Are You Game?

Sure, “The Examined Athlete,” a podcast developed and hosted by Clay Reichenbach ’06, puts an emphasis on sport. It’s in the name. But get beyond the introductions and anecdotes and listeners will soon learn that the interviews swiftly jump beyond athletics.

“I am working to develop a cadence where I can have fun conversations about World Series, Super Bowls and first-round draft picks while also peppering in more consequential conversations,” Reichenbach says. “One of the things that I try to get people to understand very quickly is ‘The Examined Athlete’ is not a podcast about sports or athletes. It’s a podcast about life and human beings.”

Now in its second season with more than 26 episodes and counting, the podcast has covered courage with NFL linebackers, what it’s like raising two young girls with distinguished psychologists and everything in between. The brainchild of Reichenbach — who earned a bachelor’s degree in management from Rice and experienced his own athletic successes while playing third base for the Owls from 2004 to 2005 — the podcast was born out of his own “human” moment. After years of success in the real estate world, Reichenbach was given the opportunity to lead a logistics company in 2017. But by 2020, as the market changed, he was forced to liquidate the company.

“I tell people for about 37 years I kicked life in the ass,” he jokes. “It was the first time in my life where I set plans and they didn’t work out.”

As he struggled to find a new path, Reichenbach began picking the brains of all types of individuals across industries in ways he never had before. “It was an incredibly humbling and humanizing time for me,” he says. “This idea started to take shape of, ‘can I humanize other high-level performers?’ The idea of conversations that were bigger than touchdowns, bigger than home runs, bigger than companies or IPOs started to materialize.”

One of the things that I envision is that someday this will extend into difficult and challenging spaces where honest conversation is desperately needed. I think the world needs as much of that as possible.”

By June 2021, after a crash course in audio recording, Reichenbach officially launched the podcast. From connections made through Rice and his own sports career, he’s since been able to land guests like MLB star Lance Berkman ’98, celebrated Houston Ballet principal dancer Melody Mennite, gold medal high jumper Charles Austin, and NFL linebackers David Vobora and Jeff Tarpinian, whose big names have drawn in listeners.

But Reichenbach says that interviews with the likes of Purple Heart recipients or scientists studying resilience often leave some of the biggest impacts with even bolder messages — requiring Reichenbach himself to look inward, too. “I’ve learned the power of sharing honestly and being less protective of my narrative,” he says. In the new season, released in February, Reichenbach hopes to build upon those lessons.

“One of the things that I envision is that someday this will extend into difficult and challenging spaces where honest conversation is desperately needed,” Reichenbach says, adding, “I think the world needs as much of that as possible.”  — Laura Furr Mericas