What A Day - On The Ground At Tokyo 2020

Episode Date: July 29, 2021

This year's Olympics is like no other, taking place in the midst of a pandemic, and in a city under a state of emergency in response to rising COVID-19 cases. We talked to The Washington Post's Ava Wallace about what it's like to report on the games this year, but also, the overall experience for her, for athletes, and for Tokyo residents at-large.Democratic donor Ed Buck was convicted in federal court on Tuesday in connection with the death-by-overdose of two Black gay men who he injected with methamphetamine. We discuss the significance of the conviction, and what the long road to accountability says about the way our justice system treats Black gay men.And in headlines: Tunisia’s president seizes judicial power, Activision Blizzard employees stage a walkout, and Hobby Lobby’s $1.6M Gilgamesh tablet is confiscated by the government.Show Notes:Washington Post: coverage by Ava Wallace – https://wapo.st/3BUVgmiFollow Ava Wallace on Twitter – https://twitter.com/AvaRWallaceFor a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

it's thursday july 29th i'm gideon resnick i'm trevelle anderson and this is what a day where we are looking for a new apartment in a sports stadium that we can live in like kanye yes you know the smell of a locker room after the game is what i need to motivate me to be my most creative self if i am not within 30 feet of a Nathan's hot dog, I can't work. Sorry. Okay. First things first here, Travelle, you have been with us regularly for the past month. That is not a coincidence because let's go ahead and make this thing official.

You are a permanent part of the WOD squad. It is time for the ceremonial tattoo and our regular blood sacrifice. Well, I don't remember that being in the contract, but I am excited to be here. Also excited for you, Gideon, and all the folks that are listening, because you will be able to get some of my brilliance every Thursday for the foreseeable future. So buckle up. That is what we are looking for. It has been truly amazing to have you join us, and we are excited for that brilliance to be with us regularly.

Okay, on today's show, Congress has apparently come together on an infrastructure deal, plus employees at Activision Blizzard staged a walkout. But first, a dispatch from the Tokyo Olympics. I spit in a tube now every four days. That's the thing I look forward to the most. Yes. So context there. That is my dear friend Ava Wallace, an amazing reporter for The Washington Post, who has been in Tokyo covering the Olympics and doing what she just said.

And I caught up with her yesterday to learn about the protocols that she's had to take to cover the games, like frequent testing, but also the overall experience for her, for athletes and the city at large. To refresh here, Tokyo is currently in a state of emergency in response to rising COVID cases. And just yesterday, the city logged its highest number of new positive cases ever, even as no Olympic athletes did. And Travelle, for people like Wallace,

there are a lot of precautions that are in place, of course, some that are adhered to strictly, others that are less so. She told me, for instance, about this Japanese government app on her phone that has her medical info and where she is supposed to record her temperature

and another app, actually, that tracks her movement at all times. But Wallace also said these rules that she follows put her in a kind of fragile bubble while the rest of Tokyo suffers. I was talking to one of my friends who's a Japanese reporter last night and she was saying, so basically they've jacked up highway tolls to try to dissuade people from adding to Olympic traffic and stuff like that. And she was like, yeah, so I got on the subway and everybody's on the subway because we can't drive anywhere. Yeah, so it's just there. It seems to be this like dichotomy that kind of doesn't really square of like, you're doing all these COVID measures that don't

seem to be that well enforced or seem to be protecting the people in this country. Well, governments not knowing how to protect people. What a concept. So if that's what she goes through as a reporter, what does this mean for the athletes? Because they obviously have had to go through testing too, but there have been no spectators to provide them that, you know, outside joy and energy either. Yeah, that's right. I mean, one example that she talked about was how much of a bummer it was for people to miss out in person on Japanese athletes that are winning all these medals. It's definitely very sad, mainly because Japan keeps like, they keep winning really incredible

