The heavy knitwear and floor-length puffers that Winter Olympians wore to the opening ceremony weren’t just a fashion choice, but also a functional one. Let me confirm: It was cold in San Siro Stadium last night.
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Milan has been mostly in the forties since we arrived last week, which feels practically balmy after days of rock-hard snow in D.C., or in comparison to the Alpine Olympic venues like Cortina. Still, an open roof and three hours of sitting motionless will do that to you.
An hour into the ceremony, I put on my hat. Two hours in, I was clutching my pen and notepad in gloved hands. By the end, my teammate Pien and I had broken out our handwarmers (I put them in my shoes). Of course, a little chill was a small price to pay to experience the opening spectacle ourselves: to hear Andrea Bocelli bring the house down, watch aerial acrobats descend from larger-than-life Olympic rings and groove in place to the Parade of Nations DJ set.
As a pop culture-obsessed general assignment reporter for NPR, I’ve helped cover the past few Olympics from afar, live-blogging the ceremonies and documenting such key cultural forces as “pommel horse guy,” the rise of U.S. women’s rugby and those chocolate muffins in Paris.
Now I get to be part of NPR’s team covering the Olympics on the ground in Italy, along with Becky Sullivan, Brian Mann, Pien Huang and Eric Whitney. I still can’t believe I’m typing those words, let alone living them.
There have been tons of surreal moments in just the first week: We’ve admired the Duomo and the official Olympics megastore next door. I’ve snooped around Milan’s Olympic village and, separately, looked on as Team USA members got fitted for their Ralph Lauren uniforms. I watched some of the world’s best figure skaters take the ice on the first day of the team event — and, on my commuter tram ride there, ended up right in the middle of the Olympic torch relay.
I’m also writing a daily behind-the-scenes newsletter about what it’s like to be at the Games, answering hard-hitting questions like, “How’s the food?” (great, especially outside of the media center) and, “Do Olympians care about the Super Bowl?” (of course). Subscribe hereto follow along for the next few weeks, and see you there!
Check out more great reads from the NPR network you may have missed:
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➡️ In recent months, professional airplane enthusiast Nick Benson started using an app to track Immigration and Customs Enforcement flights in and out of Minneapolis. Frustrated with the Trump administration’s lack of transparency, Benson and other local activists have meticulously logged every flight they can. In January alone, there were 42 flights. Here’s what else he has discovered.
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Pod Club
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Thanks for tuning in last week to the Short Wave episode, “What drives animals to your yard? It's complicated.” It discusses why small-scale environmental changes, such as urbanization and development, are displacing local wildlife. NPR listener Philip Poulos says he sees wildlife in his yard, including a large turtle and ducks, because he lives near a lake.
Today, we’re listening to an Alt.Latinoepisode all about Bad Bunny. The Puerto Rican megastar made history when his album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS became the first Spanish-language album to win the Grammy for album of the year. Today, he headlines the Super Bowl. Host Anamaria Sayre and reporter Isabella Gomez Sarmiento discuss what these two moments mean for Bad Bunny, Puerto Rico and Latin music's role in America. Listen to the episode of read the transcript here.
Love podcasts? For handpicked episode recommendations every week, check out Pod Club — a newsletter written FOR podcast fans BY podcast fans. Subscribe here!
It's time for the Sunday Puzzle! For this week's on-air challenge, the suffix -IUM ends the names of most metallic elements. But it's also the ending of other words that aren't elements. Answer these clues for them. For example, if the clue is “boredom,” the answer is “tedium.” Test your skills here. Check the page later to hear the answers, or catch them live on Weekend Edition at 8:41 a.m. ET.
This week's online challenge comes from Michael Schwartz, of Florence, Ore. Name something in seven letters that's designed to help you lose weight. Insert the letters EP somewhere inside this word to get a two-word phrase naming things that are likely to add weight. What words are these? Submit your answer here, and you could win a chance to play next Sunday's on-air puzzle.
