Tag Archives: Olympics

Culture: The American Scholar – Summer 2024

THE AMERICAN SCHOLAR (June 4, 2024): The latest issue features ‘An Olympian for the Ages’ – Why George Eyser’s feats at the 1904 Games deserve to be celebrated today; Joshua Prager on a forgotten Olympian, Mickalene Thomas and the art of remixing, new poetry from Ange Mlinko, and more…

A Forgotten Turner Classic

Who was George Eyser, the one-legged German-American gymnast who astounded at the Olympic Games?

Femmes Fantastiques

Mickalene Thomas and the art of remixing

We Are the Borg

Is the convergence of human and machine really upon us?

The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI by Ray Kurzweil

In the fall of 2014, an MIT cognitive scientist named Tomaso Poggio predicted that humankind was at least 20 years away from building computers that could interpret images on their own. Doing so, declared Poggio, “would be one of the most intellectually challenging things … for a machine to do.” One month later, Google released an AI program that did exactly what he’d deemed impossible.

Previews: The Progressive Magazine- Feb/March 2024

The Progressive Magazine - Reporting the truth since 1909. - Progressive.org

theprogressive Magazine February/March 2024:

Breaking’s Storied Road to the Olympics

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From the South Bronx to the Summer Olympics, this urban dance style finally gets its due. 

By MARCUS REEVES

Forging a New Path as Partners with Latin America

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A group of U.S. lawmakers recently visited South America with a fresh perspective on U.S. foreign policy in the region. 

By JEFF ABBOTT

Middle America: Getting Beyond ‘Us Versus Them’

We’ve become increasingly alienated from one another. It’s time we get back in touch with each other, get out of our heads, and reconnect with our common humanity, writes Ruth Conniff. 

RUTH CONNIFF

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Morning News: Olympic Skating Scandal, Smart Headlights, Pandemic

Russian skater Kamila Valieva was still allowed to compete despite testing positive for a banned substance before the Olympic games. She was a heavy favorite for the gold – but ended up coming in fourth place yesterday. 

What does this say about the integrity of the Olympic games — and what does it mean for the future of figure skating?

  • Plus, smart headlights coming to U.S. cars could make American roads safer.
  • And, how the pandemic is giving us economic lessons in real time.

Guests: The Washington Post’s figure skating analyst Robert Samuels and Axios’ Joann Muller and Emily Peck.

Views: China Prepares For 2022 Winter Olympics (BBC)

Beijing will become the first city to have staged both a summer and winter Games, having already hosted a successful summer Olympics in 2008. China is already getting ready for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Justin Downes, a Canadian winter sports specialist has been advising games organizers. “There is no question that Beijing will be ready as all the competition venues are ready for the Games and they have already hosted test events.” Some organisations are calling on governments to boycott Beijing 2022 because of reported human rights abuses in the country.

Morning News: Climate Change Report, Business Of Trash, Olympics Review

The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its latest report on climate change this morning. It shows that warming is happening more quickly than we realized, and calls the connection between human activity and global warming “unequivocal.” It’s the strongest stance by global scientists on climate we’ve seen yet.

  • Plus, the pandemic has changed our relationship with trash.
  • And, Ina Fried’s big takeaways from covering the Olympic games.

Guests: Axios’ Andrew Freedman, Hope King, and Ina Fried.

Morning News: Myanmar Military Rule, France-UK Rift, Kososvo’s Olympics

We get the latest from Myanmar with Asean under pressure to name an envoy to the country. Plus: we ask why Franco-UK relations are so poor and discuss official Olympic recognition for Kosovo.

Morning News: U.S.-India Relations, Russia And Afghanistan, Tokyo 2021

We discuss what’s on the agenda as US secretary of state Antony Blinken arrives in India. We then get the lowdown on Russia’s recent talks with the Taliban and assess the Kremlin’s intentions in the region. 

Plus: the latest action from Tokyo 2020.

Views: Olympic Athletes Movements In 3-D (Video)

Sports Business: The High Cost Of Hosting Olympics

In 2018, the Rio games were estimated to have a total cost of $20 billion, far beyond the Rio organizing committee’s initial estimate of $2.8 billion. The city of Rio shelled out $8.2 billion on legacy builds, or builds intended to live well beyond the Olympic’s three-week life-cycle. Cities incurring overrun costs when hosting the Olympics is not just unique to just Rio; according to the Council on Foreign Relations, since 1960, every Olympics saw high overrun costs. As overrun costs become a growing concern, several cities withdrew their 2022 winter Olympic bids in 2014, citing the potential costs. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) enacted the Olympic Agenda 2020 in 2014; the agenda provided new regulations specifically to mitigate cost concerns. However, the IOC was faced with another challenge: hosting the Tokyo Olympics amid the Covid-19 pandemic.