Keep the Flame Alive
Jill Jaracz & Alison Brown
Recent Episodes
In our final episode on the Sydney 2000 Olympics and Paralympics, Alison is thrilled that the demon chicken has returned to the Paralympic Closing Ceremony. Then Jill looks at the legacy (both good and questionable) of these Games. Were they the greatest Games of all time (at least in 2000)? Listen to find out!
Plus, we look forward to the Winter Olympics we'll cover during our 2026 history-themed shows.
***KEEP OUR FLAME ALIVE:*** Support our fundraiser to bring you the most fun coverage of the Olympics and Paralympics from Milano Cortina 2026. Learn more and give here: https://flamealivepod.com/milano-cortina-fundraiser/
For a complete list of sources used in this episode, visit: https://tinyurl.com/sydney2000sources.
For a transcript of this episode, please visit http://flamealivepod.com.
Thanks so much for listening, and until next time, keep the flame alive!
***
Keep the Flame Alive: Obsessed with the Olympics and Paralympics? Just curious about how Olympic and Paralympic sports work? You've found your people! Join your hosts, Olympic aunties Alison Brown and Jill Jaracz for smart, fun, and down-to-earth interviews with athletes coaches, and the unsung heroes behind the Games. Get the stories you don't find anywhere else. Tun in weekly all year-round, and daily during the Olympics and Paralympics. We're your cure for your Olympic Fever! Call us: (208) FLAME-IT.
***
Support the show: http://flamealivepod.com/support
Bookshop.org store: https://bookshop.org/shop/flamealivepod
Become a patron and get bonus content: http://www.patreon.com/flamealivepod
Buy merch here: https://flamealivepod.dashery.com
Hang out with us online:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flamealivepod
Insta: http://www.instagram.com/flamealivepod
Facebook Group: hhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/flamealivepod
Newsletter: Sign up at https://flamealivepod.substack.com/subscribe
VM/Text: (208) FLAME-IT / (208) 352-6348
On this episode of Keep the Flame Alive, we have conversations with Olympic speed skater Erin Jackson and Olympic short track skater Corinne Stoddard that we had at the Team USA Media Summit.
Follow Erin and Corinne on social:
Erin:
https://www.twitter.com/@ErinJackson480
https://www.instagram.com/@speedyj
https://www.facebook.com/ErinJackson480/
https://www.youtube.com/US%20Speedskating
https://sites.google.com/site/jacksonerin5032/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinjackson480
https://www.tiktok.com/@ErinJacksonSkates
Corinne:
https://www.instagram.com/c0rie815/
https://www.tiktok.com/@fastbutunstable
https://www.facebook.com/share/1B8epkSqbg
Alison reports back from a Milano Cortina 2026 talk on branding, where she learned about the thinking that went into the look of these Winter Olympics.
We have plenty of news about Milano Cortina, including the torch relay ceremony, the victory ceremony uniforms, woes about the ice hockey stadium, results from the speed skating test event, the Cortina Athletes Village, and woes about the construction delays of a gondola from Cortina to Tofane. Read more about the gondola here:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/28/sport/olympics-2026-cortina-ticket-sales-cap-intl
Plus, LA 2028 has a new sponsor, and SLC 2034 has a new name! And we travel to TKFLASTAN to get the latest from Team Keep the Flame Alive.
For a transcript of this episode, please visit http://flamealivepod.com.
Thanks so much for listening, and until next time, keep the flame alive!
***
Keep the Flame Alive: Obsessed with the Olympics and Paralympics? Just curious about how Olympic and Paralympic sports work? You've found your people! Join your hosts, Olympic aunties Alison Brown and Jill Jaracz for smart, fun, and down-to-earth interviews with athletes coaches, and the unsung heroes behind the Games. Get the stories you don't find anywhere else. Tun in weekly all year-round, and daily during the Olympics and Paralympics. We're your cure for your Olympic Fever! Call us: (208) FLAME-IT.
