Gimlet/Spotify's NOT PAST IT Podcast Spotlights Olympic GOAT Jessie Owens

 As the 2020 (AKA 2021) Olympics continue with its Track & Field competition this week, this week’s episode from the Gimlet/Spotify podcast Not Past It, now available on Spotify HERE, revisits the story of an iconic African American track and field Olympic Gold Medalist Jesse Owens. 

 Born James Cleveland Owens, the track star was called “J.C.” by his family. On his first day at Bolton Elementary School after moving to Cleveland at age 9, the teacher misheard his Alabama drawl and thought he said his name was “Jesse” instead of “J.C.” Owens was too shy to correct his new teacher in front of his new classmates, and he was called “Jesse” for the rest of his life.

 Owens was eventually awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1976 by President Ford. Today, the Jesse Owens Award is given out annually to the top track and field athlete in the United States.

Not Past It host Simone Polanen revisits the story of the world-record-shattering runner from Alabama and one of the greatest athletes in the history of The Ohio State University, who arrived at the 1936 Berlin Games greeted by enthusiastic fans and high expectations. Jesse Owens left Berlin as an international star through his dominating performance, winning 4 gold medals in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, the long jump and the 4x100 relay.  

 And while Hitler himself famously snubbed Owens by refusing to shake his hand at the games, it was the snubs Owens received at home in the U.S. that he was most affected by. After the parades and celebrations, Owens quickly went from being treated as an American hero to facing the realities of being a Black man in segregated America. He had hoped to leverage his international success and medals for his country into a viable career, and struggled for many years.

Ever wonder why the world is the way it is? Like, 1000s of years of humanity and this is the version of the world we came up with. This one? Same. Each Wednesday on Not Past It host Simone Polanen will pick a moment from that very same week in history -- and tell you how it shaped our lives today.

 Now 85 years later, America is still grappling with how we treat our Olympic athletes, and especially our Black athletes. Host Polanen weaves together the experience of Jesse Owens with the present day experience of Simone Biles, and opines on how Americans treat, value and allow these great athletes to be human. 

This podcast encompasses the intellectual curiosity and refusal to sugarcoat history that makes it a compelling listen and endlessly thought-provoking. Check out past episodes on astronaut Sally Ride, the genesis of the PG-13 movie rating, how a pitcher threw a no-hitter on LSD, and how Kellogg's Cornflakes and eugenics are connected.

One little-known act about the 1936 Olympics was that German shoemaker Adolf “Adi” Dassler lobbied not only German athletes, but Jessie Owens as well, to wear his personally handcrafted leather track shoes with extra long spikes. Owens' triumph helped to launch his business, and a decade later Dassler would start his own company—Adidas.