22 | Cancel the Olympics Part 2: Dr. Jules Boykoff, Tokyo 2020, and the Capitalist Spectacle of the Olympics
This week, in Part Two of the Cancel the Olympics series, Miguel spoke to Political Scientist Dr. Jules Boykoff (@JulesBoykoff) about the Tokyo Olympics being held later this month despite concerns with COVID-19, the spectacle of the Olympics sacrificing lives in the name of capitalism, the potential of athletes protesting the games, and much more!
Dr. Jules Boykoff is the author of four books on the Olympic Games. His newest books, NOlympians: Inside the Fight Against Capitalist Mega-Sports in Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Beyond (Fernwood, 2020) and Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics (Verso, 2016). His writing on the Olympics has appeared in places such as the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Nation, and Asahi Shimbun. Previously, Jules was a professional soccer player who represented the U.S. Olympic Soccer Team in international competitions. He teaches political science at Pacific University in Oregon.
Next, Miguel gives you his Molotov MVP for episode 22, Olympic Hammer Thrower, Gwen Berry (@MzBerryThrows). On Saturday, June 26, 2021, Gwen Berry placed third in the hammer throw competition at the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials, which qualified Berry for the Tokyo Olympics, beginning on July 23, 2021. However, when she stood up at the podium to recognize her third-place finish, she was shocked to hear the Star-Spangled Banner begin to play.
At that moment, Gwen Berry made history and showed courage in speaking truth to power! Berry responded to the playing of the national anthem by turning her back away from the American Flag and draping a t-shirt over her head that read, “Activist Athlete.”
Miguel ends the podcast with another Chicana/o Sports History segment. He highlights a legendary Mexican/Chicano Basketball player from the 1930s and 40s, Jose “Joe” Placencia. “The sharp-shooting King of the Mexican all-stars” led the Men’s Mexican National Basketball team to the Bronze Medal at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany (The Nazi/Hitler Olympics).
Miguel Garcia produced this episode.
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Links:
A Sports Event Shouldn’t Be a Superspreader. Cancel the Olympics. (Jules Boykoff-The New York Times)
A Bribery Scandal Hits the ‘2020’ Tokyo Olympics (Dave Zirin and Jules Boykoff-The Nation Magazine)
Gwen Berry Is the Hero We Need (Dave Zirin-The Nation Magazine)
Tokyo Olympic spectator cap set at 10,000 people per venue (Kyodo News)
Anti-Olympics Protester Squirts Water on the Olympic Torch during the Olympic Torch Rally in Japan (via Jules Boykoff/Twitter)
