The Rich History Behind Pamela Anderson’s Tender Performance in The Last Showgirl

This story was originally published when The Last Showgirl premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. It is being republished as the movie gets released nationwide on Jan. 10.

After the world premiere of her new movie The Last Showgirl, at the Toronto International Film Festival, Pamela Anderson was asked during an on-stage question and answer session how she prepared to play Shelley, a Vegas showgirl whose long-running gig is coming to a close. “I think I’ve been getting ready my whole life for this role,” Anderson said, wearing a black suit, which she complemented with sunglasses (though she eventually ditched those).

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She also acknowledged how rare this opportunity is for her. ”It’s the first time I ever read a good script, first of all,” she said to laughs. Other material, she joked, hasn’t been quite so “coherent.” 

Indeed, The Last Showgirl, directed by Gia Coppola, marks Anderson’s most substantial work in film to date, one for which she is receiving strong reviews. The BBC called the 57-year-old actor a “revelation.”  The film arrives at a moment of cultural reassessment of the former Baywatch star’s career, which had more frequently than not been used as a punchline or a tabloid headline. While Anderson’s Shelley is a new creation, the sense of history the audience brings to the actor playing her, whose rise to fame was inextricably linked to her physical appearance, is relevant to the story. Shelley demands that her passion for performing in the Vegas revue, nudity and all, be taken seriously—just as Anderson has long advocated for herself. 

Arguably Anderson’s biggest film prior to this moment was the 1996 thriller Barb Wire, which ultimately became yet another punchline in the saga of her career. At the time she was in the middle of her high-profile marriage to rocker Tommy Lee, and she miscarried during production. Roger Ebert, reviewing the movie, wrote that: “Pamela Anderson Lee, while not a great actress, is a good sport.” Later, Anderson would say, “I don’t even know what that movie is about. I have no idea.” 

The past couple of years have offered a chance for the public to reconsider Anderson and the media’s treatment of her. First came the 2022 Hulu miniseries Pam & Tommy, which explored the fallout of Anderson and Lee’s infamous sex tape and featured Lily James in the role of Pam. While the show was sympathetic toward Anderson, she herself did not approve of it and in an interview called it “salt on the wound.”

The following year Anderson told her own story in the Netflix documentary Pamela, a love story, directed by Ryan White. There, she frankly talked about her life, including her experiences with sexual abuse, and shared diary entries. The film also documented her rehearsals to play Roxie Hart in Chicago on Broadway during an eight-week run in 2022. The Guardian assessed her performance with: “Anderson may not demonstrate great talent for singing (her voice is feathery and soft, at times difficult to hear even in the orchestra) or dancing (good enough), but she has what she needs: an unserious self-awareness and an excellent grasp on winking camp.” 

The Last Showgirl, however, is not camp. Instead, it’s a tender look at the corners of Vegas many might write off as crass or cheesy. The screenplay from Kate Gersten was inspired by her time observing the showgirls of Jubilee!, the “last standing tits and feathers show, as they call them,” as she described it during the Q&A. Gersten had a job writing patter for the show that would be taking over some of Jubilee‘s performances.

From there Gersten imagined Shelley, a woman who has been with the production Le Razzle Dazzle for upwards of 30 years, prancing onstage nightly in wings and rhinestones. Shelley loves her job, acting as a den mother to some of the younger dancers (including Kiernan Shipka and Brenda Strong). But Shelley is also stuck in the past and holds onto the idea of what Le Razzle Dazzle once was: a phenomenon where the showgirls were celebrated and flown around the world. Now, it’s closing to be replaced by a “dirty circus,” and, in the last weeks of its run, Shelley finds herself adrift. 

Anderson plays Shelley with a consummate sweetness that sometimes registers as naivete. Le Razzle Dazzle has been Shelley’s life for so long that she doesn’t understand how others perceive it—including her estranged daughter (Billie Lourd), who is on the verge of graduating from college. However, Shelley is not a tragic figure. During one key scene she tells off a dismissive casting director, telling him, “I’m 57 and I’m beautiful you son of a bitch.” The TIFF audience applauded. 

