On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: opening ceremonies (and a can of worms).

We come to you midway through the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. But amid the patriotism, athletic prowess, and sheer spectacle of these games — the most watched and streamed to date, by some measures — there’s also concerns about geopolitical power, human rights abuses, and the facilitation of facism.

MacIntosh Ross of Windsor University joins us to talk about the uglier facets of the Olympic Games.

If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can email the show: hearmeout@slate.com

Podcast production by Maura Currie.

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