'Simultaneously Inspired And Enraged'

Cloe Axelson on "LFG," a new film about women in soccer and what it means (and feels like) to be a woman in a man's world. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  [View in Browser]( | [Donate [WBUR]]( [WBUR](  [WBUR]( July 25, 2021 Dear Cog reader, The Tokyo Olympics are going to be … weird. No spectators. No cow bells. None of the usual cavorting and debauchery in the Olympic Village. The pandemic is to blame, of course. Cases are rising in Japan, where only about 20% of people are vaccinated; 71 (and counting) athletes have already tested positive for COVID-19. Cog contributor E.M. Swift covered the games 15 times during his tenure at Sports Illustrated. He [wrote]( about the pitfalls of this year’s games — and why he’ll be tuning in anyway. I (Cloe) [wrote my own]( essay this week, on a topic I’ve written about before: the U.S. women’s national soccer team (USWNT). I’ve been a huge fan of the team for (gulp) 25 years, when I got to see them play in Atlanta, at the 1996 Olympics. It’s been a love affair ever since — and it’s always been about more than the soccer. The players on the current team are suing the U.S. Soccer Federation for gender discrimination. If you’re curious about the story behind the lawsuit, I highly recommend the new documentary “[LFG]( (it will enrage and inspire). To to sum it up: The women do it better and get paid less. Sadly, this is similar to the experience many women have in the workplace, which is why it feels like there’s so much at stake during every match. No surprise: I fully support the team’s fight for equal pay. But I also love this sisterhood of women for what they represent: athleticism, strength and grit. I was a college athlete and these days I have three little girls at home. It seems to me that as girls become women, we’re encouraged to leave our fierce physicality behind. Seeing Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Carli Lloyd sprint, thump their chests, yell and slide tackle is freeing to me. I want my girls to know their physical power too, and be able to sustain it. (The [essay]( also includes a picture of high school me!) Whether or not you plan to watch the Games in Tokyo, we wish you a relaxing weekend. Forgive us, but LFG. — Cloe Axelson and Frannie Carr Toth Cognoscenti editors newsletters@wbur.org Must Reads url[The U.S. Women's Soccer Team Is All Of Us. Come On, Ladies, 'LFG']( The U.S. Women's fight for pay equity is the latest battle in a never-ending war to prove that women are good enough, writes Cloe Axelson. [Read more](.   #%23%23[Twitter](  #%23%23[Facebook](    [From Sarajevo To Athens, I've Covered 15 Olympic Games. Here's What We'll Miss In Tokyo]( During his career with Sports Illustrated, E.M. Swift covered 15 Olympic Games. Most of the pleasantries of years past won't be present in Tokyo this summer, he writes. [Read more](. [A Plague Of Vaccine Skeptics]( Millions of Americans are refusing to accept a free, life-saving vaccine at the behest of various political and media demagogues, writes Steve Almond. Our fanatical loyalty to free speech is killing people. [Read more](.  Support the news [Billionaires In Space Are Costing Lives On Earth]( The real innovation we need is not a business plan for space tourism, writes Abby Maxman, it is a fair tax system to curb inequality and invest in the health, safety and education of people on Earth. [Read more](. [The State's $611 Million Plan Doesn't Do Enough For Our Youngest Children, Or Their Teachers]( If we want to rebound from the trauma of the pandemic, writes Dr. Donna Housman, we must build a system that addresses the emotional competencies of young children, and supports their educators and caregivers. [Read more](. [Stories Help Me Cope With My Cancer. They Can Help Us Through The Pandemic]( We’re not going to forget what we’ve been through, writes psychiatrist Adam Stern. Instead, our narratives will become part of us. [Read more](. What We're Reading "Editing the final details of one’s life is like editing a story for the final time. It’s the last shot an editor has at making corrections, the last rewrite before the roll of the presses. It’s more painful than I anticipated to throw away files and paperwork that seemed critical to my survival just two weeks ago, and today, are all trash. Like the manual for the TV that broke down four years ago, and notebooks for stories that will never be written, and from former girlfriends, letters whose value will plummet the day I die. Filling wastebasket after wastebasket is a regrettable reminder that I have squandered much of my life on trivia." -- "[I just learned I only have months to live. This is what I want to say]( The Boston Globe. "'In the best of times, there is untreated mental illness,' said Susan Borja, the chief of the National Institute of Mental Health’s Dimensional Traumatic Stress Research Program. 'Even a small increase in the rates of people with new or worsening mental illness is going to be a problem.' And with the pandemic, 'it has been the entire country' facing new stressors, Borja said." -- "[As the Covid-19 crisis ebbs in the U.S., experts brace for some to experience psychological fallout]( Stat News. "And now all you really see is their fear and their regret. And even though I may walk into the room thinking, ‘Okay, this is your fault, you did this to yourself,’ when I leave the room, I just see a person that's really suffering, and that is so regretful for the choice that they made." -- "[‘I’m sorry, but it’s too late’: Alabama doctor on treating unvaccinated, dying COVID patients]( al.com. ICYMI ['The Phantom Hum': My Tinnitus Is Real. It's Also A Metaphor For Our Time]( What keeps me up at night isn’t an externally generated noise, writes Julie Wittes Schlack. It’s hyper-vigilance, a condition generated by Twitter and Trump and made worse by the pandemic. [Read more](.       If you’d like to write for Cognoscenti, send your submission, pasted into your email and not as an attachment, to opinion@wbur.org. Please tell us in one line what the piece is about, and please tell us in one line who you are. 😎 Forward to a friend. They can sign up [here](. 📣 Give us your feedback: newsletters@wbur.org 📨 Get more WBUR stories sent to your inbox. [Check out all of our newsletter offerings.]( [WBUR]( [WBUR]  [WBUR]( [95289b97-66e8-43d4-a174-3bc3520a79a9.png]( [Instagram](  [Twitter]( [Facebook]( Want to change how you receive these emails? [Stop getting this newsletter by updating your preferences.]( I don't want to hear from WBUR anymore. [Unsubscribe from all newsletters.]( Interested in learning more about corporate sponsorship? [Click here.]( Copyright © 2021 WBUR-FM, All rights reserved. You signed up for this newsletter at wbur.org. Our mailing address is: WBUR-FM 890 Commonwealth AveBoston, MA 02215-1205 [Add us to your address book](