stuff like the softball game versus the USA. I mean, we all of us were saying like, Oh my god, the crowd would be going insane. Like I covered Japan men's basketball's first game since 1976. Like that would have been so awesome to have fans in that arena. I guess the thing that makes me a little weepy is like, you still see the emotion on the athletes faces like yes, it would be very different. But like, it's so awesome to watch people win Olympic medals. Like it's still really, really cool. So you definitely wish people could be there to see it. Yeah, there definitely seems to be a different energy to the Olympic Games this year because of that. And the challenge, right, of these Olympics is that these pandemic driven factors

are coming on top of the enormous pressure that is already there for these athletes. That led to this big conversation about mental health, driven largely by gymnast Simone Biles. She withdrew from the team finals earlier this week and from today's individual all-around competition. Yeah, that's right. And in some of the comments that Biles was making, she talked about having a case of the quote-unquote twisties. And in gymnastics, that's basically losing where you physically are midair, which is obviously terrifying and really dangerous for Biles, who already performed some of the sport's most challenging skills. And then that kind of gets inside your head, and it's sometimes also random in terms of when it can actually happen. And Wallace told me that

the Olympic community overall rallied around Biles, and that they felt like they could easily relate to that sentiment. Was there some sort of mental block where all of a sudden she's just starting to overthink all of the moves that she's done, you know, for the previous however many years of her life? A kind of shocking amount, number of Olympians that I was talking to today, other Olympians brought that up. Like, yeah, that's happened to me a lot where the things that you do every day over and over and over again, one little tweak can go wrong. One minor circumstance can change and all of a sudden it's completely different or you're just thinking way too much about it or you're feeling so much about it. So I think that kind of folds into like this cauldron of pressure that is the Olympic Games and like just what these athletes kind of have to do day in and day out.

I'm definitely not sure I would want to, you know, shoulder that level of pressure. No, absolutely not. And one more thing that Wallace told me that I thought was kind of interesting or her view on this whole thing. She was talking about the fact that on top of all that extraordinary pressure, if there could be even more for all of these athletes, she was mentioning that Biles and other black female athletes are be even more for all of these athletes. She was mentioning that Biles and other black female athletes are under even more. I also thought about Simone Manuel, the black U.S. swimmer,

who said, you know, she had an awful time with the pandemic and just kind of like couldn't train and has been forcing herself to swim and still doing it. I thought about Sha'Carri Richardson, who, you know, was dealing with the loss of her mother and smoked a joint and got, you know, the 30-day suspension that got her kicked off the team. It's like we we now as a society latch on to a lot of these black women in the way that we didn't before for a multitude of reasons. But we haven't caught up in giving black women better access to mental health resources or to getting black women in the upper echelon of National Sporting Federation so that, you know, there are higher ups and people with actual power in your sport who are advocating for you and stuff like that. Like there's no safety net.

But more and more, we're kind of elevating these Black athletes and Black women in particular as the saviors of their sport. Yeah, there definitely has been a lot of conversation lately about this particular aspect, the ways in which we uplift these black women, but like don't provide necessary support for them. Yeah, that's absolutely right. So we're going to have a link in our show notes to a story about what those twisties are, as well as Ava's reporting and her social media, and hopefully have her back on soon. Turning back to the U.S., Travelle, there's a story that you've been following out of Los Angeles. It is pretty grisly, and it's about the deaths of two Black men. So tell us what happened there. Yes. So on Tuesday, well-known Democratic donor Ed Buck was convicted in federal court

in connection with the death by overdose of two Black gay men, 26-year-old Jamel Moore, who died in 2017, and 55-year-old Timothy Dean, who died in 2019. A jury found Buck guilty of supplying the methamphetamine that killed Moore and Dean in his West Hollywood apartment. Yeah, and this is a really, really shocking story, also because of how much it took to get justice for these victims. And Ed Buck just seemed to sort of evade the law for so long. So can you give us more of the backstory? For sure.

