logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2024
44m 24s

How Are Cities Chosen For The Olympics?

NHPR
About this episode
How is a particular city chosen to be the site of the Olympic Games? You probably guessed it...politics. 
Up next
Yesterday
How did the Epstein Files Transparency Act happen?
<p>Today we talk about the myriad procedures involved in getting the Epstein Files Transparency Act passed in record time. How do discharge petitions work? What did HR 581 <i>do</i> exactly? How did it get through the Senate so quickly? And while we're at it,  why did it take a r ... Show More
23m 52s
Nov 18
What can we learn from the American Revolution?
<p><a href="https://kenburns.com/principals/ken-burns/">Ken Burns</a> and <a href="https://kenburns.com/staff/sarah-botstein/">Sarah Botstein</a> spent nearly a decade making a twelve-hour documentary on the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/show/the-american-revolution/?gad_source=1& ... Show More
42m 32s
Nov 11
Billionaires
<p>In sixty years, we have gone from 2 billionaires in the United States to just under 2,000. How on earth did that happen?</p><p>Today, Timothy Noah from the New Republic takes us all the way from our framers fearing excessive wealth to the country's first (potential) trillionai ... Show More
24m 40s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2024
The Modern Olympics
Every four years, the Modern Olympic Games is a celebration of athletic excellence. From modest roots in 19th Century Athens, to a worldwide phenomenon which will feature almost 15,000 athletes in Paris 2024, the Modern Olympics has developed into the largest sporting festival in ... Show More
57m 27s
Aug 2024
The Ancient Olympics: Games Of The Gods
<p>A tradition that endured millennia. The ancient Olympic Games began in 776 BC and took place every four years until at least 396 AD. It was a major religious and sporting festival, attended by over 40,000 spectators who flocked to watch athletes compete in sports like wrestlin ... Show More
50m 49s
Jul 2021
ELI5 Olympic Games - why most games are money losers?
Why are all the Olympic Games money losers except the famous Los Angeles event in 1984? What did LA do differently? How does funding for the Olympics work? Why doesn't the IOC just buy an island to host the Olympics there every 4 years? Do Olympic athletes have a McDonalds in the ... Show More
7m 51s
Jul 2024
Lose Lose
<p>To celebrate the imminent start of the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France we have an episode originally reported in 2016. No matter what sport you play, the object of the game is to win. And that’s hard enough to do. But we found a match where four top athletes had to do th ... Show More
31m 32s
Jul 2024
A Day at the Ancient Olympics
Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! With the 2024 Olympics beginning any day now, you’re probably (if you’re a nerd like us) asking yourself one question: what would it have been like to attend a day at the world’s first Olympic Games? The Games in ancient ... Show More
42 m
Aug 2024
Why No One Wants To Host The Olympics Anymore
<p>Today's podcast breaks down the economics behind this year’s Olympics, including why the International Olympic Committee is seeing fewer and fewer bids each 4-year cycle. Enjoy!</p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.ads ... Show More
5m 56s
Jul 2024
How Do Olympians Mentally Prepare?
Curious People…the Summer Olympics are finally upon us!!! As we prepare for the most major event of the season, we also get curious about how Olympians prepare. Robert Andrews joins Jonathan to talk about working with countless elite athletes– including Simone Biles–to eliminate ... Show More
54m 41s
Jan 2025
CLASSIC: The 1904 Racist Summer Olympic Games in St. Louis
A few years after Baron Pierre de Coubertin revived the ancient sporting event known as the Olympics, he brought the games to the U.S. for the first time. The 1904 Summer Olympics were held in St. Louis, Missouri, coinciding with the 1904 World's Fair. Seems set to make history, ... Show More
33m 34s
Jul 2024
SYMHC Classics: 1900 Olympic Games
This 2012 episode from prior hosts Sarah and Deblina explains how the 1900 Paris Olympics are considered some of the strangest. Many of the events were so under-promoted, the athletes competing in them didn't know they were even in the Olympics.See omnystudio.com/listener for pri ... Show More
21m 41s