Episodi

  • Dr Ami Parekh

    Dr Ami Parekh
    Dec 22 2025

    Dr Ami Parekh made history as the first skater to represent India at the World Championships. She now works as a physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor. She is passionate about helping skaters be healthy at all stages of their career, and frequently works as the medical director at competitions. Ami is also the Executive Director of the Chicago Youth Foundation, an organization which brings figure skating and hockey to underserved communities.

    https://youtu.be/MOouEgSLzfA

    Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_4p7mYDm2plc2yYwI5Wfy3eZ34-LYqxgrmfcpRyqMe4/edit?usp=sharing

    You can reach me with comments or suggestions for topics and people I should talk to, by email at fsfuturepodcast@gmail.com or Instagram @futurefspodcast If you appreciate the podcast, you can also support my work with a one-time or monthly contribution at ko-fi.com/futureoffigureskating

    https://www.chicagoyouthfoundation.org/

    Ami Parekh India Worlds 2007 Short program

    Ami Parekh INDIA "Raga Jazz" 2014 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships Taipei, Tawain

    Ami Parekh - 2013 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships,Osaka LP

    Chicago Youth Foundation on local news

    https://youtu.be/gxh4fainK48?si=Nh4SUqgRtq2S-ZrQ

    Bharatnatyam on Ice:

    https://www.facebook.com/thebetterindia/videos/2879877888944953/?rdid=TZ6lsbLjUvDlB3Fn

    Meryl and Charlie Bollywood OD 2010

    https://youtu.be/Pn37SMb_5NM?si=4VaNIB2TsuvT4baW

    Tara Prasad

    https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2cQ4QjTNEAw

    Kat Arbour, Ice Dynamics off-ice training

    https://icedynamics.app/

    Helmet Safety

    https://youtube.com/shorts/DFwCupGDqtQ?si=SQUNu4LUFmu4cpUz

    Early specialization and talent development in figure skating: Elite coaches’ perspectives https://ciss-journal.org/article/view/8744/13311

    Health Consequences of Youth Sport Specialization https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6805065/
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    1 ora e 13 min
  • Jimmy Morgan

    Jimmy Morgan
    Dec 8 2025

    Jimmy Morgan is a coach and choreographer and the co-Vice President of American Ice Theatre. Previously, he competed at the national level in pairs with his partner Alex Shaughnessy. Jimmy is an advocate for LGBTQ + inclusion in sports, and through both his work on the ice and his social media presence, he encourages people to engage with figure skating and art in general as a way to learn more about yourself and engage with new ideas. Jimmy is also one of my pairs coaches! We a really fun conversation about queerness in skating, the growing field of showcase competitions and philosophical topics like how to judge art, the inherent unfairness of sport, and why skating appeals to the casual viewer.

    Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1C... Support on Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/futureoffigureskating

    You can follow Jimmy on Instagram @ hashtagjimmy. You can reach me with comments or suggestions for people I should talk to by email at fsfuturepodcast @ gmail.com or instagram @ futurefspodcast.

    Jimmy Morgan, Ryan Dunk “Modern Dreams” “ • "Modern Dream" - Figure Skating Choreograp...

    Jimmy Morgan “I Hate Figure Skating” • "I HATE SKATING" - Figure Skating Choreogr... • Ballet sur glace Villard-de-lans élite 202... • "Mother Nature" Koko Hirano practices her ... • Trans People Don't Make Sports Unfair - Sp... • How I'd Make Figure Skating Popular Again ...

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    1 ora e 25 min
  • Trans Inclusion w/ Grace McKenzie

    Trans Inclusion w/ Grace McKenzie
    Nov 13 2025

    With transgender inclusion in sports being the target of intense political attacks, I was grateful to speak with an athlete who has been a leading voice for inclusive sport. Grace McKenzie (she/her) is a transgender woman and lifelong athlete who found an inclusive and welcoming support network within the U.S, women's rugby community, which she describes as the most transformative experience of her transition journey. She was recruited to her first team in 2019, and played for 7 years across the United States for highly competitive clubs including the Berkeley All Blues and the New York Rugby Club.

