Not by the Playbook

Australia's Emma McDonald is an acrobatic pilot for team "BeyondGravity", racing her plane at high speeds and low altitudes, weaving her way through a course set out in the sky competing in the AIR RACE X championship. Needing a remarkable mix of strength and agility, and a super focused mindset, those like Emma who succeed at this high octane sport are a rare breed. So how does anyone develop a career in acrobatic aviation? Emma has been revealing all the secrets
Dutchman Bob Van De Burgt loves windsurfing, but it's a demanding physical activity that needs more than a little help from mother nature. It's why races tend to be short, sharp and exciting. Bob excels in all of that, but what he really loves is endurance windsurfing. And it turns out he's pretty good at that too. A few weeks ago he took to a lake near his home in the Netherlands and didn't get off his board again for a full twenty four hours! In that time he broke all sorts of world records and raised money for charity along the way :
We send ten billion of them every day! Emoji's have become a very common way of communicating because sometimes words just aren't enough and an emoji can says it all! When elite climber Sasha DiGiulian told us on a previous show that the climbing emoji was based on her, we wanted to know a little bit more. Turns out we live in a world with an official "chief emoji officer" so we tracked them down. Welcome to the wonderful world of emojis with former "Chief Emoji Officer" Jeremy Burge. Smiley face emoji
To celebrate his 90th birthday this year, Shaul Ladany went out for a walk near his home close to the city of Beer Sheva in southern Israel . A pretty LONG walk. 5 kilometres in fact. Not bad for a man of his age, but nothing compared to his heyday as a long-distance race-walker who set world records that stand to this day! But, even more remarkably, he survived a childhood in the Belsen concentration camp and then the terrorist attack on the Israeli team at the Munich Olympics in 1972.
PHOTO: Matt Hall (top) and Emma McDonald of the Red Bull aerobatic team perform during the Australian International Airshow Aerospace and Defence Expo at Avalon Airport in Geelong on March 3, 2023. (CREDIT: Paul CROCK / AFP) (Photo by PAUL CROCK/AFP via Getty Images)

"The World Cup is not just a great global sporting event, it is also inscribed with much deeper cultural and political importance". So said academic Martin Jacques, and so to mark the World Cup final we bring you stories from the very top echelons to the most basic grass roots of the game and everything in between.
When Isha Johansen returned to Sierra Leone after the brutal civil war there she was determined to help heal and rebuild her country. Her tools, football. She set up her own team and started laying the foundations for a career in the governance of the game. Firstly by being elected president of the Sierra Leone Football Association and then, by election, on to the FIFA Council. But despite her success Isha was exposed to some of the very worst aspects of power and influence and what people are prepared to do for it. Isha has recently charted her life and pioneering career in a new book called “The Uncommon Enemy: A True Story of Football, Power and Betrayal”.
Gundeep Anand is a bundle of energy. A man with more than a decade of community engagement and working with young people, you might have thought he had been jaded by the drudgery of life. But he's the opposite and it's this verve and vibe he brings to his annual street soccer tournament, The Last Stand. A busy man (not least because he was organising the tournament) we spoke to Gundeep as he travelled to his next meeting in a cab in Central London, and there's even a cameo from David Beckham!
The American Outlaws are the largest soccer supporters group in the world. Nearly 20 years on from their founding we hear from Trevin Wurm, who runs the Lincoln, Nebraska branch about his highs and lows from the World Cup and what he expects the legacy to be for soccer in the USA
Pickles the dog became an unlikely hero before the 1966 World Cup when he found the stolen Jules Rimet trophy on his daily walk. Stardom beckoned as he was honoured with a medal and a role in a film, even becoming part of England's celebrations when they won the tournament.
(Photo: A general interior view of Dallas Stadium in Dallas, United States, on June 27, 2026, ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group J match between Jordan and Argentina. Credit: Ahmad Alameen/Getty Images)

It's nearly 20 years since Wimbledon decided to award equal prize money. The tennis world has come a long way since a group of women players known as "The Original 9" eventually forced the creation of a Women's tour. Billie Jean King was the most famous of the Original 9, but Julie Heldman was also one of the nine, and her mother, Gladys, also played a crucial role... I've been speaking to Julie about that and what life was like as a top female tennis player back in the later 1960's. But Julie's story is made all the more remarkable when you learn about what life was really like with Gladys Heldman as your mother behind closed doors... and I should warn you, I found much of what Julie had to say very hard to listen to.
 Before the original tournament was held in the States in 1994, there was no professional league, but the popularity of the world Cup spawned the MLS, one of its first stars was Paul Wright. A goal scoring machine Paul was a pioneer of the game and is still very much involved in his hometown of San Diego, from where he is nurturing the next generation of talent... In the US sports like basketball and American football have free school programmes, playing to a high standard without having to pay. Not so soccer, where you have to join a club in a "Pay to play" system and that can be expensive, anywhere up to $10,000 a year! In Europe that cost tends to be heavily subsidised by professional teams of national federations. It leaves American kids at the lower end of the socio-economic ladder unable to play the game... So, Paul decided to do something about that.
Tensions between the United Stated and Iran are not a new thing. Far from it, but could there be a place for football in the road to peace? The Iranian national football team left a note in its locker room at the Los Angeles Stadium after their game against Belgium earlier in the competition, thanking the people of Los Angeles for their hospitality during the World Cup. The note ended "We wish peace, respect, and friendship among all the nations of the world". Well, after the two countries met competitively at the 1998 World Cup in France, a couple of original thinkers organised a friendly match between the two nations. The US would host Iran before a proposed return fixture... This is the story of how that game at the Rose Bowl in California came to pass in the late 1990's
The remarkable story of tennis star Liesl Herbst who just after the second world war competed at Wimbledon with her daughter Dorli to play in the ladies' doubles. They remain the only mother and daughter who have competed together at Wimbledon. Felice Hardy, granddaughter of Liesl and daughter of Dorli, and author of "The Tennis Champion Who Escaped The Nazis", told their story to Not by the Playbook's Megan Jones.
PHOTO: Top female tennis players hold up their $1 bills which will make them contract pros and eligible to play for money instead of trophies in the Virginia Slims tournament at the Houston Racquet Club in defiance of the USLTA. The players are (standing, L-R) Valerie Ziegenfuss, Billie Jean King, Nancy Richey, Peaches Bartkowicz; (seated, L-R) Judy Tegart Dalton, Kerry Melville, Rosie Casals, manager Gladys Heldman, and Kristy Pigeon. The players breakaway from the tennis establishment eventually lead the way to the formation of the Women's Tennis Association. Not pictured: Julie Heldman. (CREDIT: Bela Ugrin/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

