(photo: Zach Zill)

In the run-up to Brazil’s year of mega-events, Theresa Williamson made her website RioOnWatch.org into an essential independent news source. In our final Olympics podcast, Theresa Williamson joins me for a wide-ranging and insightful talk that you will not find on any other show. We’ll also stop by a party at the oft-discussed Vila Autódromo, site of a high-profile battle for over residents rights that is just a stone’s throw away from Olympic Park. My ‘Choice Words’ are about the stalwart Brazilian teachers who went on strike in Rio, and the ‘Just Stand Up’ award goes to Anthony Ervin, 35-year-old gold medalist and author of: “Chasing Water: Elegy of an Olympian.” Special thanks to our youngest guest, nine-year-old Kay, who summed up the Olympic effect on Rio so well: “It means so many things, and most of them aren’t good.”

Edge of Sports Hotline: (401) 236-3343 (EDGE). This week, we want to know: What would you do if the Olympics came to your town? Buy tickets? Volunteer? Perhaps protest?

Theresa Williamson: https://twitter.com/greencities
Rio On Watch: http://www.rioonwatch.org | https://twitter.com/RioOnWatch
Catalytic Communities: http://catcomm.org
Theresa on The Today Show: http://www.today.com/news/santa-marta-matt-lauer-tours-one-rio-de-janeiro-s-t101782
Anthony Ervin: https://twitter.com/AnthonyErvin
Ervin’s book: http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/chasing-water/
Ervin wins gold in the 50-freestyle: http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/underwater-cam-anthony-ervin-wins-50m-freestyle-gold-01
Column:  Teachers and Students Occupy Schools in the Shadow of Olympic Rio https://www.thenation.com/article/teachers-and-students-occupy-schools-in-shadow-of-olympic-rio
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