    When World Rugby announced its plans to ban trans women internationally from the sport in 2020, Grace took action by organizing a global movement in opposition. She started a petition that accumulated over 25,000 signatures, and has engaged hundreds of clubs and dozens of professional athletes around the world through Rugby for All an organization that she helped co-found, and as an Advisory Council member of the Sport & Rights Alliance Since then, Grace has shared her story and advocacy at numerous forums around the world including the United Nations, prior to her retirement from the sport in early 2025.

    YouTube: https://youtu.be/lgtcGR0bd6U

    Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H_ky1ylon2lSY15Yn71MNgvCV-ln_gVErIEwmYsT1LM/edit?tab=t.0

    You can follow Grace on Instagram @withgracetoo

    Rugby for All https://www.instagram.com/rugbyforall.co/

    Sports & Rights Alliance https://www.instagram.com/sportandrightsalliance/

    You can learn more about resources for transgender figure skaters and their allies at skatingpartner.com

    You can reach me with comments or suggestions for topics and people I should talk to, by email at fsfuturepodcast@gmail.com or Instagram @futurefspodcast

    If you appreciate the podcast, you can also support my work with a one-time or ongoing donation on Ko-Fi, www.ko-fi.com/futureoffigureskating

    Links:

    Grace powerfully represented trans women in the debate at the Play the Game conference, which you can watch here: https://www.playthegame.org/conferences/play-the-game-2025/live-streaming/

    New USFS “Category Policy” (October 2025)

    https://usfigureskating.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=a74f8ee4ba91875df45aa1592&id=cca7538f2a&e=412852edf6
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    58 min
  • S1E21 - Rob Koehler

    S1E21 - Rob Koehler
    Aug 7 2023
    Episode Notes What would it take to increase the power of figure skaters so they can influence the decisions that govern their sport? Where else in the Olympic movement is progress being made? What can we learn from sports where players’ unions and collective bargaining are common? To answer some of these questions, I turned to Rob Koehler, the Director General of Global Athlete, an organization that helps athletes to organize and speak out on the issues they care about. Rob was previously the Deputy Director General of the World Anti-Doping Agency, the most senior of many positions he held at WADA between 2002 and 2018. He was also vice-chair of the WADA Independent Observer team at the Sochi Olympics. Rob is based in Montreal, Canada. I hope this episode gives you a taste of what is possible when athletes organize and use their voices to push for fairer sport! Transcript is available here. You can follow Rob on Twitter at @RobKoehler2 and Global Athlete @GlobalAthlete. You can reach me with comments or suggestions for topics and people I should talk to, by email at fsfuturepodcast@gmail.com or on Instagram and Twitter @futurefspodcast If you appreciate the podcast, you can also support my work with the Tip Jar at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co Remember to subscribe and review The Future of Figure Skating podcast on whatever platform you use, and share it with your friends! Resources Olympic Commercialization and Player Compensation: A Review of Olympic Financial Reports. Report by The Ted Rogers School of Management in partnership with Global Athlete - April 2020 https://www.globalathlete.org/research-and-surveys/olympic-commericalization R2O: Effective Athlete Representation in Global Sport 2023. Survey by the World Players Association June 2023. https://uniglobalunion.org/report/r2o-effective-athlete-representation-in-global-sport-2023/ Athletes Germany https://athleten-deutschland.org/en/english/ Rule 40: Do athletes control their image during the Olympics https://athelogroup.com/blog/rule-40-and-the-olympics/ Rule 50: Athlete expression and protest https://olympics.com/athlete365/athlete-expression-rule-50/ Open Letter to the IOC: https://www.globalathlete.org/our-word/open-letter-ioc-russia-belarus-june-2023 Open Letter Call for Skate Canada and the Government of Canada to Address Abuse in Figure Skating https://www.globalathlete.org/our-word/open-letter-call-for-skate-canada-and-the-government-of-canada-to-address-abuse-in-figure-skating Canadian Parliament Standing Committee on the Status of Women report, Time to Listen to Survivors: Taking Action Towards Creating a Safe Sport Environment for All Athletes in Canada, Recommends the “Government of Canada establish an independent national public inquiry into maltreatment in sports in Canada”. Athletics Association https://athleticsassociation.org/ THE ATHLETICS ASSOCIATION WELCOMES RETURN TO 32 EVENTS IN NEW DIAMOND LEAGUE FORMAT https://athleticsassociation.org/updates/the-athletics-association-welcomes-greater-inclusivity-in-new-diamond-league-format International Swimmers Alliance https://www.internationalswimmersalliance.org/ Aspen Institute, Project Play “Children’s Rights in Sport” https://projectplay.org/childrens-rights-and-sports Sharon Stoll, “What Kind of Character do Athletes Possess” https://thesportjournal.org/article/what-type-of-character-do-athletes-possess/ Evan Bates speaks out https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2023/06/23/olympic-skaters-still-missing-medals-500-days-later/70349368007/ ISU Athletes Commission https://www.isu.org/inside-isu/about/athletes-commission ISU Statement on support for Ukrainian skaters and Russian/Belarussian Participation, June 2023 https://www.isu.org/isu-news/news/145-news/14614-isu-statement-ioc-recommendations-of-march-28-2023?templateParam=15 Support The Future of Figure Skating by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/futureoffigureskating Find out more at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.
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    58 min
  • S1E20 - Cathy Reed

