. His longform writing has been published in outlets including Slate and Racquet.


Nicholas Gordon has an MPhil from Oxford in International Relations and a BA from Harvard. He is a writer, editor and occasional radio host based in Hong Kong.