Welcome to Getting Curious. I'm Jonathan Venice and every week I sit down for a gorgeous conversation with a brilliant expert to learn all about something that makes me curious.

On today's episode, I'm joined by Professor Sarah Bond and Joel Christensen, where I asked them, what was the very first Olympics like?

Welcome to Getting Curious, this is Jonathan Venice. We have such an exciting episode today because we have not won.

But two experts who are a literal historical geniuses. Welcome back to Getting Curious, Dr. Sarah Bond, who is an associate professor of history at the University of Iowa.

For any of our listeners, you may remember us learning about some incredible Mediterranean drinking cultures with Sarah earlier in the year.

And then Joel Christensen, who is our first time guest on Getting Curious, is Professor and Chair in the Department of Classical Studies at Brandeis University. Welcome, Joel and Sarah.

Thank you for having us. It's great to be here.

I'm so excited to have you back. And, okay, so everyone listening, we have our literal first of baby co-guest, Layla, was she deserves an introduction?

She's a just a little teeny tiny baby.

She's a 702.

And so Michelle, we got some audio. Yes, we've got some audio for baby. This is, we have to welcome Layla. She's our first getting curious baby guest of all time. This is an auspicious occasion. I'm very excited.

Okay. So here's the scene. This is the question for today.

What were the first Olympics like? And not those ones in 1896, honey. The ones that were like, you know, hundreds and I don't even know when it was, how it was.

And I will just say this. It is in broad to my attention as an adult that the Olympics can, you know, the Olympics aren't all just production packages on NBC with like really good songs that make me cry from like all the slow motion.

Like training shots and all like the victorious shots and then like the falling shots.

Like those, those packages and the opening ceremonies, the pre-domations, all of it.

It's got me hookline and sinker from the time I was like five. Like I can't help but that I'm obsessed.

I do realize that they're kind of like, you know, they have some corruption pieces. They have some problematic pieces, but I just will fully choose to not look at those and just keep my head buried in the packages and the athlete stories because I just think it's incredible.

I love the Olympics. And so that's where the curiosity came from.

What were the very first ancient Olympics like ever? And I couldn't think of two better guests to help us learn about it.

Can I just say that I wouldn't have been allowed to even be there because I'm a married woman.

I don't know. They've always been a nightmare. So these international Olympic committee always was on some bullshit. Is that what you're saying?

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