During the Q&A following the film, the rest of the cast was visibly emotional for Anderson. Jamie Lee Curtis, who plays Shelley’s spray-tanned cocktail-waitressing friend, was crying as she addressed her co-star. “I can’t,” she said. 

Lourd, the daughter of the late actor Carrie Fisher and granddaughter of Golden Age of Hollywood star Debbie Reynolds, explained that playing Shelley’s child was “cathartic” for her. 

“It felt like Shelley was my grandma and I got to be my mom and I got to understand my mom on a deeper level than I ever had, and it was a beautiful experience,” she said. “And to get to do that with Pamela was an absolute gift. She is a wonderful mother in real life and a wonderful mother to me on this film.” 

Parenthood is a key part of the journey that Anderson speaks about in Pamela, a love story—including describing her miscarriage during Barb Wire—making The Last Showgirl another full-circle moment for her. That’s just another way in which the film allows Anderson, who is the mother to adult sons Brandon and Dylan Lee, to reveal contours of herself that might have been otherwise dismissed.

On stage, Anderson remarked how reading the script she thought, “I’m the only one who can do this.” Watching it, you believe her.

source https://time.com/7018820/the-last-showgirl-pamela-anderson/

The True Story Behind Netflix’s Gripping Swedish Crime Drama The Breakthrough

Netflix’s The Breakthrough is a gripping Swedish miniseries that brings to life one of Europe’s most perplexing and haunting criminal cases of this century: a 2004 double murder in the country’s southern city of Linköping. The four-part drama not only explores the devastating crime but also the groundbreaking technique that led investigators to solve it after 16 years. Directed by Lisa Siwe (The Bridge) and written by Oskar Söderlund (Snabba Cash), the series blends true crime with human drama, focusing on the resilience of the victims’ families and the investigators who refused to give up.

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Since premiering earlier this week, the show has secured a spot on Netflix’s daily top 10 most watched series. Let’s dive into the real story behind The Breakthrough and how it transformed a cold case into a historic moment in forensic science.

Read more: 33 True Crime Documentaries That Shaped the Genre

A shocking crime that stunned Sweden

On the morning of Oct. 19, 2004, the small city of Linköping was shaken by an unthinkable act of violence. Eight-year-old Mohammed Ammouri was walking to school when he was brutally attacked and stabbed by a masked assailant. Anna-Lena Svensson, a 56-year-old woman who happened to witness the attack, tried to intervene but was also fatally stabbed.

The murders were shocking not only for their brutality but also for their randomness. There appeared to be no connection between the victims or any clear motive for the crime. Despite an intensive investigation, which included securing DNA evidence from the crime scene and the perpetrator’s discarded hat, the police were unable to identify the killer.

The case soon became known as one of Sweden’s most notorious cold cases, leaving the city of Linköping and the victims’ families desperate for answers.

A case that refused to be forgotten

For over a decade, the Linköping murders haunted Swedish law enforcement. Investigators meticulously reviewed the evidence and pursued countless leads, but every effort ended in frustration. The DNA evidence, while a crucial piece of the puzzle, yielded no matches in national or international databases.

The families of Ammouri and Svensson were left to grieve without closure. Public interest in the case waned, and it seemed the murders might never be solved. However, a breakthrough was on the horizon—one that would revolutionize criminal investigations in Europe.

Read more: The Best Shows to Watch on Netflix

The role of forensic genealogy

In 2020, forensic genealogy, a relatively new investigative technique, became the key to solving the case. This method, which had already gained prominence in the United States, uses DNA samples to trace a suspect’s family tree through publicly available genealogical databases.

The turning point in the Linköping case came when genealogist Peter Sjölund joined the investigation. By analyzing the DNA evidence, Sjölund traced the killer’s ancestry back over 200 years, constructing an intricate family tree that eventually led to the suspect: Daniel Nyqvist.

