Anyone who knows me can tell you that I’m not much of a sports guy — but that doesn’t stop me from writing a helluva’n anti-imperialist crime yarn! And that’s exactly what I did for my latest Badlands episode, which focuses on the football legend Diego Maradona.
Diego Maradona was busted for drugs, prostitution, and shooting an air rifle at reporters. He was also associated with one of the biggest and oldest organized crime families in Italy. Despite all of this, Diego Maradona somehow still showed up the next day and played a great game of soccer. He even turned a soccer match into a weapon during a centuries-long war between England and Argentina. Diego Maradona was more than one of the greatest of all time on the pitch – he was also one of the most infamous.
You can check it out below, or wherever you listen to your podcasts: