Olympics Archives - Public Seminar

History

The Rare Beauty of Folkstyle Wrestling

Has the American wrestling community made a Faustian bargain for Olympic gold—at the expense of its own heritage?

March 13, 2025 • by Justin Muchnick

To an outsider, the sport of wrestling might seem like a monolith—a muscular clump of writhing barbarity. But on January 17, when the members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) made the landmark decision to add women’s wrestling as an official championship sport, they faced a procedural question with ...

Race

Bad Breaking

The anti-Black racism and sexism behind the sport’s lackluster Olympic debut

October 4, 2024 • by Alexa Joy

The inclusion of breakdancing in the Paris Olympics this year turned out to be nothing short of a spectacle. From the beginning, the sport was met with hostility and confusion. Australian squash player Michelle Martin, frustrated after years of lobbying for the inclusion of her sport, called breaking’s debut a ...

Podcast

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Past Present Podcast, Episode 289

August 3, 2021 • by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Nicole Hemmer and Neil J. Young

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: The Tokyo 2020 Olympics, postponed for a year, are in full swing despite the ongoing pandemic. Natalia mentioned this NPR piece about the unfair treatment of Paralympics competitor Becca Meyers, and Neil referred to the ambiguity over whether breastfeeding mothers ...

Podcast

Cockfighting, Athletic Doping, and Didone

Episode 208

December 17, 2019 • by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Nicole Hemmer and Neil J. Young

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: The U.S. has enacted a ban on cockfighting in Puerto Rico. Neil cited anthropologist Clifford Geertz’s classic text on cockfighting in Bali.Due to doping violations, Russia has been banned from competing in the Olympics for the next four years . Natalia referred to this Smithsonian article on preventative measures against doping. Niki ...

Feature

The Nunes Memo, the Stock Market Fall, and the 2018 Winter Olympics

Past Present Episode 118

February 15, 2018 • by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Nicole Hemmer and Neil J. Young

In this episode, Neil, Niki, and Natalia debate the Nunes memo and the GOP’s attack on the FBI, the recent stock market plummet, and the prospect of Korean reconciliation through the Winter Olympics.

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The Nunes Memo, the Stock Market Fall, and the 2018 Winter Olympics

Feature

North and South Korea Unite Under a Single Flag for Games

Can the Olympics bring about peace of the Korean peninsula?

February 8, 2018 • by Rachael Miyung Joo

On January 17, 2018, just three weeks before the start of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, North Korea and South Korea announced that the North would participate in this year’s Olympics. The two states will enter the opening ceremonies together under the Korea Unification flag, engage in joint training sessions, and ...

North and South Korea Unite Under a Single Flag for Games

Education

Voting Rights, Olympics Commentary, and Think Tanks

Past Present Episode 47

August 18, 2016 • by Neil J. Young, Nicole Hemmer and Natalia Mehlman Petrzela

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: This summer, courts struck down restrictive voting laws in North Carolina, Kansas, and Wisconsin. Niki pointed out that there have been only 31 cases of voter fraud since 2000. We recommended Ari Berman’s history of voting rights, Give Us ...