Nyqvist, 37 years old at the time, making him in his early 20s when the crime occurred, was arrested in June 2020. His DNA matched the evidence from the crime scene, and he quickly confessed to the murders. In court, Nyqvist claimed he had acted under the influence of voices in his head, describing the attacks as unprovoked. He was found guilty and sentenced to indefinite psychiatric care.

This marked the first time in European history that forensic genealogy was used to solve a murder case, setting a precedent for future investigations.

How The Breakthrough dramatizes the case

The Breakthrough is a dramatized retelling of the events surrounding the Linköping murders. Directed by Lisa Siwe, the series balances the procedural intensity of a crime thriller with a deep exploration of human tragedy.

The narrative unfolds in two timelines: the immediate aftermath of the murders in 2004 and the renewed investigation in 2020. Peter Eggers portrays John, based on the determined detective Jan Egon Staaf who refused to let the case go cold, while Mattias Nordkvist plays Per, a character inspired by genealogist Peter Sjölund. The series also introduces fictionalized versions of the victims and their families, adding emotional depth to the story.

Siwe emphasized the show’s focus on the human aspects of the tragedy during an interview with Netflix. “Though this is a fictional drama series about a crime, it is, above all, a depiction of a human tragedy—where we place our focus on the victims and the investigation rather than the perpetrator.”

The series takes some creative liberties, including changing the names of the victims and the genealogist, but it stays true to the core events of the case.

Why The Breakthrough stands out in the true crime genre

Unlike many true crime productions that focus heavily on the perpetrators, The Breakthrough shifts the spotlight to the victims and the investigators. It delves into the personal toll of the case on those involved and highlights the power of persistence and innovation in seeking justice.

The series also explores the ethical implications of forensic genealogy. While the technique proved invaluable in solving the Linköping murders and marked a turning point in European law enforcement, its use raises questions about privacy and the potential for misuse. These themes make The Breakthrough not just a gripping crime drama but also a thought-provoking look at the future of criminal investigations.

As genealogist Peter Sjölund’s groundbreaking work proved, even the most challenging mysteries can, with a little luck, be solved with dogged determination and a willingness to think outside the box.

source https://time.com/7205773/the-breakthrough-true-story-netflix/

What We Know About the Suspected Arson Arrest Made Near the Kenneth Fire in L.A.

A man was arrested on suspicion of arson on Thursday afternoon in the Woodland Hills near the Kenneth Fire, which had started earlier in the afternoon.

On X (formerly Twitter), the Los Angeles Police Department’s official Public Information Officer account announced: “At 4:32 p.m., a radio call was generated on the 21700 block of Ybarra Road for a possible arson suspect. A male was heard stating a suspect was ‘attempting to light a fire.’ The suspect is in custody and was transported to Topanga Station.”

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Ybarra Road is located in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, near the west San Fernando Valley, where the Kenneth Fire continues to blaze. 

According to local news station KTLA, citizens in the area held down the suspect until the police arrived.

“What we know right now is that the incident occurred here and about 20 to 30 minutes later, a suspect was detained by citizens,” Sean Dinse of the LAPD’s Topanga Division is quoted as telling KTLA.

In a social media update post, the LAPD PIO stated that they could not confirm that the arsonist is in connection with the Kenneth Fire.

The LAPD had no further updates to share when contacted by TIME.

In a news conference on Thursday evening, Los Angeles Fire chief Kristin Crowley stated that the Kenneth Fire “shows we are absolutely not out of this extreme weather event.”

The blazes that are ravaging Los Angeles County have killed at least 10 people, according to a Jan. 9 update from the Los Angeles County’s Medical examiner, with officials warning that the actual toll won’t be clear until it’s safe for investigators to access damaged areas.

The Kenneth Fire grew rapidly to 1,000 acres within hours. As of 6 a.m. on Jan. 10, the blaze is at 960 acres, with 35% contained. Evacuation warnings are currently in place for Vanowen south to Burbank Boulevard and County Lane road east to E. Valley Circle Boulevard, though mandatory evacuation orders have been lifted.