    S1E20 - Cathy Reed
    Jul 24 2023
    Episode Notes

    Today's guest is Cathy Reed. Cathy and her late brother Chris were seven-time Japanese national champions in ice dance and two-time Olympians. Since her retirement in 2015, Cathy has become a coach and choreographer and has worked with many top Japanese singles, pairs, and ice dance teams. I was so excited to talk with her about her career and about the development of dance and pairs disciplines in Japan! I hope this will be the first of many episodes looking at skating from a perspective outside of North America and Western Europe. As always, if you have ideas for people I should talk to, please reach out!

    You can reach me with comments or suggestions for topics and people I should talk to, by email at fsfuturepodcast@gmail.com or on Instagram and Twitter @futurefspodcast

    You can follow Cathy on Instagram @cmr2070 and the Kinoshita Academy at @kinoshita_skate_academy

    The Future of Figure Skating is also co-hosting a summer book club in collaboration with Anything GOE. We are reading Little Girls in Pretty Boxes by Joan Ryan, and you can join the discussion on the Anything GOE Discord by signing up at http://patreon.com/anythinggoe

    If you appreciate the podcast, you can also support my work with the Tip Jar at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co

    Remember to subscribe to The Future of Figure Skating podcast on whatever platform you use, and share it with your friends!

    Resources: Episode Transcript

    Cathy Reed/Chris Reed, Japanese Folk Dance Original Dance (WC 2010) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8BxfUvcPrE

    Murakami/Moriguchi Beatles Medley choreo Cathy Reed (Junior Worlds 2023) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc28G1pTHGI

    Support The Future of Figure Skating by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/futureoffigureskating

    Find out more at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co

    This podcast is powered by Pinecast.
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    50 min
  • S1E18 - Ryan Stevens

    S1E18 - Ryan Stevens
    Jun 26 2023
    Episode Notes

    Today’s guest is Ryan Stevens. Ryan is the author of three reference books about figure skating history and the fantastic resource that is the Skate Guard blog. A former figure skater and judge from Halifax, Nova Scotia, he also writes for “Skating” magazine and US Figure Skating. I’ve appreciated Ryan’s interest in all corners of skating history, especially the figures who have been forgotten by mainstream history. This conversation gave us a chance to talk about why things are the way they are, the processes of change, and our hopes for the future of the sport!

    A full transcript is available here

    You can follow Ryan on Twitter and Instagram @SkateGuardBlog and at https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/ where you can also pre-order his upcoming biography of Jackson Haines.

    You can reach me with comments or suggestions for topics and people I should talk to, by email at fsfuturepodcast@gmail.com or on Instagram and Twitter @futurefspodcast

    If you appreciate the podcast, you can also support my work with the Tip Jar at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co

    Remember to subscribe to The Future of Figure Skating podcast on whatever platform you use, and share it with your friends!

