The Olympics are at an inflection point: producing megaevents has become increasingly difficult in our current geopolitical reality, the 129-year-old games are struggling to attract new fans, and more cities are telling the IOC to stay out of town. Except Los Angeles, of course, which will host the Summer Olympics for the third time in 2028, a year that may very well prove to be the most pivotal moment in the institution's history. Join author and Olympic scholar Jules Boykoff and Torched's Alissa Walker for a spirited conversation about Boykoff's most recent book What Are the Olympics For? (Bristol University Press, 2024) and what this all means for L.A. Widely recognized as "the world's leading authority on the Olympic movement," Boykoff's writing on the politics of the games was once described by Mike Davis as "pathbreaking history."

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