But, things may change fast as the “challenging terrain and persistent winds complicate suppression activity,” according to Cal Fire. Citizens are advised to stay vigilant.

source https://time.com/7206065/suspected-arson-arrest-made-near-kenneth-fire-los-angeles/

A Norovirus Vaccine May Be Coming

Norovirus is surging across the U.S., with case numbers higher now than they’ve been at the same time in more than a decade, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

There is no antiviral treatment for the miserable but thankfully short-lived illness, and no vaccine—yet. But scientists at Moderna are in the late stages of testing what could be the first such shot, using mRNA technology against the virus. Here’s what to know about norovirus and where things stand with the development of a stomach-bug vaccine.

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Why norovirus is raging right now

“Commonly known as the stomach flu, norovirus has been around forever, and has become the leading cause of gastroenteritis or inflammation of the intestinal tract that causes vomiting and diarrhea,” says Dr. Edmund Milder, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Rady Children’s Hospital and UC San Diego Health.

There are nearly 50 different subtypes, or genotypes, of norovirus, with different ones circulating in different years. For the last decade or so, one version of the virus, called GII.4, has been responsible for most infections around the world. That changed last year when GII.17 became the dominant strain. That could partially explain the current uptick in cases, since most people who have been exposed to other types of norovirus would not have as strong immunity to this version, making them more vulnerable to disease.

Norovirus symptoms

For most people, the infection causes intestinal symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration. Unpleasant as they are, these symptoms don’t typically require medical care or hospitalization, and they tend to last just a few days. But older people and infants often experience worse disease, and each year in the U.S. about 100,000 people are hospitalized and nearly 1,000 people—mostly the elderly and the very young—die from the infection, mainly due to dehydration after not being able to keep down food and water, according to the CDC.

Is norovirus like other viruses?

No—for many reasons. First, it doesn’t take much of the virus to make someone sick. For most viruses, people would need to be infected with thousands of virus particles in order to feel ill, but it only takes as few as 10 to launch the intestinal symptoms typical of norovirus infection.

To make matters worse, the virus is encased in a particularly hardy cover that allows it to survive for days on surfaces like countertops and doorknobs. Hand sanitizer isn’t effective in killing norovirus—you’ll need to wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap and water to remove as much virus as possible—and the it also can’t be destroyed with high heat or cold temperatures. The most effective way to kill the virus on contaminated surfaces is by using a diluted solution of bleach and water, and allowing it to sit on a surface for at least five minutes before wiping.

Why isn’t there a norovirus shot yet?

The nearly 50 different versions of the virus mean that “each genotype requires a different immune response to provide protection,” says Dr. Doran Fink, therapeutic head of gastrointestinal pathogens and bacterial vaccines at Moderna. So any vaccine would have to be an educated guess as to which strains are likely to circulate in a given year—similar to the strategy behind updating the flu vaccine each season.

How close are we to having a norovirus vaccine?

Moderna is currently enrolling 25,000 people around the world in a phase 3 trial of the shot, after earlier testing showed encouraging results. In those studies, people vaccinated with the mRNA shot generated antibodies that in lab tests effectively blocked the norovirus protein in human gut cells; those given a placebo vaccine did not show the same antibody activity.

To improve the chances that the vaccine would be well-matched to circulating strains, Moderna’s vaccine candidate includes three different norovirus types. “It would be great if there were some conserved regions of the norovirus protein that could be targeted, but that’s not the case,” says Fink. Instead, their thinking goes, taking this multivalent approach should provide good protection against severe disease. It’s a strategy the company is also using on its multivalent mRNA flu vaccine. And the mRNA platform allows scientists to change and update viral targets more quickly, making it ideal for pivoting if viral strains change each season.

Targeting more than one viral protein has shown in the recent past to be effective: one of the mRNA COVID-19 shots was a bivalent vaccine that worked against two different strains of the virus.

