Wide Open with Ashlyn Harris

You might know Sam Gordon as that little girl who went viral for outrunning all the boys on her tackle football team. She was just nine years old when her dad posted that video, and fourteen years later Sam has matured into a powerful advocate for women’s sports. In her career, she’s already co-founded the Utah Girl’s Tackle Football League and played D1 soccer at Columbia University. Now she’s professional football player with the Salt Lake Wildcats all while pursuing a law degree. Sam talks to Ashlyn about why it’s so important to be a multihyphenate in sports and life, what it’s been like to grow up as the face of a women’s sports movement, and the opportunities tackle football can bring to women on and off the field.
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Director, writer, producer, and comic creator Carly Usdin joins the show to talk with Ashlyn about their long career as a storyteller and the importance of making sure queer stories keep being made. Ashlyn tries to get the scoop on Carly’s upcoming film, “Courtside,” a gay basketball rom-com set to feature several WNBA players. Plus, Ashlyn and Carly discuss all things women’s sports, identity, and the new wave of joy in queer film and TV.
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Roku’s Director of Content, Publicity and Talent Relations Nicole Wilcox joins the show this week to give a peek behind the curtain into how, why, and when certain stories get told in film and television. Nicole knows what it takes to bring a project into the world, build excitement around it, and make sure everyone is represented on screen. Ashlyn and Nicole discuss the art of documentary filmmaking and why accessibility to media matters. Plus, they dive into what it took to get Ashlyn’s documentary, Game Changers: The Ashlyn Harris Story made and what it’s like to have it out in the world.
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Comedian, actress, and now author Aida Rodriguez joins Wide Open this week to depart some of her infinite wisdom on all things motherhood, comedy, and finding the courage to truly be yourself. Aida and Ashlyn have a raw conversation on setting boundaries with family and the importance of teaching conflict resolution to their children. Plus, Aida tells Ashlyn all about her new book Legitimate Kid and how her upbringing made her who she is today.
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Climate change is a fact, not a question. If you’re watching the World Cup this summer, you’ll see players facing record-breaking heat head-on. As a former player, Ashlyn knows how hard heat is on these athletes’ bodies, not to mention the challenges of travel, dehydration, and overheating turf. To get a handle on what exactly the teams are facing this summer, Ashlyn is talking to sport ecologist Madeline Orr and CEO of the Korey Stringer Institute, Dr. Douglas Casa. In this special episode, Dr. Maddy Orr and Dr. Doug Casa discuss the conditions of the World Cup and warn that it is just a preview of how rising temperatures will affect the future of sports.
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