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July 3, 2025 57 mins

Just in time for the United States' 249th birthday celebration, we're joined by Dr. Dan Wann, a psychology professor at Murray State University, whose area of specialty is the psychology of sports fandom.

No, we don't delve into the rise of competitive eater Joey Chestnut, but we do spend quite a bit of time discussing fans, their behavior, and the positives and negatives of being a sports fan. The answers to which should fascinate all sports fans.

Along the way, Dan also shares how he became the first person he knows of to study sports fans (Spoiler: He forgot an assignment), how the rise of legalized gambling changes one's fandom, and some of the best responses to a fan superstition question his research team once asked.

And, just because we recorded this around the time Dan's Murray State Racers' baseball team was making a run to the Men's College World Series last month, we might even digress into some talk about them as well.

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