Fink says Moderna expects to finish signing up volunteers in the spring, and plans to follow them for at least six months. But it may take longer to get a full report on how effective the vaccine is in the real world, since that would require having a certain number of people catch the virus to evaluate how they do. Testing the vaccine in different sites around the world should provide more data, however.

Would a vaccine stop me from getting norovirus?

Like the COVID-19 vaccine, the mRNA norovirus vaccine candidate is not designed to prevent people from getting infected. But it would theoretically help anyone immunized—especially the very young and elderly—from getting severely ill and being hospitalized.

How can I protect myself from norovirus?

Since there are no antiviral treatments or vaccines yet, the best way to avoid getting sick is by practicing good hygiene. Wash your hands often and avoid touching your face and mouth. If you do get sick, stay home to avoid infecting others, since you can still shed virus for anywhere from a few days to weeks after you feel better.

source https://time.com/7205731/norovirus-vaccine-mrna-moderna/

Your Questions About Wildfire Smoke and Health, Answered

Several fires continued to ravage the Los Angeles region on Thursday, killing at least five people and forcing thousands to flee their homes. Firefighters are still struggling to control the blazes, which have led to wildfire smoke that’s worsening the air quality in the region.

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Wildfire smoke can travel long distances and affect the air quality far beyond the immediate vicinity of the fire. In 2023, smoke from wildfires in Canada spread along the eastern coast of the U.S. and beyond, prompting officials to issue air quality warnings in places including New York, North Carolina, and Ohio.

TIME spoke to experts about the dangers of wildfire smoke and how LA-area residents can best protect themselves.

Read More: How to Help Victims of the Los Angeles Wildfires

How does wildfire smoke affect your lungs?

Wildfire smoke contains many pollutants, including tiny particles that can get into your lungs and even your bloodstream, says Sara Adar, a professor of epidemiology and global public health at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. 

Inhaling wildfire smoke can lead to symptoms like difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, and coughing, says Dr. MeiLan Han, a spokesperson for the American Lung Association and professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care at University of Michigan Medicine. Wildfire smoke can also lead to other symptoms, such as a burning or stinging sensation in your eyes and a scratchy throat.

Can you ‘flush’ smoke out of your body?

Your body is able to break down some of the harmful smoke particles, and you may cough some of it out, but Han says there’s no safe way to intentionally “flush” the smoke out of your body. Some of the particles may never get broken down.

Who is most at risk?

While anyone can feel the effects of wildfire smoke, there are certain groups of people who are most at risk, such as children, older people, people who are pregnant, and people with chronic health conditions, particularly cardiac or respiratory conditions. Breathing in wildfire smoke can trigger flare-ups for people with chronic lung conditions, could lead to asthma attacks, and could even increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes for vulnerable populations, Han says.

How long does it take to recover from wildfire smoke?

It can vary from person to person, depending on what, if any, pre-existing health conditions they may have. For many people who are healthy and don’t have underlying health conditions, the short-term effects of wildfire smoke will likely resolve once they’re no longer exposed to the smoke, Han says. But for people most at risk, the effects of wildfire smoke could last longer—for instance, smoke exposure could trigger a flare-up of a chronic respiratory condition and the inflammation in that person’s lungs could be worse, so symptoms could last for a week or longer.

How can you protect yourself?

The best way to protect yourself against wildfire smoke is to stay inside with your doors and windows shut as much as possible to reduce your exposure, Han says. Adar also recommends running an air purifier, if you have one.

If you have to go outside, wear an N95 or KN95 mask. If you’re driving, make sure your car is recirculating the air rather than bringing in air from outside, Han says. And if you have any pre-existing health conditions, make sure you have all your medications on hand in case you experience any kind of adverse reaction to the wildfire smoke.

Does the air quality improve after it rains?

Rain can help clear the air and improve air quality. Even when there isn’t an active wildfire, if an area is experiencing a drought, there can be more dust particles in the air that can contribute to increased air pollution and worsen air quality.