***
Support the show: http://flamealivepod.com/support
Bookshop.org store: https://bookshop.org/shop/flamealivepod
Become a patron and get bonus content: http://www.patreon.com/flamealivepod
Buy merch here: https://flamealivepod.dashery.com
Hang out with us online:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flamealivepod
Insta: http://www.instagram.com/flamealivepod
Facebook Group: hhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/flamealivepod
Newsletter: Sign up at https://flamealivepod.substack.com/subscribe
VM/Text: (208) FLAME-IT / (208) 352-6348
Book Club Claire joins us for a discussion of Seth Berkman's 2019 book A Team of Their Own: How an International Sisterhood Made Olympic History, about the 2018 Winter Olympic Korean women's unified ice hockey team. This story happened during the podcast's lifetime. What did we remember? What was new news? Did we fall for the IOC's unification propaganda?
Plus, our Milano Cortina 2026 sliding novela comes to a close and the torch is lit!
In other Games news: LA 2028 opened an intent form for those interested in volunteering. Learn more here: https://la28.org/en/volunteer.html
***KEEP OUR FLAME ALIVE:*** Support our fundraiser to bring you the most fun coverage of the Olympics and Paralympics from Milano Cortina 2026. Learn more and give here: https://flamealivepod.com/milano-cortina-fundraiser/
For a transcript of this episode, please visit http://flamealivepod.com.
Thanks so much for listening, and until next time, keep the flame alive!
Note: Links to products are affiliate links. We earn commissions through purchases made through them, which helps to fund the show.
***
***
Keep the Flame Alive: Obsessed with the Olympics and Paralympics? Just curious about how Olympic and Paralympic sports work? You've found your people! Join your hosts, Olympic aunties Alison Brown and Jill Jaracz for smart, fun, and down-to-earth interviews with athletes coaches, and the unsung heroes behind the Games. Get the stories you don't find anywhere else. Tun in weekly all year-round, and daily during the Olympics and Paralympics. We're your cure for your Olympic Fever! Call us: (208) FLAME-IT.
***
Support the show: http://flamealivepod.com/support
Bookshop.org store: https://bookshop.org/shop/flamealivepod
Become a patron and get bonus content: http://www.patreon.com/flamealivepod
Buy merch here: https://flamealivepod.dashery.com
Hang out with us online:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flamealivepod
Insta: http://www.instagram.com/flamealivepod
Facebook Group: hhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/flamealivepod
Newsletter: Sign up at https://flamealivepod.substack.com/subscribe
VM/Text: (208) FLAME-IT / (208) 352-6348
We're exploring the worlds of Olympic and Paralympic ice hockey this week! First, the women's Rivalry Series between Team USA and Team Canada came through Cleveland. Jill got to attend a practice and the game. Along the way, she interviewed goalie Ava Mc Naughton and defensive player Rory Guilday.
Next we have para ice hockey interviews from the Team USA Media Summit, where Alison talked with two-time Paralympic defenseman Jack Wallace, and then we both chatted with three-time Paralympian Declan Farmer and one-time Paralympian Malik Jones.
Plus so much news from Milano Cortina 2026 (kits! torch relay!), LA 2028 (competition schedules!) and Team Keep the Flame Alive.
Follow our athletes on social:
We want to know if you are a Milano or a Cortina! Let us know by helping us raise funds to cover the production costs of our Milano Cortina 2026 coverage, which includes at least 32 daily episodes (and probably 100+ escapades that only your favorite Olympic and Paralympic aunties can get into). We need your support to make this coverage happen. Please make a contribution here: https://flamealivepod.com/milano-cortina-fundraiser/
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Rivalry Series: https://teamusa.usahockey.com/202526rivalryseries
- Canadian 2026 Kit: https://olympic.ca/2025/11/18/born-to-explore-team-canada-x-lululemon-reveal-milano-cortina-2026-athlete-kit/
- Australian 2026 Kit: https://www.olympics.com.au/news/australian-winter-olympic-team-uniform-revealed/
- Milano Cortina 2026 Volunteer Kit: https://www.olympics.com/en/milano-cortina-2026/press-kits/press-kit-volunteers-and-workforce-uniforms-unveiling
- Closing Ceremony stage: https://www.olympics.com/en/milano-cortina-2026/press-kits/press-kit-olympic-closing-ceremony
- Milano Cortina 2026 Torch Relay website: https://www.olympics.com/en/milano-cortina-2026/olympic-torch-relay
- 2026 Olympics app: https://olympics.app.link/JxbKUIhFxRb
- LA 2028 volunteer program: https://la28.org/en/volunteer.html
- LA 2027 competition schedules: https://la28.org/en/games-plan.html#competition-schedule
- "Kickin' it with Kenny": https://youtu.be/biRAFXJk4Qk?si=iv6c6_8rVXK760te
For a transcript of this episode, please visit http://flamealivepod.com.
