an anti-Olympics reading list
an anti-Olympics reading list
the Games are about more than just sports—here's what to read
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Over at Them, I put together a list of 25+ LGBTQ+ Olympians to watch. I was also on All of it NYC with Michael Waters today to talk about sex testing at the Olympics.
The Olympics start today and I always find them to be difficult. Because as much as the Games want to tout themselves as being apolitical, we all know they are not. They’re not apolitical from a sporting standpoint, including who gets to compete. They’re not apolitical from a geopolitical standpoint, including which countries get sanctions and which do not. They’re not apolitical from a standpoint of how they impact the residents and citizens of the host countries.
Before I was a sports writer I was a community organizer who helped defeat the Boston bid for the 2024 Olympics (more on that in another newsletter).
If you, like me, struggle to watch sports free from the broader context in which they exist, then this reading list is for you.
The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports, Michael Waters
Friend-of-the-newsletter Michael Waters has written one of the most important sports books out there, imo. “Waters’s book is as relevant today as it would have been during the events it chronicles,” I wrote in the intro to my interview with Waters in Baffler Magazine. “In fact, it’s eerie how the debates Waters recounts mirror the ones we’re currently having. In showing us our history, Waters’s book seems to suggest, we will perhaps not be doomed to repeat it.” And yes, I blurbed the book so you know I mean it.
Better Faster Farther: How Running Changed Everything We Know About Women,
Stay tuned for an interview with Maggie in the coming weeks. Better Faster Farther is the book about women’s running that I feel like I’ve been waiting for someone to write. I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy and provide a blurb for the book and I’ll let that endorsement speak for itself: “With her evocative prose and ever-present attention to detail, Maggie Mertens has written a much-needed examination of women's running. BETTER FASTER FARTHER is a thorough and blistering examination of how sexism, racism, and transphobia have so deeply impacted a sport that should be the ultimate democratizer. This book has the potential to change the sport as we know it, in all of the best and most necessary ways.”
Dancing with the Devil in the City of God: Rio de Janeiro and the Olympic Dream, Juliana Barbassa
Barbassa is a Rio de Janeiro native who tells the story of Rio de Janeiro’s journey to make itself presentable on the global stage of the Summer Olympics, combining history with interviews to present a full picture that is rooted in humanity.
Brazil's Dance with the Devil: The World Cup, the Olympics, and the Fight for Democracy, Dave Zirin
Fun fact: I first met Dave Zirin long before I was a sports writer. When I was organizing against the Boston Olympic bid, Dave flew up on his own dime to speak at an event we hosted. Dave has been doing this work a long time and his book on the impact of two sporting mega-events on Brazil and Brazilians is a must-read.
Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics, Jules Boykoff
I also recommend Boykoff’s Nolympians: Inside the Fight Against Capitalist Mega-Sports in Los Angeles, Tokyo and Beyond. Check out this great interview that
did with Boykoff ahead of the Paris Games and follow his work from Paris.The Olympics That Never Happened: Denver '76 and the Politics of Growth, Adam Berg
From the description: “If you don't recall the 1976 Denver Olympic Games, it's because they never happened. The Mile-High City won the right to host the winter games and then was forced by Colorado citizens to back away from its successful Olympic bid through a statewide ballot initiative. Adam Berg details the powerful Colorado regime that gained the games for Denver and the grassroots activism that brought down its Olympic dreams, and he explores the legacy of this milestone moment for the games and politics in the United States.”
Five Rings over Korea: The Secret Negotiations Behind the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Richard Pound
This book is harder to find but is worth it if you’re really wanted to go down the rabbit hole of IOC corruption and peel back the argument of how apolitical the organization is (remember: it’s not).
The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World, John Carlos and Dave Zirin
John Carlos, an Olympian and an icon who even today is still at the forefront of sports activism (he spearheaded the #AthletesForCeasefire letter). His story and his words should be required reading for all fans of the Games.
Sex Testing: Gender Policing in Women's Sports, Lindsay Pieper
If you want to know how we got where we are today when it comes to sex testing and exclusionary policies, this is the book. Pieper is an academic so it’s weedsy but is the most complete picture of the history of these policies out there. You can also listen to Rose Eveleth’s new podcast, “Tested,” which brings the conversation to the present day (full disclosure: I appear in episode 6).
Am I missing anything? Have you read any of these? Sound off in the comments!
Really appreciate this list and getting your important perspective. 👊
LOVE THIS!!!!!