How long can you be outside when the air quality is unhealthy?

“It’s all kind of relative,” Han says. The effect of poor air quality varies from person to person, and depends on how bad the air quality is. But Han says: “If you’re going to be outside for a reasonable amount of time, I would consider wearing a mask.”

Adar says researchers have not found evidence that there’s ever a safe level of exposure to the particles found in wildfire smoke. Both Adar and Han recommend that people check the Air Quality Index in their area to get up-to-date information.

What are the long-term effects of wildfire smoke on your body?

Research suggests that repeated exposure to air pollution, including wildfire smoke, can increase the risk of developing chronic respiratory conditions, Han says. Some studies suggest that wildfire smoke can also affect brain health; Adar and her colleagues studied the link between long-term exposure to air pollution and dementia in older adults in the U.S., and found that wildfire smoke was one source of air pollution that can have particularly harmful effects on the brain.

Read More: Wildfire Smoke Is a ‘Public Health Threat’ That Can Have Lasting Impacts, Experts Say

“Because of climate change, and the fact that we’re starting to see [wildfires] more and more, it’s becoming a very active area of research,” Han says of the long-term impacts of wildfire smoke exposure. “We need to think hard about how we can obviously try to prevent the wildfires, but [also] think about how we can protect air quality better moving forward, generally speaking, because it is becoming an increasing health concern—not just a one-off event.”

source https://time.com/7205876/wildfire-smoke-health-lungs-danger-masks/

Breaking Down the Controversy Over LA Mayor Karen Bass and the Wildfires

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is facing criticism for being out of the country when the devastating wildfires began to ravage the city on Tuesday night, destroying thousands of homes and displacing residents.

Bass had been in Ghana, attending the inauguration of the country’s new president as part of the U.S. delegation, where she also met with the country’s first female vice president. She returned to Los Angeles late Wednesday afternoon as the fires intensified.

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Her absence amid the crisis raised questions about her leadership, placing her in the crosshairs of political critics who accuse her of neglecting her duties during a state of emergency. Among those leading the charge is tech billionaire and Donald Trump ally Elon Musk, who called Bass “utterly incompetent” and reposted posts that suggested she was a “DEI hire.” Rick Caruso, the billionaire developer and former Republican who narrowly lost to Democrat Bass in the 2022 mayoral race, also condemned her absence, claiming it contributed to a delayed response to the fires. “We have a mayor who seems to be more concerned about being at some party, wherever that is,” Caruso told the Los Angeles Times.

Read More: How to Help Victims of the Los Angeles Wildfires

Bass defended her response in a press conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday evening. She insisted that she remained in contact with fire commanders and key officials while abroad. “Although I wasn’t physically here, I was in touch with many of the individuals standing here throughout the entire time,” Bass said. She added that she had taken the “fastest route back,” including a combination of military and commercial flights, and emphasized her ongoing communication with officials “every hour” of her flights.

“This is going to be an effort of all of us coming together, and we have to resist any effort to pull us apart,” she said in response to the criticism.

The wildfires, which began on Tuesday night in the Palisades area and quickly spread to more than 17,200 acres, are the most destructive the city has ever seen. At least five people had died as of Thursday morning as a result of the wildfires, which were fueled by strong winds and dry conditions. More than 100,000 people were under mandatory evacuation orders.

Read More: How the LA Fires Are Impacting Hollywood

While the fires raged, questions also swirled around the city’s readiness for such an event. Some on social media, including the Los Angeles Times’ owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, accused Bass of cutting the fire department’s budget before the wildfires, but Politico reported Wednesday night that the city’s fire budget actually increased more than $50 million year-over-year compared to the last budget cycle as additional funding for the fire department was set aside in a separate fund during contract negotiations.

