Our Favorite, Most Outrageous and Most Unexpected Moments of the Games

Three writers and an Olympic medalist on the grit and grace of the winter games.

By Sasha CohenKelly CorriganEsau McCaulley and Stephen Stromberg

Produced by Derek Arthur

The Winter Olympics are underway, and all eyes are on Milan. In a round-table discussion, the Opinion editor Steve Stromberg speaks with the contributing writer Esau McCaulley, the writer and podcaster Kelly Corrigan and the Olympian Sasha Cohen on the joys, awe and escapism of the Games — as well as the inescapable politics surrounding them.

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Below is a transcript of an episode of “The Opinions.” We recommend listening to it in its original form for the full effect. You can do so using the player above or on the NYTimes app, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

The transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Steve Stromberg: I am Steve Stromberg, an editor for New York Times Opinion and a huge Olympics fan. I’m joined today by two fellow Olympics devotees: the Times contributing writer Esau McCaulley and the writer and podcast host Kelly Corrigan. Also with us is Olympics royalty — we’ve got Sasha Cohen, a figure skater who won silver in the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Thank you for being here.

Kelly Corrigan: Thanks for having us.

Esau McCaulley: Thank you for having us.

Sasha Cohen: Great to be here. Thank you.

Stromberg: The Games aren’t over, but I want to hear some of your superlatives of the Winter Olympics so far. What has been your favorite, most outrageous, most inspiring or most unexpected moment of the Games?

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Stephen Stromberg is a Times opinion editor, focused on politics and economics. He has covered U.S. politics and policy since 2001. He joined The Times in 2025 from The Washington Post, where he was deputy editor of the opinion section.

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