Can We Keep Getting Faster, Better, Stronger?

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Every four years, the world focuses on Olympic athletes. The pressure is on—for the Gold, instead of the Silver or Bronze—with the expectation of world record performances.  How much longer can this go on? 

The demands on Olympic athletes are more than physical: they are psychological.  And, now that sports are a multi-billion dollar business, they’re economic as well.  Will human beings always be able to be “faster, higher and stronger”--or are we approaching the limits of the human species? 


Credits

Guests:

  • Peter Weyand - Associate Professor of Applied Physiology and Biomechanics at Southern Methodist University
  • Jeff Peakall - Environmental fluid dynamics researcher at the University of Leeds, and Director of the Sorby Environmental Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
  • Janice Forsyth - Director of the International Center for Olympic Studies at Western University in Ontario Canada - @countryclubu
  • Sian Beilock - Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago and author of "Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting it Right When You Have To” - @sianbeilock
  • John Hoberman - University of Texas at Austin

Host:

Warren Olney

Producers:

Caitlin Shamberg, Anna Scott, Katie Cooper