snow everyone help with with western media abandoned the principle of leaving politics out the sports with wal mart green commentary coming for the for the beijing winter olympics kick off. you just come out and say this and i expect those just to believe it. without you showing a shred of evidence that it's actually true. the us state department spokesperson is grilled by journalist a. failing to provide evidence for a sensationalist us claim that rushes preparing a cold flag attack as a pretext to invade ukraine. and crowd funding sites go phone me, delete the donation, paid in support of the focus on team vaccine mandate, protesting canada. the platform claims of the movement is no longer peaceful.

those the headlines just think they must go time, feel free to head over to all the dot com for more on those stories. i'll be back with another look in about an hour this week show the olympics are underway in beijing, where athletes are competing with cove it and the politics of the moment we will take you there. but 1st, spotify in the spotlight. it's the world's biggest music stream. now, weathering a multi $1000000000.00 free speech controversy. i'm holland cook in washington. this is the big picture on our t america. ah neil young's music, his voice protest for decades. some radio stations including the one i was working

at the time band, the song ohio. after the kent state shootings, and now david crosbie, stephen stills and graham nash have rejoined young and joni mitchell among other recording artists telling spotify it may no longer stream their music to protest cobra misinformation, by its podcast or joe rogan. he hosts the joe rogan experience for which spotify paid a re ported, grab the armrest, $100000000.00. it's their most. listen to podcast, rogan, there's been a prominent vaccine skeptic, critical of covert government mandates. when this protests lit up, social media, spotify stock last more than $4000000000.00 in one day after which spotify ceo shared that it's become clear to me, that we have an obligation to do more to provide balance and access to widely accepted information from the medical and scientific communities guiding us through

this, unprecedented time and going forward. this is an evolving safety landscape. and obviously we're going to ball with our 2 and that's a dialogue that we're constantly having with authorities, with experts, with the medical community as well. of course, with the legal community. so this is an important topic, but i don't think it's unique to spotify. i think it through for all platforms. rogan got the memo promising. i will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people's perspectives, so we can maybe find the better point of view. rogan himself caught cove it in his treatment regimen included controversial livestock medication. the ivr met in which he criticized cnn for calling horace d wormer in the ongoing debate as to whether they are or our publishers. what's a social media platform to do?

who better to ask than george farmers, ceo of parlor a free speech focused alternative to network such as twitter and facebook. george, what is your take on the spot of fire, joe rogan situation? well, helen space question. i mean, i think the, the whole situation is highlighted that the, that the corporate battlefield, these days is decided amongst the free speech debate on the free speech debate. and spotify have clearly invested an awful lot of money in j rogan and then now feeling that pressure from both employees and also other produces other produce the music. my opinion is obviously that spotify should allow joe rogan to have a platform, is absolute nonsense to say that he can't have a place to, to spread his, his message, the free speech debate. you know, this is, this is the nexus of it. it dies in the darkness if you don't allow for these

conversations to happen. i think that spotify, i've made the right decision, by allowing him to have to have his focused on the platform if he had, that's definitely the right course of action for them. spotify is a publicly traded company and its stock is now slumping parlor, is privately held. is that an advantage for you? it is. yeah, i mean, you can, it can be, is one of the big advantages of being a private organizations that we don't have to suffer the day to day controversies of shock, stock price on that. that being said, of course, you know, we do feel that the impacts of the wider industry. facebook's earnings down in the last quarter. and of course their stock price is off 25 percent today, which is kind of remarkable. on the largest single drop in market capitalization. ever, i think in that history and that 1st quarter of da use taking down, which is, you know, happy, happy days for us. so, so i'm not losing any sleep over facebook. but i think the sort of high debate is

very, very interesting. and it shows that this free speech issue is at the full front of the tech industry right now. well, as this debate continues, as to whether social media platforms are publishers, the white house seems to think there's no difference here as press secretary gen saki. our hope is that all major tech platforms, and all major new sources for that matter, be responsible and be vigilant to ensure the american people have access to accurate information on something as significant as coven 19. that certainly includes spotty fly. so this disclaimer, it's a positive step, but we want every platform to continue doing more to call out missing from a misinformation. we'll also uplifting, accurate information. george is parlor a platform or a publisher. that is the question all and i mean i think part of proudly bunch is it's platform credentials rather than a publisher label. and the reason being is because we allow for the maximum allowable amount of free speech. we don't sense the conversations we allow overseas