So Ed Buck, prior to this case, was known in the L.A. area and beyond as a vocal activist for various causes. Back in the 80s, for example, he gained national attention for successfully spearheading the effort to impeach Arizona's then governor, Evan Mecham. He eventually made his way to West Hollywood and unsuccessfully ran for city council back in 2007, but still maintained a presence in relevant political circles. According to the Los Angeles Times, from 2009 to 2019, Buck donated more than $520,000 to local, state, and federal campaigns, with his main focus on LGBTQ rights and animal rights. Apparently, he really loves goading retrievers or something like that. Turns out, though, he also has an obsession with exploiting and abusing black gay men. Right. And this was the focus of the trial.

So tell us more about the events that led to his conviction. So in 2017, the body of Jamel Moore was found in Buck's apartment, along with nearly two grams of meth, syringes, and other drug paraphernalia. Though his death was initially ruled accidental, Moore's family and local activists raised concerns that Buck might have administered the drugs himself. Those allegations were confirmed by a journal that was found in Jamel's belongings, in which he wrote, quote, I've become addicted to drugs and the worst one at that.

Ed Buck is the one to thank. He gave me my first injection of crystal meth. Oh, that is horrifying and so sad. And none of this, by the way, seemingly was enough to charge Ed Buck at the time. Then, two years later, another black gay man was found dead in Buck's apartment, Timothy Dean. He also died from a drug overdose. Mind you, Buck was apparently known for soliciting men, often targeting those who engaged in survival sex work or were houseless. And he advertised his

interest in party and play on the gay hookup site, Adam for Adam. Party and play, for the straights listening, is a term in community to mean like the use of drugs during sexual encounters. Right. And so despite these deaths, it still took so much public pressure for Buck to get charged. I think I know why, but tell us why. According to activists, they say it's because Buck was a well-connected white man. Surprise, surprise. Not to mention, in case folks haven't been paying attention over the last year in particular, there are a lot of people who don't really care about black folks, especially if you're queer or a sex worker or houseless or poor. Here's journalist and advocate Jasmine

Kanick, who has kept this story alive for the past four years, just moments after the verdict was read out. We have a council member behind you at City Hall named Paul Koretz, who told a group of people that all of Ed Buck's victims were nothing but disadvantaged Black hustlers. And that is how a lot of the politicians looked at his victims, which is why they, like Paul Koretz, never returned his money, never even tried to acknowledge this case. Boo on the Democratic Party, of which I'm a member of, because like Sammy said, it wasn't just the investigators and the sheriff's department. It was the politician. It was the media worried about getting sued by Ed Buck. It was everybody. And so I think we all feel vindicated today. Wow. Ed Buck's victims, by the way, include numerous Black gay men beyond Jamel

Moore and Timothy Dean. Those are just the names of the folks who died that we know of. I should also note that local prosecutors declined to charge Ed Buck at a point. It was only after a third man's near fatal overdose at the hands of Buck in 2019 that he was arrested and eventually charged by federal prosecutors with a total of nine felonies. Yeah, wow. And he was convicted on all of those counts earlier this week. So what did protesters and the victim's friends and family have to say? Let's take a listen to Jamel Moore's mother and Timothy Dean's sister's moments after the verdict was read out.

Today is bittersweet. Today is the day that my son was murdered when he left my house four years ago. But we got victory today. As I leave L.A., going back home, I thank everybody that has helped keep us strong throughout the three weeks that we've been here. At Buck, I'm so happy that he will never see the light of day again. This trial was overwhelming. It was grueling. This man did some terrible things to human beings. As you can hear, they were happy with the case's outcome and that Buck is finally being held accountable. Though a sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled, Buck faces between 20 years to life in federal prison. Yeah, and Travelle, this is a story that you followed for many years now.