Thanks so much for listening, and until next time, keep the flame alive!
Photos: Jill Jaracz, Alison Brown
***
Keep the Flame Alive: Obsessed with the Olympics and Paralympics? Just curious about how Olympic and Paralympic sports work? You've found your people! Join your hosts, Olympic aunties Alison Brown and Jill Jaracz for smart, fun, and down-to-earth interviews with athletes coaches, and the unsung heroes behind the Games. Get the stories you don't find anywhere else. Tun in weekly all year-round, and daily during the Olympics and Paralympics. We're your cure for your Olympic Fever! Call us: (208) FLAME-IT.
***
Support the show: http://flamealivepod.com/support
Bookshop.org store: https://bookshop.org/shop/flamealivepod
Become a patron and get bonus content: http://www.patreon.com/flamealivepod
Buy merch here: https://flamealivepod.dashery.com
Hang out with us online:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flamealivepod
Insta: http://www.instagram.com/flamealivepod
Facebook Group: hhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/flamealivepod
Newsletter: Sign up at https://flamealivepod.substack.com/subscribe
VM/Text: (208) FLAME-IT / (208) 352-6348
In our penultimate episode of our Sydney 2000 Games history series, Jill takes a look at the Olympic rowing competition, specifically the women's coxless pairs race, which featured Missy Schwen-Ryan and Karen Kraft from the USA racing for the gold that eluded them at Atlanta 1996, even though Schwen-Ryan was missing something.
Watch that race here: https://youtu.be/xYPyReaxjyY?si=-jCqJHlMQJUw60sL
Then Alison tries to decipher the fever dream that was the Olympics Closing Ceremony, which you can watch in its full glory here: https://youtu.be/TlOTGzPZvfw?si=FuaWrkkvGG5UwLqQ
***Much like the American coxless pairs team, we're also bootstrapping our way to the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Help us get to Milano Cortina so that we can bring you 32 days of daily episodes that will tell you what it's really like at the Games. Tell us whether you're a Milano or a Cortina here: https://flamealivepod.com/milano-cortina-fundraiser/
For a complete list of sources used in this episode, visit: https://tinyurl.com/sydney2000sources.
For a transcript of this episode, please visit http://flamealivepod.com.
Thanks so much for listening, and until next time, keep the flame alive!
***
Keep the Flame Alive: Obsessed with the Olympics and Paralympics? Just curious about how Olympic and Paralympic sports work? You've found your people! Join your hosts, Olympic aunties Alison Brown and Jill Jaracz for smart, fun, and down-to-earth interviews with athletes coaches, and the unsung heroes behind the Games. Get the stories you don't find anywhere else. Tun in weekly all year-round, and daily during the Olympics and Paralympics. We're your cure for your Olympic Fever! Call us: (208) FLAME-IT.
***
Support the show: http://flamealivepod.com/support
Bookshop.org store: https://bookshop.org/shop/flamealivepod
Become a patron and get bonus content: http://www.patreon.com/flamealivepod
Buy merch here: https://flamealivepod.dashery.com
Hang out with us online:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flamealivepod
Insta: http://www.instagram.com/flamealivepod
Facebook Group: hhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/flamealivepod
Newsletter: Sign up at https://flamealivepod.substack.com/subscribe
VM/Text: (208) FLAME-IT / (208) 352-6348