It's one of the most refined sporting venues in the world. Hydrangeas and petunias, complemented by climbing roses and foxgloves, A glorious display of purple white and green. Welcome to South East London and the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club club here in Wimbledon
We start with the remarkable story of Andrea Jaeger. Her career burned bright like the star she is, and in a flash it was over. Remarkably she turned pro aged just 14. By 16 she was ranked number two in the world, then she made the French Open final and the following year she did the same at Wimbledon. By 19 she had retired through injury. A bundle of energy and positive vibes Andrea joined us as she watched on from her home in Florida.
Within the vast complex of arenas and buildings that make up the All England Club, there's a spot that is unusually quiet, but not for long! The press conference centre, where after each match players are expected to open their souls to journalists and explain how the snatched victory from defeat, or maybe the other way round. Up there on stage behind the microphones can feel like a very lonely place, in fact being on tour can be a very isolating experience. In recent years there has been a trend amongst players, but bring their pet dogs on tour with them! But actually that first happened some time ago! More on that in a moment from our poochie pioneer, who was also a semi finalist here in 1991 beating Andre Agassi and Ivan Lendl on the way... American David Wheaton has been chatting to me from his home in Minnesota about how WImbledon helped him find a higher calling in life
Murray Mound, or Henman Hill as it was known actually has the official title of Aorangi Terrace and it's a beautiful spot to enjoy a drink, sit on the grass with friends and watch the action on the big screens mounted on the outside of centre court. It's the sort of place anyone could fall in love with tennis. Something Edward Schmit would approve of. He has just published his first novel "The Open Era" and according to the back cover "combines three things close to Edwards heart: queer love stories, mental health awareness, and the most beautiful sport in the world: tennis...
The Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum is full of interactive displays that tell the story of the championships from its inception in 1887. One corner of the museum is dedicated to the American tennis player Maureen Connolly. She was the first woman to win the tennis Grand Slam in 1953. That's all four major tournaments in the same year! Nicknamed “Little Mo” after a US warship, Connolly dominated her sport and became a global celebrity, but her career was cut short by injury and she died an early death.
PHOTO: An aerial view of Wimbledon's Centre and Number one courts and the grounds (CREDIT: Chris Gorma/Getty Images)

With around 15 tattoos across her arms neck and throat and a habit of wearing temporary tattoos on her face when playing, it's fair to say Oleksandra Oliynykova has a distinctive look. But she also has a fearsome will to win, and is knocking on the door of the top 50, in women's tennis. Born in Ukraine, when war broke out in 2014, she escaped to Croatia. It was there that her tennis career flourished. Now aged 25 she is back living and training in Ukraine, making her the only professional tennis player doing so. Oleksandra has been telling us she believes many more of her fellow players should be more vocal on the subject or the Ukraine war.
The Klitschko brothers Wladimir and Vitali, dominated the heavyweight boxing division during a period known simply as "the Klitschko era" When Vitali hung up his gloves in 2012 he entered another bruising profession - politics. In 2014, Vitali was elected the Mayor of Kiev, a position he has held ever since. He has become a symbol of resistance and explained the daily struggles the people of the city of Kiev face
Karate has only ever been an Olympic discipline once. Perhaps unsurprisingly in Tokyo at the Games a few years ago. So to win an Olympic medal in the sport is an extremely rare event. So imagine working your whole life to win that and then to give it away! Well that is exactly what Stanislav Horuna did. A Bronze medallist in the "Kumite" 75 kg category within weeks he had auctioned it off to raise for finances to help Ukraine's war effort. Spring forward to 2026 and much to Stan's surprise he has been given his medal back. He's been explaining how.
When Shakhtar Donetsk won the Uefa Cup in 2009, it was meant to be the start of a new chapter for independent Ukraine. However, when war broke out in 2014, the team's ambitions were put on hold. The club captain, Darijo Srna, has been explaining how he and his family coped in the aftermath
(Photo: Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine competes in the Billie Jean King Cup, 11 April, 2026. Credit: Marcin Golba/Getty Images)