The Other Olympic Rio with Favela Activist Theresa Williamson

Edge of Sports

Dave Zirin / The Nation

Sports, History, News, Politics, Sports News

4.8 • 619 Ratings

🗓️ 19 August 2016

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the run-up to Brazil’s year of mega-events, Theresa Williamson made her website RioOnWatch.org into an essential independent news source. In our final Olympics podcast, Theresa Williamson joins me for a wide-ranging and insightful talk that you will not find on any other show. We’ll also stop by a party at the oft-discussed Vila Autódromo, site of a high-profile battle for over residents rights that is just a stone’s throw away from Olympic Park. My ‘Choice Words’ are about the stalwart Brazilian teachers who went on strike in Rio, and the ‘Just Stand Up’ award goes to Anthony Ervin, 35-year-old gold medalist and author of: “Chasing Water: Elegy of an Olympian.” Special thanks to our youngest guest, nine-year-old Kay, who summed up the Olympic effect on Rio so well: “It means so many things, and most of them aren’t good.”Edge of Sports Hotline: (401) 236-3343 (EDGE). This week, we want to know: What would you do if the Olympics came to your town? Buy tickets? Volunteer? Perhaps protest?Theresa Williamson: https://twitter.com/greencitiesRio On Watch: http://www.rioonwatch.org | https://twitter.com/RioOnWatchCatalytic Communities: http://catcomm.orgTheresa on The Today Show: http://www.today.com/news/santa-marta-matt-lauer-tours-one-rio-de-janeiro-s-t101782Anthony Ervin: https://twitter.com/AnthonyErvinErvin's book: http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/chasing-water/Ervin wins gold in the 50-freestyle: http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/underwater-cam-anthony-ervin-wins-50m-freestyle-gold-01Column: Teachers and Students Occupy Schools in the Shadow of Olympic Rio https://www.thenation.com/article/teachers-and-students-occupy-schools-in-shadow-of-olympic-rio—http://edgeofsportspodcast.com | http://twitter.com/edgeofsports | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: edgeofsports@slate.com—music by: Badsista & Taphttps://soundcloud.com/badsista, https://soundcloud.com/t_a_p92, via Beatwise Recordingshttps://beatwiserecordings.bandcamp.cominstrumentals: Kanye West - Family Business & John Legend - Used To Love U Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to the Edge of Sports podcast. I'm Dave Ziron. We come to you from Rio de Janeiro, the other Olympic Rio, where we speak to favela activist, Tedesa Williamson.
0:19.0	We are also going to bring you some of the sights and sounds from Rio de Janeiro, from inside the Olympic Park to inside communities that are risking everything to fight, displacement, and eviction.
0:31.7	That's what we're bringing you this week on the edge of sports.
0:41.7	Yeah. on the edge of sports. We're here talking with Teresa Williamson, the executive director of
0:45.3	Catalytic Communities and the founder of the indispensable website Rio on Watch.
0:51.5	Today, the Olympics are finally here.
0:57.5	I know there's been so much writing, preparation,
1:03.3	expectation for you over the course of years. Now that it's finally present in your city,
1:09.2	what is your reaction? Where has it met expectations? Where has it gone below expectations?
1:11.5	Talk to us a little bit about that.
1:16.6	Well, to some extent, I didn't know what to expect of these couple of Olympic weeks. I mean,
1:22.5	I knew that the media would shift away from all of the problems to the glories of the athletes and possibly even decide that if the Olympics are pulled off, well, Rio essentially succeeded. Most of the
1:30.1	athletics have gone off without a glitch. The games have certainly gone off without a glitch
1:35.0	when we speak about it from the perspective of a made-for-TV production. I mean, there's been some
1:39.4	whining about the color of the pool and the smell of the pool. But at the same time, it's also been
1:46.6	some of the most record setting, scintillating swimming in Olympic history. And at the end of the day,
1:51.8	the second part of that will always matter more than the first. Exactly. And I think Rio's
1:56.6	going to come off looking like it pulled it off. At the same time, we are still seeing quite a bit
2:01.5	of media on some of the issues, some of the challenges, the problems, and communities, favelas,
2:07.7	just a few blocks away or a few miles away from the Olympics that have not seen investment,
2:13.8	and we still hear about the forced evictions. Villaltaudanu has very much been in the news
2:18.5	as they're trying to rebuild their community, their small community now next to the Olympic
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Dave Zirin / The Nation, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Dave Zirin / The Nation and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.