In my Impromptus today, I begin with memories of Richard V. Allen, the conservative foreign-policy hand, who passed away earlier this month at 88. He was a Reaganaut. Indeed, he coined that word, “Reaganaut.” (He was proud of this and once told me that William Safire, who kept track of such things, credited him with the coinage of “Reaganaut.”) In my column, I go on to discuss Iran and China, very unpleasant subjects indeed, but gravely important ones. I also have a few items on sports.

Speaking of which: My latest podcast is a sportscast, with my regular gurus, David French and Vivek Dave. We cover the waterfront, or a decent stretch of it.

Take college football (please?). What have the transfer portal and NIL done? The NFL seems in a pretty good place. We discuss the miraculous Detroit Lions. (Over the years, they have been pretty much the worst franchise, and now they have one of the best teams.) Also, is Tom Brady making the grade in the booth, as a commentator? Is such a role sort of beneath Brady, given his legendary status? You don’t see Michael Jordan courtside, giving commentary, do you?

The NBA seems in a pretty good place – with stars such as Steph Curry and LeBron James continuing to provide thrills. Did you catch the USA basketball team in the Olympics last summer? Astounding.

Then there is tennis, which is seeing the departure of the Big Three, namely Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic. Seldom is there such a troika at the top of a sport.

David, Vivek, and I end our discussion with some comments on youth sports – specifically, travel sports, here in our country. David and Vivek think these sports are generally a bane – bad for our youth, bad for our culture. Too much emphasis on money and early specialization. (Remember when athletic kids played pretty much all sports, or at least one a season?) I think my gurus are right.

Anyway, that podcast/sportscast, again, is here.

Maybe we could have one letter – responding to an essay of mine, “The World, Yesterday and Today.” I quote Stefan Zweig, who said the following, about arriving in New York:

I remember how the first thing I did was to ask the hotel receptionist where Walt Whitman’s grave was, so that I could visit it. My question had the poor man, an Italian, in great difficulty; he had never even heard the poet’s name.

Yes. Why would he have (as Zweig knew)?

A reader writes,

When I went to England for the first time, I wanted to see the Wimbledon tennis club and John Keats’s house. When I got within a few blocks of these places, I asked for directions. No one I talked to knew what I was talking about!

Keats, I can understand. But the tennis club? It makes me wonder what things I don’t know about that are very close at hand.