What does a comedian know about baseball? And what can America's oldest baseball field tell us about the civil rights movement? Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama is America's oldest ballpark. It's older than Wrigley Field and Fenway park. But its history is full of contradictions. In its heyday, Rickwood was home to both the Birmingham Barons and the Birmingham Black Barons, one of the most talented teams in the Negro Leagues. The field hosted a women's suffrage event, but the stadium's owner also allowed a KKK rally to take place there. Comedian Roy Wood Jr. hosts a new podcast called Road to Rickwood from WWNO & WRKF, which takes a closer look at the field's history as a microcosm of the civil rights movement itself. Wood Jr. grew up in Birmingham playing baseball at Rickwood. In the podcast, he speaks to historians, civic leaders, major league baseball executives, former Negro Leaguers, and members of Alabama's first integrated sports team. For himself and those he interviewed, baseball was an oasis. It was also a space where racism shaped the lives of some of the nation's best baseball players. In today's episode of The Sunday Story, Wood Jr. sits down with host Ayesha Rascoe to talk baseball, Birmingham, and race in America. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

The commonly used abortion pill Mifepristone will stay on the market after the Supreme Court disqualified a case aimed at limiting access to the pill. Despite an ongoing court challenge, Telsa shareholders overwhelmingly vote to reinstate a massive pay package for CEO Elon Musk. And the White House announced a partnership with Microsoft and Google to help secure vulnerable healthcare systems in America. Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Catherine Laidlaw, Emily Kopp, Russell Lewis, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams, Christopher Thomas and Julie Depenbrock.Our technical director is Zac Coleman, with engineering support from Arthur Laurent. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy