"At the end of those two months, I interviewed (two Ethiopian female runners) each of them for an hour and a half and hired a translator. What came out of those interviews was that this was a richly complicated and complex world that I knew very little about and I had barely scratched the surface. They were talking about the relationships with their family members because I had assumed – as a lot of people do – Ethiopia has this rich history of running, therefore, it must be such a prideful thing. It actually turned out that they all said that all their family members disapproved of what they were doing. There were all these things that came up that surprised me. As I later came to learn in anthropology in grad school, you should always follow and ask questions about the things that surprise you because those are the most interesting things."

Hannah Borenstein is a good friend of mine who I've had the pleasure of getting to know as a member of The Magic Boost program that I help direct. She is an anthropologist and fellow at the University of Chicago. She's currently working on a book project focusing on women distance runners in Ethiopia. Beyond her academic work, she's also a freelance writer covering race, sports, gender, politics and labor across a variety of publications. She most recently published a story for World Athletics on Sinta Vissa, the Italian middle distance runner who was born in Ethiopia and now runs for the On Athletics Club. I've wanted to get her on the show for a while because she's passionate about telling the stories of Ethiopian athletes and has been a major resource for me in helping me understand some of the contexts around the athletes, their lives and when politics can intersect with it all.

SUPPORT THE SPONSORS

OLIPOP is a prebiotic soda with only 2-5g of sugar that is actually good for your gut health. – and it's delicious. Use code CITIUS25 for 25% off non-subscription orders. Learn more at DrinkOlipop.com (click the link or use our promotional code for the discount)

NEW BALANCE: You push yourself to go the distance – get the gear that helps you get the job done. Our FuelCell SuperComp Elite v3 men’s running shoes are built for marathon runners who never let up. Get your pair at NewBalance.com starting Feb. 1.

VELOUS FOOTWEAR:  VELOUS is an active recovery footwear brand designed to help you restore, revive & Reenergize before and after you train. Two years in development, this team has created the world's most comfortable, supportive and lightweight active recovery shoe in the world. Get 20% off using code CitiusMag20.

VDOT Adaptive Trainer: VDOT offers access to the highest quality, Olympic-style training for runners of all levels—right from any mobile device. VDOT is offering 20% off their Adaptive Trainer using the code citius at checkout. Download V.O2 in the app stores or visit vdoto2.com.

HOW TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST

🎙️ Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

💵 Pledge any dollar amount to us on Patreon.com/CITIUSMAG or Hit us on Venmo @CITIUSMAG

🎥 Subscribe to the CITIUS MAG YouTube channel