    Resources: https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/ Ryan’s books are Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps, The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating, and Figure Skating: A Bibliography You can buy them on Amazon! Madge Syers: The Mother of Figure Skating https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/2013/06/spotlight-on-madge-syers-mother-of.html Fancy Dan’s and Figure Eights https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/2016/06/fancy-dans-and-figure-eights-skatings.html Example of a “well-balanced program” from the 1970s including intentional single, double and triple jumps - Toller Cranston 1972 World Championship FS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQnf6kOtbFQ Atoy Wilson (Ice Theatre of NY profile) https://www.icetheatre.org/atoy-wilson-blm.html Axels at the Apollo: The Joseph Vanterpool Story https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/2021/03/axels-at-apollo-theater-joseph.html The Almanac of Professional Figure Skating Competitions https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-almanac-of-professional-figure.html One Night Only: Professional And Pro-Am Competitions That Didn't Stick Around https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/2020/06/one-night-only-professional-and-pro-am.html Isabela Butler: Figure Skating’s Best-Kept Secret https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/2016/03/isabella-butler-figure-skatings-best.html Jackson Haines: The Skating King (Ryan’s new book) https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/2015/08/jackson-haines-definitive-biography.html A History of Doping in Figure Skating https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/2022/02/a-history-of-doping-in-figure-skating.html

    Support The Future of Figure Skating by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/futureoffigureskating

    Find out more at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co

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    53 min
  • S1E17 - Megan Williams-Stewart

    S1E17 - Megan Williams-Stewart
    Jun 12 2023
    Episode Notes

    Today's guest today is Megan Williams-Stewart. Megan is a board member of the Diversify Ice Foundation, and is a strong advocate for inclusion and support for other skaters of color. Since its founding in 2017 Diversify Ice has provided sponsorship award packages worth over $30,000 to competitive minority skaters, worked with underrepresented schools to introduce the sport to more Black and Brown kids, provided performance opportunities to minority skaters, and supported skaters of color all across America with financial support, mentorship, networks, and opportunities.

    As a board member and volunteer, Megan is a part of all that work and a fascinating person in her own right. A former competitor for Team USA, she was the 2006 Ondrej Nepela champion, and 2007 Nebelhorn silver medalist. Since retiring in 2009, Megan has worked as a coach and recently announced she’ll join the new Johnny Weir Skating Academy in the fall. We talk about all of that and more in today’s episode!

    Transcript

    I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Megan Williams-Stewart. You can look at the show notes for links to a transcript and to many of the things we discussed. You can follow Megan on Instagram @meganaws and Diversify Ice @diversify_ice

    You can reach me with comments or suggestions for topics and people I should talk to, by email at fsfuturepodcast@gmail.com or on Instagram and Twitter @futurefspodcast

    If you appreciate the podcast, you can also support my work with the Tip Jar at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co

    Remember to subscribe to The Future of Figure Skating podcast on whatever platform you use, and share it with your friends!

    Resources: https://diversifyice.org/ US Figure Skating Mabel Fairbanks Skatingly Yours Award (2023 Announcement) Article about Megan at US Figure Skating: Johnny Weir Skating Academy announcement

    Support The Future of Figure Skating by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/futureoffigureskating

    Find out more at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co

    This podcast is powered by Pinecast.
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    47 min
  • S1E16 - Garrett Kling

    S1E16 - Garrett Kling
    May 29 2023
    Episode Notes

    This episode dives into the world of contemporary figure skating outside of the competitive realm. My guest is Garrett Kling, a professional figure skater, choreographer, yoga instructor, and multimedia artist based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. With Kate McSwain, he is the Co-Executive Director of American Ice Theatre. In 2017, Garrett received the Ground Breaker Award at the U.S. Open Professional Figure Skating Championships. He has performed and toured around the world, and is currently performing with Le Patin Libre in their new production “Murmuration”.

    You can follow Garrett on Instagram @garrettkling and American Ice Theatre @americanicetheatre You can reach me with comments or suggestions for topics and people I should talk to, by email at fsfuturepodcast@gmail.com or on Instagram and Twitter @futurefspodcast Remember to subscribe to The Future of Figure Skating podcast on whatever platform you use, and share it with your friends!

    Resources: American Ice Theatre website American Ice Theatre - American Contemporary Skating Festival Trailer Garrett’s 2017 US Open performance, co-choreographed with Marciano Silvo dos Santos Satoko Miyahara talks working with dancer Kenta Kojiri Stabat Matar program YouTube Playlist for 2023 Young Artists Showcase Contemporary Skating Alliance Blind Landing Podcast, Season 2 Figure Skating Diversity and Inclusion Alliance Garrett Kling website

    Support The Future of Figure Skating by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/futureoffigureskating

    Find out more at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co

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    1 ora e 3 min