Bass, who was sworn in as mayor in December 2022 and is the first woman mayor of Los Angeles, has strong support within Democratic circles and has drawn the ire of conservatives. She served six terms as a Democrat in Congress and was a prominent figure during the 2020 presidential election, where she emerged as a contender for Vice President before Biden ultimately selected Kamala Harris. In 2024, she was invited to speak at the Democratic National Convention.

source https://time.com/7205815/karen-bass-los-angeles-wildfires-mayor-controversy/

The Cultural Impact of Notre Dame Football Goes Far Beyond the Playing Field

On Thursday, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish play the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl, which doubles as one of the college football playoff semifinals. The game marks the latest of Notre Dame’s many successes on the gridiron. In its 138-year history of playing football, the Catholic university has checked off every measure of success. It’s produced 109 All-Americans and seven Heisman trophy winners, while winning 45 bowl games and 11 national championships. A victory against Penn State would move the Irish one step closer to the 12th title that has eluded them since 1988. 

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So great has Notre Dame’s success been that other private Christian colleges have aimed to follow in its footsteps. Brigham Young University, Baylor University, and Liberty University have all taken steps to become the leading universities for their religious communities — and football is a big part of that endeavor. These schools recognized that Notre Dame’s football success helped to integrate American Catholics into the mainstream, and they believed that it could help strengthen their own faith communities and evangelize to non-believers.

At the turn of the 20th century, American Catholics, especially the immigrants flooding into the U.S., faced doubts about their religious and national identities and allegiances. Notre Dame football helped to assuage these concerns and change the public’s perception of American Catholicism. Competing in football meant embracing the same “gentleman’s game,” played by American elites at schools like Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. It meant conveying that Notre Dame would produce the sort of men who could win through violent competition — precisely what the Gilded Age business environment demanded.

And Notre Dame did more than just compete — especially after Knute Rockne arrived as head coach in 1918. He facilitated the school’s rise from regional program to national powerhouse by winning four national championships. He credited the faith of his football players for his conversion to Catholicism in 1925. By the time he died in a plane crash in 1931, Rockne was one of the most popular Catholics in America. A small German Catholic farming community in Texas even renamed itself “Rockne” after children attending a local Catholic school voted to memorialize the coach.

Read More: Football Power Was Always Part of the Plan for Liberty University

The popularity of Notre Dame football during the Rockne era helped forge the distinct identity of American Catholics and counter claims that they weren’t American. The Catholic faithful across the country could now participate in the American ritual of cheering for their football team on Saturday, while also attending the global ritual of Mass on Sunday. As a result, the Fighting Irish reflected and shaped American Catholics’ journey to assimilate into mainstream American culture.

Administrators at other private Christian schools took note. In 1919, BYU resurrected its football program 19 years after the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) had banned the game. Mormons, like Catholics, faced questions about their Americanism. They remained outside of mainstream Protestant American culture despite more than two decades of religious, cultural, and political transformations that edged them toward American cultural norms.

By the time Rockne experienced success at Notre Dame, Mormons were looking to make the final leap and squarely enter the mainstream. Church leaders and BYU administrators believed a successful big-time college football program would help them along the journey. Like Catholics at Notre Dame, the LDS Church hoped playing — and excelling at — America’s game would unite their religious community, prove their Americanness, and increase their interactions with non-Mormons.

Accordingly, in 1923, the school recruited Rockne to spend the summer as an adjunct instructor in order to host a football-coaching clinic. He taught the coaches his latest techniques and plays. The camp was a success. In 1928, the hiring of G. Ott Romney – the first cousin once removed of Mitt Romney – brought BYU its first taste of winning football. He led the Cougars to a tie in his inaugural “Holy War” rivalry game against the University of Utah, their first winning season in 1929, and an impressive 8-1 record in 1932.

BYU wasn’t the only Christian school influenced by Rockne’s Notre Dame teams. Yet, his impact on Baylor University, the world’s largest Baptist university, was quite different. In 1925, the famed coach invited the Bears, who had won the Southwest Conference the year before, to visit South Bend to open the college football season. Notre Dame was the defending national champion, with a team led by the famed “Four Horsemen,” making the stakes high, with regional and religious supremacy on the line.

