The "Winona" Ryder Cup

Welcome back to the Bill Bradley Collective, where this week, in the run up to this year’s event, we examine the Ryder Cup matches, a biannual contest between the United States and Europe featuring the top-12 golfers from each side. The Cup’s unique format, where for three days perhaps the world’s foremost individual athletic pursuit is contested collectively, is put under the microscope. The event’s history, with a nod to 1979’s introduction of continental Europe, 1991 as the year the Cup as we know it today came to be, and the manner in which the event has transitioned from American dominance to European supremacy is also highlighted. This year’s host course, Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, and what to look forward to from the forthcoming 43rd Ryder Cup matches fill out the conversation Andrew’s been waiting to have before a live mic his entire life. But first we rant, as Ed considers a Pennsylvania school district’s outrageous decision to ban materials critical about race and racism, Andrew details a cringe-worthy 2018 campaign video that inexplicably led to victory for old Collective nemesis Brian Kemp, and finally Zak arraigns usual pod-hero Ms. Ocasio-Cortez for her bit of performative politics in her choice of wardrobe at this year’s Met Gala.