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With the 2026 Winter Olympics underway in Italy, we speak with writer and academic Jules Boykoff, author of six books about the Olympics, who says Milan is hosting the Games despite widespread public opposition from locals. Boykoff says that while the Olympics have attempted in recent years to institute some “cosmetic” reforms, “they don’t get at the core elements that really plague the Olympic Games, and that’s overspending, that’s the intensification of militarized policing, that’s greenwashing, that’s corruption, that’s the displacement of local populations.”

Boykoff’s recent piece for The Nation, co-authored with Dave Zirin, is headlined “Get Ready for This Year’s Undemocratic, Debt-Ridden, and Mobster-Infused Winter Olympics.”

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Nermeen Shaikh, with Amy Goodman.

The opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, was held on Friday. Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance attended the ceremony and were met with a chorus of boos when their image was displayed on screen. If you watched the ceremony on CBC — that’s the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation — this is what you would have heard.

DEVIN HEROUX: In an individual sport. What an honor for her.

ADRIENNE ARSENAULT: There is the Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha. Ooh, those are not — uhh, those are a lot of boos for him, whistling, jeering, some applause.

AMY GOODMAN: But here in the United States, announcers on NBC made no reference to the boos, which also could not be heard on the U.S. broadcast. In a statement, an NBC Sports spokesperson denied editing any crowd audio of the opening ceremony.

In Milan, there have been multiple protests in recent days over the Trump administration’s decision to send U.S. ICE agents to provide security for the U.S. delegation. Some U.S. athletes have made comments about the political situation in the United States. This is U.S. Olympic skier Hunter Hess speaking at a press conference.

HUNTER HESS: I think it’s — it brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now,........

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