Wil Haygood talked about his biography Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson (Knopf; October 13, 2009). Born Walker Smith, Jr., the future title-holder spent his formative years in Harlem and mixed his pugilistic career with the happenings of the Harlem Renaissance. In his book Mr. Haygood, recounts Sugar Ray’s connections to Langston Hughes, Miles Davis, and Lena Horne, a generation of blacks who found success in their respective fields during the start of a broader civil rights movement. The guest interviewer was Dave Zirin, sports columnist for The Nation.
Wil Haygood is a staff writer at The Washington Post. He is the author King of the Cats: The Life and Times of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. and In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr., which was the recipient of the Nonfiction Book Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. 
Dave Zirin is the sports columnist for The Nation. He is the author of several books, including What’s My Name Fool?: Sports and Resistance in the United States and A People’s History of Sports in the United States. Mr. Zirin is also a radio the host of “Edge of Sports Radio” on XM satellite radio and a columnist.