By John Wilkens Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jane Smiley and basketball legend-turned-author Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will be among the featured guests at the annual Writer’s Symposium by the Sea at Point Loma Nazarene University in February. The lineup also includes Krista Tippett, author of the best seller “Becoming Wise” and Peabody Award-winning host of the public radio…

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by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar The THR columnist and NBA Hall of Famer says season 22’s return to a vapid, out-of-date masculinity is a disappointment after the show moved forward last year with the first African-American Bachelorette. In pop culture, everything is about timing. It’s about riding the treacherous current of the zeitgeist without wiping out on the…

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The NBA Hall of Famer and THR columnist, a practitioner of Islam since college, is hopeful that the Kumail Nanjiani starrer and Aziz Ansari’s ‘Master of None’ are bringing an end to portrayals of the devoted as “rabid, merciless terrorists” onscreen.   “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,” an apple farmer observes in…

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College sport is a billion-dollar enterprise built off athletes who receive no compensation. Whatever the solution is, the status quo must change  In Thailand, bony little boys as young as nine and 10 are thrown into the boxing ring to punch each other into bloody submission while parents, relatives and other screaming adults bet on…

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The Legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar talks with Craig Ferguson about his new books ‘Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court’ and ‘Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court’. He shares his thoughts on college athletes not getting paid, an influential past mentor, Bruce Lee and his love for baseball. Visit The…

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  By Kevin Liptak and Deena Zaru, CNN (CNN)Freed from the daily pressures of the presidency, Barack Obama seems to have filled the time with reading and music. As he did during his time in office, Obama listed off what books and songs he’s been consuming in a Facebook post Sunday. “With some extra time on my hands…

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By Pamela Kramer, Contributor Educator, animal advocate and book reviewer “Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court” is a marvelous autobiography by one of the greatest basketball players who ever graced the court. Watching him play was a privilege for any true sports fan because he appeared to be graceful and athletic, ultra-competitive, always…

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