In the run-up to the game, Baylor’s coach used Notre Dame as an example to beg his administration for more money. Yet, the repeated use of a derogatory term for Irishmen in the Baylor student newspaper left the defending champions looking to make a statement. Rockne’s team dominated Baylor on both sides of the ball. By the third quarter, Notre Dame’s backups were in the game, and the final score was 41-0. 

In his sermon the next day, the pastor at First Baptist Church in Waco used the game to reflect on Baylor’s place in American culture and urged his congregants to not lose faith in the team after the humiliating defeat to the large Catholic school. The pastor, and officials at Baylor, understood that giving up wasn’t an option. Football offered too many potential benefits for a religious institution.

Read More: How the Orange Bowl Made History

That was true even of Baylor, which didn’t need the sport to help Baptists enter mainstream America. Instead, the school was free to use football to shape the religious, gendered, and racial beliefs of players, students, and fans. The creation of the Baylorettes — a group of 80 female students, who joined the school’s band in halftime shows — in 1948 meant that football games helped shape the gendered expectations for women at the school. While men led the team on the field, women’s role in big-time Baptist college football was to titillate and entertain. Additionally, Baylor reinforced the segregationist Southern order by refraining from fielding a Black player on its team until 1965.

The school’s devotion to football only grew over time. By the time it won another Southwest Conference Championship in 1974, the school had inaugurated a new stadium and its administration consistently supported the football program financially.

Nevertheless, despite the emphasis BYU and Baylor placed on football, Notre Dame remained the pacesetter for the possibilities of football at a religious university. Its team continued to win and the injection of television exposure and dollars beginning in 1949 and growing from there expanded the school’s brand even more.

The televangelist Jerry Falwell took note of this success. In 1971, he founded Liberty University. The school’s motto promised “Here we Train Champions for Christ” and Falwell saw a successful big-time college football program like Notre Dame as an essential element of his vision. 

In 1989, Sports Illustrated interviewed him about Liberty football. Falwell boasted, “I know Lou Holtz [the head coach] at Notre Dame. He is a fine evangelical Christian, you know. I have an idea he’d schedule us when we were ready.” The next year, Notre Dame signed a $75 million (over $177 million today) exclusive TV contract with NBC to broadcast its football games. No conservative evangelical better understood the power of this television exposure and money than Falwell. As he toiled to save America from desegregation, feminism, drugs, rock and roll, homosexuality, and the Democratic Party, he consistently pointed to Notre Dame and BYU as his role models for creating a strong religious identity – and revenue steam – through football. He believed recruiting the best conservative Christian athletes to Liberty would help win football games, give conservative evangelicals “their” school, and revive America.

Liberty, therefore, poured millions of dollars into its football program. Falwell used his team to imbue students with a new strident, aggressive form of faith that reshaped religion and politics in 21st-century America: Christian Nationalism. But Liberty is still waiting for Notre Dame’s invitation to play in South Bend.

The 2024 college football season may prove to be the high point for Notre Dame’s big-time Christian college football disciples. BYU went 11-2 in its second season in the Big XII Conference and blew out Deion Sanders’s Colorado team in the Alamo Bowl. Baylor finished 8-5, though it lost to LSU in the Texas Bowl. Liberty failed to repeat their 2023 success — which included a Fiesta Bowl bid — but still won eight games earning a trip to the Bahamas Bowl.

While each big-time Christian college football team succeeded this season, Notre Dame continues to inspire and outperform its football followers. The long history of the Fighting Irish illustrates the way faith and football can aid assimilation, strengthen community, and evangelize non-believers. Ultimately, the distinctly American, masculine, and violent game continues to shape these religious communities through the gridiron gospel.

Hunter M. Hampton is an assistant professor of history at Stephen F. Austin State University. He is the author of The Gridiron Gospel: Faith and College Football in 20th-Century America, coming out with the University of Illinois Press in the fall.

Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians. Learn more about Made by History at TIME here. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors.

source https://time.com/7205461/notre-dame-football-christian-colleges/