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Live Show: Paris, Power and Olympic Class War

Added 2024-07-24 14:55:20 +0000 UTC

We're just two days away from the Opening Ceremonies of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France. For months, the city of Paris has been “preparing” for this year’s event by ramping up policing, evicting homeless people from the encampments they’ve been living in, and even banning food distribution in certain regions, according to the French collective Le Revers De La Medaille, which translates to “The Other Side of the Medal" in English.

But you wouldn't know all this from the breathless, celebratory media coverage we've seen in the run-up to the Games.

This continues a decades-long pattern of cities around the world – Los Angeles, Tokyo, Atlanta, the list goes on – arresting, imprisoning, expelling, and otherwise abusing their most vulnerable populations prior to hosting the Olympics, further entrenching pre-existing inequities. All the while, cities harness the immensely powerful PR of hosting the games and enjoy overwhelmingly uncritical, even glowing, coverage from the likes of CBS News, The New York Times, and of course, the broadcaster of the games: NBC.

On this Citations Needed Live Show, recorded virtually on July 16, 2024, Adam and Nima discuss the Olympics, the media, and the relentless commercialization, police crackdowns, and class warfare that high-profile, global sporting events bring wherever they go.

Our guest is friend of the show, writer and professor Jules Boykoff.

Guest

Jules Boykoff (@JulesBoykoff) is a political scientist and the author of six books on the Olympic Games, most recently What Are The Olympics For? (Bristol University Press, 2024) and The 1936 Berlin Olympics: Race, Power, and Sportswashing (Common Ground, 2023). Previously, he was a professional soccer player who represented the US Olympic Soccer Team in international competition. He currently teaches political science at Pacific University in Oregon.

Show Notes

The Paris Olympics Are a Lesson in Greenwashing

Jules Boykoff | July 24, 2024 | Scientific American

Hosting the Olympics Costs Billions. What Does a City Get Back?

Michael Kimmelman | July 22, 2024 | The New York Times Magazine

Palestinian Olympians Are Competing as Their World Burns

Dave Zirin | July 18, 2024 | The Nation

France Avoids Disaster. Can the Olympics Do the Same?

Dave Zirin and Jules Boykoff | July 8, 2024 | The Nation

Are the Olympics Still Relevant?

Sonali Kolhatkar and Jules Boykoff | July 3, 2024 | Yes!

Seine water still isn't safe for swimmers, frustrating U.S. Olympians

Michelle R. Martinelli | July 3, 2024 | USA Today

"Move along, there's nothing to see": 1 Year of Social Cleansing Before the 2024 Olympic Games

June 2024 | Collectif Le Revers de la Médaille

Olympic games are a billion-dollar business and proxy for geopolitical influence

Stephen Wade | June 18, 2024 | Associated Press

Paris’ Olympic promise falls short for unhoused people

Victor Goury-Laffont | May 2, 2024 | Politico

We all lose if the Olympic surveillance state becomes the norm

Jules Boykoff | April 17, 2024 | CNN

Israel and Russia Have No Place in the 2024 Paris Olympics

Jules Boykoff and Dave Zirin | January 29, 2024 | Jacobin

5 Reason You Should Oppose the Olympics Coming to Your Hometown

Dave Zirin | November 16, 2023 | The Real News Network

The Paris Olympics Are Developing a Familiar Stench

Dave Zirin and Jules Boykoff | June 27, 2023 | The Nation

The Olympic Scandal we should be talking about

Julie DiCaro | June 21, 2023 | Deadspin

Get Ready for AI Surveillance at the 2024 Paris Olympics

Dave Zirin and Jules Boykof | June 6, 2023 | Edge of Sports

Hosts use the Olympics to bolster police power — harming civil liberties

Jules Boykoff | April 3, 3023 | The Washington Post

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Transcript

A full transcript of this interview is available here. In the meantime, you can find transcripts of past episodes, live shows, Beg-a-Thons, Interviews and News Briefs here.

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