Sneaker History Podcast - Sneakers, Sneaker Culture and the Business of Footwear

The whole crew is back. Nick, Robbie, Mike, and Rohit reunite for a full-panel episode of the Sneaker History Podcast, and it feels exactly like catching up with friends who happen to know more about shoes than most people you know.

They kick things off with Rockin' and Coppin', covering everything from Nipsey Hussle PUMAs and adidas SL EVOs to a World Cup craze over jerseys and some very real talk about what shoe buying looks like ...

Most sneaker fans haven’t seen a project this layered and meaningful — until now. When two creators linked up, they crafted a sneaker that tells a story of perseverance, culture, and global pride, right during the World Cup.

Brandon Davis, of Better Generation, and Andu, of Roommate the artist behind the inspiring custom sneakers, turn a simple soccer shoe into a symbol of grassroots hustle and self-expression. In this e...

Every men's Nike basketball shoe right now has some DNA from the Kobe 4, 5, or 6. Nick, Mike, and Rohit ask whether that's a problem, and whether the women's game has already figured out the answer. They cover Asia Wilson's signature, the Sabrina as a tasteful homage, Edwards making the Believe That One the most talked-about takedown model in recent memory, and a four-team sneaker identity breakdown to close the playoffs. Ganglands...

In this episode of the Sneaker History Podcast, Robbie, Rohit, and Mike discuss various sneaker releases, including a special Mother's Day collaboration from adidas. They share their personal sneaker highlights and upcoming purchases, while also touching on the charitable efforts behind certain sneaker collaborations. The conversation shifts to the rising star Anthony Edwards and his impact on the basketball scene, followed by a re...

There are companies that sell shoes. And then there are companies that shape the way an entire generation experiences them. Eastbay was the latter... and most people have no idea how improbable the whole thing was.

Art Juedes and Rick Gering started Eastbay out of a store in Wausau, Wisconsin. Two coaches with 16 years of combined college education, zero business courses between them, and a vision that shoe stores in this country we...

Mike sits down with Al Baker, the artist behind Deadstock Anatomies, for a Coffee Time Kicks conversation about turning sneakers into framed art pieces inspired by entomology, the science of pinning insects.

Al breaks down how a wife's passion for bug collecting led to taking apart a Jordan 1 and never looking back, the time he split a Red October down the middle and made $6,000 doing it, why the Reebok Above the Rim line still has ...

If you grew up flipping through the Eastbay catalog, this one's for you.

Mike sits down with Art and Rick, the two men behind one of the most beloved institutions in sneaker and athletic culture. Born two days apart in the same hospital, lifelong friends, and eventual business partners... their story is one of those rare ones that almost sounds made up. They break down how a simple idea rooted in getting the best athletic footwear t...

Christina Faith has been building for 20 years. She started with a DSLR in 2006, ran a record label, launched her first business in college, and has now opened a 2,500 sq. ft. creative production space that's also becoming a live music venue. She's self-taught, faith-driven, and one of the most grounded voices in the creative space right now.

In this Coffee Time Kicks conversation, Mike sits down with Christina to talk about growing...

You probably know I've got a love-hate relationship with running. But when Raziq Rauf, the guy behind the Running Sucks Substack, sent me his new book This Is Running, I couldn't put it down. So I figured I needed to get him on the show.

Raz is a former music journalist, BBC and Guardian contributor, USATF running coach, and now author of what is genuinely a cultural history of running in the 21st century. We talk about the super sh...

Mark Strong didn't have a design background. He didn't have a factory connection. He had an idea, a Garrison contest entry, and the kind of stubbornness it takes to actually see something through. Four-plus years later, he's got a shoe. The SV1 "Radici" — 60 pairs, hairy suede uppers, Vibram soles, and laces sourced from the same Tennessee tannery that makes Rawlings baseball glove leather.

We talk about the whole journey: Mad...

Rohit caught up with producer Billy Burke and writer/producer Terrence Watson to talk about Meal Ticket, their documentary about the McDonald's All-American Game, now streaming on Amazon Prime. These two have serious resumes... Billy produced New York City Point Gods, and Terrence has worked with everyone from Gatorade to creative duo Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah. But Meal Ticket might be their most personal project yet.

We get int...

The World Cup is almost here, and the sneaker game around it is already delivering. Nick, Robbie, and Rohit break down everything from Nike's Air Max soccer boot hybrids and country-specific colorways to adidas' Federation Pack Sambas for Japan, Mexico, and Italy. They get into the Jordan Brand x Brazil situation, why traditional colors still matter on the global stage, and how this year's releases are threading the needle between ...

Andrew Dutton, better known as @ad__sneaks on Instagram, has built one of the most recognizable sneaker photography accounts anywhere online. Hundreds of thousands of followers. Features from Complex. Brand invitations to NBA All-Star Weekend. And a coffee table book, The Art of the Sneaker, releasing March 24th , that nobody saw coming... including him.

Nick and Andy get into how a digital media teacher from rural Idaho turned a CO...

Pete Forester and I have been circling each other in the sneaker and streetwear editorial world for well over a decade. Pete worked at Kith under Ronnie Fieg, wrote news for Complex Sneakers, covered the industry for Esquire, hosted two seasons of High Snobiety's From the Ground Up, and was editorial director at StockX. He also wrote the Sole Collector article that introduced the world to StockX before he ever worked there.

We final...

Amado Rodriguez Jr. started his blog, The Official Encyclopedia Sneakérica, with one goal... to do for sneakers what Encyclopedia Britannica did for everything else. No hype. No "buy it now" buttons. Just the deep cuts, the real history, and the stuff that gets lost when everybody's chasing the algorithm.

He's @SneakerProfiler on Instagram, a B-boy whose parents came from Puerto Rico, a military veteran who ran constantly during his...

The whole crew is back together... Nick, Mike, Robbie, and Rohit are all in the same (virtual) room for the first time in a while, and things get weird before they get good. From confusing their Thugs (Young vs. Slim, no disrespect to either) to breaking down the Reebok Engine A26 and the adidas x Spider collab dropping March 3rd, the guys cover a lot of ground this episode.

The real meat of the conversation though? That ESPN story ...

Steph Curry's sneaker free agency has him wearing heat from every brand, while Under Armour gets petty by stealing Curry Brand's Instagram followers. We debate where he should sign next (spoiler: maybe nowhere), compare this to Kobe's free agency, and break down why UA's downfall feels inevitable. Is Sunday Red the move? Should he just keep wearing whatever he wants? And why does Under Armour's logo look like a linebacker?

Sole Retr...

JT, AKA The Sneaker Savant, has been in the sneaker world long enough to remember when eBay was church, when Dadas sold out, and when nobody questioned either of those things. He's been a fixture in the Sneaker History Discord for years, built a following on Instagram under @TheSneakerSavant, writes over at thesneakersavant.substack.com, and has been quietly one of the most interesting thinkers in this whole space... he just doesn'...

Is there a better place for All-Star Weekend sneaker releases than Los Angeles?

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