BB5 Episode 8: Lulu Xu

Episode 8 of the BB5 podcast, featuring quadball player and coach Lulu Xu. Hailing from the Northeast, Lulu is one of the sport’s more influential beaters. She’s been playing since 2011. She’s a 5x national champion and 2x international champion. This interview explores the context around which Lulu's club team, the Boston Pandas, was created in 2020, a team that was the leader in the US in the adoption of the 3 max rule from its beginning, and also discusses Lulu’s experiences as a coach for both Pandas and Harvard and what’s next for her in the sport.

Show notes:

• Essay by Lulu in the Eighth Man from 2019: http://www.eighthman.com/2020/09/18/guest-column-the-importance-of-recognizing-bias-and-intersectionality-in-quidditch/

• Video Essay by Lulu Xu and Max Havlin for the Midline in 2020: https://youtu.be/Fe7vh21Mkxs?si=XyY32oYPFIbhTCza

• interview with Lulu and Pandas co-founder Grace Dastous on Eighth Man’s The Pod in 2020: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1HsUjoMDomBj5ofOSKJK9H?si=cxOVSTsIRQK59JVllhI_Pg -

• Coverage of Lulu’s time on the US National Team in 2018 in Florence, Italy: https://abcnews.go.com/International/harry-potter-italy-americans-compete-quidditch-world-cup/story?id=56173662

• On Total Quadball Podcast in 2021 with Max Havlin: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6d8D3DNyrkHtyoNp40E2LI?si=b791a98523b5433d

Host/editor/producer: Mary Kimball

Theme music: Jeff McBride

Episode cover photo: Mary Kimball