Dave Zirin (“Edge of Sports;” and Under the Tree, Episode #58 ) gave a delightful and provocative talk at a conference a few years ago called “Will There Be Sports Under Socialism?” The short answer—of course!—human beings have played games and sports from the beginning, and there’s no stopping us. But capitalism has distorted and mangled our natural desire and capacity to play in its relentless drive for profit. An ongoing case-in-point is the Olympic Games, flying under the noble banner of internationalism while on the ground exploiting athletes and workers, destroying host communities, increasing militarism, and more. Dave introduced us to Jules Boykoff and the movement to defend local communities against the steam-roller that is the 2028 Los Angeles games. Jules is an academic, author, activist and former professional soccer player whose writing focuses on the politics of the Olympics, social movements, the suppression of dissent, and the role of the mass media in US politics, especially regarding coverage of climate change. He is part of the coalition of community organizations (LA Tenants Union, Black Lives Matter, Sunrise Movement, DSA) founded in 2017 to oppose staging the 2028 Summer Olympics, and the author of  

NOlympians: Inside the Fight Against Capitalist Mega-Sports in Los Angeles, Tokyo and Beyond..