Live from Olympic Rio: O Bom, O Mau, O Feio

Edge of Sports

Dave Zirin / The Nation

Sports, History, News, Politics, Sports News

4.8 • 619 Ratings

🗓️ 14 August 2016

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We are in Olympic Rio shining light on the dark corners of these games. First up: Jules Boykoff, a razor-sharp critic of sports culture and the author of “Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics.” Then, Stephanie Reist, a PhD candidate from Duke, based in Rio and writing about the Rio suburbs for the essential site RioOnWatch.org. ’Choice Words’ is a column about the intoxicating nature of the Olympics - and resistance to them. The ‘Just Stand Up’ award goes to Gabby Douglas in response to utterly inane criticism of this great athlete. Finally, we share messages from you, our listeners, left on our our Edge of Sports hotline: 401-236-3343 (EDGE.) We asked: were you still going to watch the Olympics, or had the controversies dampened your excitement? Thank you to Sam, Toby, Jacob, Andy and Candace. This week, the question is: what during the Olympics has inspired you, and why?—Boykoff: http://julesboykoff.org | https://www.versobooks.com/books/2105-power-gamesReist: http://www.rioonwatch.org/?s=Stephanie+Reist | http://twitter.com/stephreistColumn: “Olympic Joy in the Face of Erasure” https://www.thenation.com/article/olympic-joy-in-the-face-of-erasure/Edge of Sports Hotline: (401) 236-3343 (EDGE)—http://edgeofsportspodcast.com | http://twitter.com/edgeofsports | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: edgeofsports@slate.com—music by: Badsista & Tap https://soundcloud.com/badsista, https://soundcloud.com/t_a_p92, via Beatwise Recordings https://beatwiserecordings.bandcamp.comSwindle ft. Ricardo China https://swindleuk.bandcamp.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Edge of Sports Podcast.
0:03.8	I'm Dave Ziren, coming to you live from Olympic Rio.
0:11.6	This week, we will talk to Jules Boykoff, author of Power Games and a student of the history of Olympic protest.
0:20.1	And we are going to speak to Stephanie Reist about the issue of race and erasure in Olympic Rio.
0:36.1	Jules, here we are inside the secure Olympic zone.
0:39.3	What are your impressions as far as what you see?
0:41.3	Well, it's interesting since we just came from Vila Tordromo,
0:45.3	which is a favela just around the corner, that was steamrolled and then rebuilt for the Olympics.
0:51.3	So we just saw the 20 or so fresh units that were built. Compare that sort
0:55.6	of vibrant community where you see signs of protest to this sort of antiseptic corporate space
1:00.7	and it's quite a striking juxtaposition for sure. Now there is green space here in the Olympic
1:05.8	area. Describe for everybody the green space that we're a part of. That's exactly right. We're in the green space right now, and by that, Dave, means green cement. So, cement that has been painted green. I mean, that's another thing that's incredibly striking about entering this Olympic space, is that it's a huge slab of cement that we're standing on here. And this one has been painted green to make it, I don't know, look a little bit more appealing. Yeah, and it's so interesting because the opening ceremonies had this entire tribute to the environment
1:32.6	and saving the environment.
1:35.2	And of course, here we are in this space that's just like countless tons of poured concrete.
1:40.8	And we're right near a bay that is, you know is filled with sludge and waste.
1:46.7	No, that's exactly right.
1:47.6	I think Rio 2016 is shaping up to be the most green-washed games ever.
1:53.3	And as we pass...
1:53.8	Keep in mind, I want to repeat that for people, the most green-washed games ever,
1:56.9	not the most green games ever.
1:58.6	Yeah, a key distinction to make for sure. You know, as we passed
2:02.2	between Villarajmo and out in front of this really snazzy Marriott Hotel that was built right
	...

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