So what are your own thoughts about all this? Yeah, I was still working at the LA Times during Jamel Moore's death. And I remember how difficult it was to get any sort of substantive coverage of this story. This is one of those instances where classism and privilege and racism and homophobia all intersect. And it's just but one example of the forms of violence and marginalization

that black LGBTQ plus people specifically sometimes experience. And so I'll just leave it at a quote that Jasmine Kanick recently tweeted, which was, quote, I hope that black gay men everywhere know that it doesn't matter if they're sex workers, escorts, gay, HIV positive, poor, unhoused, or even addicted to meth. Their life matters. And that's the latest for now.

We'll be back after a few ads. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines. Tunisia is facing a lot of political uncertainty as the country's president continues to oust even more top government officials. Over the weekend, President Kayyid Saeed fired the country's prime minister and suspended the elected parliament for a month. Just yesterday, Saeed purged senior officials from office, including prosecutors and judges, clearing the way for him to take on certain judicial powers. His moves have been widely described as a coup, considering that he threatened the use of military force and used his authority to influence critical media outlets.

But a majority of Tunisians have been supportive thus far. Before the political crackdown, hundreds of people took to the streets to protest against the government's handling of the pandemic. Saeed used this sentiment against the unpopular ruling party as a justification for his decisions. A bipartisan group of senators finally reached a deal on an infrastructure package, and they voted to take it up yesterday with 17 Republicans on board. The bill is expected to be around $1.2 trillion over the next eight years. Some of the items that are in it include $110 billion for roads, bridges, and other projects, $73 billion for power and clean energy, and $66 billion for trains and rails. According to the senators involved, it will be partially paid for by funds from combating

fraud and unemployment assistance programs. The Congressional Budget Office will also determine the price tag soon as well. In a separate bill, Senate Democrats are trying to come to an agreement on a $3.5 trillion spending package, which includes what Biden has been calling, quote, human infrastructure. Things like health care programs, child care and climate change provisions. The little things we have to think about. Activision Blizzard employees in Irvine, California staged a walkout yesterday demanding more equitable working conditions for women and other marginalized groups. The organizers have four demands for management, including ending mandatory arbitration clauses in employee contracts, improving diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, publishing compensation data, and hiring third-party HR auditors.

This comes after California sued the company last week for the company's, quote, pervasive frat boy culture of sexual harassment and rampant discrimination. Activision initially claimed that the lawsuit contained distorted descriptions of Blizzard's past and its original response, but has since announced they will be investigating each claim and taking decisive action. The country's nosiest arts and crafts store, Hobby Lobby, had to forfeit a religious artifact worth $1.6 million. In 2014, the company purchased a 3,500-year-old clay tablet inscribed with part of the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is one of the earliest known works of literature. Hobby Lobby intended to display the piece in the Museum of the Bible, which is a project conceived by the company's billionaire evangelical Christian president.

As you all know, that wasn't part of the divine plan, however, because the Department of Justice determined in 2020 that the tablet had been brought to the U.S. illegally and actually belonged to the government of Iraq. Hobby Lobby handed over the tablet this Monday. Outside of watercolors, motivational cross-stitches, things made out of wicker, and limiting women's rights, Hobby Lobby has dabbled in stolen artifacts for a while. Back in 2017, the company paid a $3 million fine and returned thousands of other artifacts to Iraq.

I'm still stuck on the Museum of the Bible. Do we need that? I think that I'm personally good. I will not be getting tickets, but yeah, that's just me. And those are the headlines. One more thing before we go. If you haven't heard yet, somehow you haven't been paying attention.

We at What A Day want your opinions. We want to know more about you, what you think of our show and what we can do to make it better for you. If you love it, tell us. If you hate it, yeah, okay, still tell us. And as a thank you, we're offering a 20% discount

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what a day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Travell Anderson. I'm Gideon Resnick. And hands off my ancient artifacts, Hobby Lobby. We will not be going to this museum. We're totally good. I'm going to keep the artifacts.

Well, Iraq is going to keep the artifacts, actually. Yes, they will have the final say. Our head writer is John Milstein and our executive producers are Leo Duran, Akilah Hughes, and me. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka.