national football league. >> mash mark leibovich. mat is the current state of the national football league. >> well, the most popular sport in the country, never been more profitable, never had more people watching, and yet it feels like they shand here is going to fall on the league at any point. never felt more dangerous also. the leagues a so many quote unquo issues round health and safety the incompetence of the people who run the thing, around just the changing taste of america and football has -- the nfl has gone from being the most unifying institution we have had to 10-20 years later being probably the most divisive sports brand we have. so, this is a five-year romp through the nfl. i talked to about two-thirds of the owners, the commissioner, players, and this is the result of it. sort of like a safari. >> host: let's go back to the beginning of the national anthem con drivers. >> guest: starters when colin cab per nick started kneeling during the national anthem. it was two years ago, contained controversy for a-year-old an

football league. >> mark leibovich, chief national correspondent for the "new york times" magazine, author of three other books. this is his new one, "big game, the nfl in dangerous times." mr. leibovich, what is the current state of the national football league? >> well, the most popular sport in the country, it's never been more profitable, never had more people watching, and yet it feels like the chandelier is going to fall on the league at any point. like it's never felt more dangerous also. the league has so many existential issues around health and safety, around partly the incompetence of the people who run the thing, around just the changing tastes of america. the nfl has gone from being probably the most unifying institution we have had in this country to about 10, 20 years later, being probably the most divisive sports brand we have. so this is a five-year romp through the nfl. i talked to about two-thirds of the owners, the commissioner, lot of players, and this is the result of it. sort of like a safari. >> let's go back to the beginning of the national anthem controversy

>> mark leibovich, chief national correspondent for "new york times" magazine, the new book "big game, the nfl in dangerous times" came out this fall by penguin press. thank you. >> thanks for having me on. >> keep an eye out for more interviews from the national press club's book fair to air in the near future. you can also watch them and any of our programs in their entirety at booktv.org. type the author's name in the search bar at the top of the page. >> morning, everybody. thanks for joining us today. i think we're going to get going in just a couple seconds. so everyone, thanks for coming today. very honored, glad to host this event. i want to thank aspen for making it possible. on any given day we would be thrilled to host lisa to talk cyber, so it's exciting to have all three of them here. expect a pretty good conversation. today, cyber is on the front page of every paper, is the topic of every board meeting. it's hard to avoid. john's book is important because it reminds us that was not always the case. wasn't that long ago that it was hard to get cyber news public and boards