The Mirror Test, Doping in Sports

The Mirror Test Guest: J. Kael Weston, Former State Department Official, Author of “The Mirror Test: America at War in Iraq and Afghanistan” Kael Weston spent seven years as a State Department official in the most dangerous parts of America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Think of it. Not just a few weeks off and on. Not even an 18-month deployment. Weston was at the frontlines of the wars for seven consecutive years. He saw unspeakable things. He recruited school teachers and local leaders to work with America in rebuilding communities. He saw those collaborators killed for working with him. He made decisions that resulted in the death of US troops, too.  Doping in the Olympics Guest: Charles Yesalis, PhD, Expert on the Use of Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Sports, Emeritus Professor of Health and Human Development at Penn State University The 2016 Summer Games in Rio featured a lot of finger-wagging and audience booing about the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Outspoken American swimmer Lilly King literally shook her finger at Russian rival Yulia Efimova, who was allowed to compete despite being implicated in a Russian doping investigation and serving two suspensions for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs during her career. Doping was bound to be a big story in Rio because of two high-profile reports released just before the Olympics showing evidence of a sophisticated system facilitated by the Russian government to ensure its athletes could dope without being caught. None of Russia’s track and field athletes were even allowed to compete in Rio. Others from the country, like Efimova, did compete, though under a cloud of suspicion. After her events were over, she told USA Today the public shaming made the Olympics a nightmare for her.