on the platform. you know, this is a very dangerous territory where we're writing right now when the giant tech awfully has the right to sense and control speech. and subjectively make cools as to what is not quote unquote misinformation. that's a very, very dangerous position to be in. and of course you've seen that explode in the last couple of years with the kind of good narrative, whether now back tracking faster than ever before, you know that we have lab. well, that used to be a conspiracy theory. and now of course. ready it's, you know, the, don't the narrative. 2 years ago you'll be shut down on facebook and twitter and all these other platforms. if you put that out there, poller is a platform. we don't sense. we allow you to speak freely. we allow you to grow. and we want to encourage creators to come to the platform to do that. and where's a lot of these other tech platforms now, especially twitter and facebook? definitely. ready trending down the publisher routes rather than the platform. well,

to that point in the back when i 1st launched twitter, it seemed like a wild west and even goes as long as it didn't exceed 140 characters, which donald trump played like a stradivarius. he and others who were band fled elsewhere, including the parlor. how free is free speech on parlour? can any user post any thing there? well, that's a good question. we have community guidelines which we outlined and that freely available on our website. so, you know, you're not allowed to doctor people, you're not allowed to put up intellectual property theft. you are not allowed to incite violence in terms of naming individuals and wanting to help them. so, you know, but the frequently, those are pretty standard, i would say across most websites and industries. any sector in terms of when paula differentiates itself from the main tech giants is what i will call the quote

unquote hate speech area. and the reason for that is because a speech is, of course, is somewhat subjective, which is a casual phrase for, you know, what the tech platforms don't like. it includes these days, many voices of conservative activists who find themselves to be censored on a lot of tech platforms. and now it also extends to what i will call, you know, coded information. because i don't like to love misinformation because again, that's subject to time. but cove it information, you know, this is, this is an area where the tech platforms and now cracking down. paula differentiates and stuff. you can come and speak for you on that. you can come and debate these. i guess you're not going to get censored and you have a lot of allowable areas which you can talk about. well, about those tech giants. you mentioned the after reports that the january 6 rioters organized on parlor and over a dozen other platforms. apple and google dropped yours from their app store is

amazon web services canceled your hosting, amazon than apple. and google are themselves controversial for wielding near monopoly power. and one of the very few things everyone here in washington seems to agree on is the big tech, has gotten too big, has it? yes, it has. the tech is absolutely enormous. now they impact every part of your life. i mean, i, i stage this question to a few of my friends last year. try and name me, try maybe an operating system for a mobile device that sits outside of apple, google, outside of android iris, and most of them are left scratching their heads for ages because they just couldn't think of one. you know, the answer was if you, if you're in the tech world, you know, you would know the linux based system as an operating system outside of the to tech johns. but they are enormous. now there is actually monopoly control. busy and

you've seen these regulations come up in the you particularly where they're trying to take on the monopoly position of some of these tech cooperates. you also saying, washington, do that as well. it's kind of one of the few issues which still attracts bipartisan support. so i think that there is a good argument to be made at the tech johnson very a too big. they need to be shrunk a little bit and perhaps some of their previous acquisitions, exposing that corporate monopoly that they, that they have now. yeah, i think you're right, i've never heard the word linux come up at a cocktail party. podcasting has eliminated the audition. anyone can publish anything in there or podcast about everything. i have spent several decades working in talk radio which has now largely degenerated into an angry one joke act pretty much reverberating with fox news said the night before. george has topic, monotony, cost, legacy media. it's standing as mainstream media. well,

i think that's one of the most insightful questions i've ever been asked for. i, i would actually say that's a very, very interesting person. i think yes, it has to some extent people engage with the digital space because it is refreshing and new as a whole wealth of different experiences and journalistic options. they control from topic monotony is boring. i mean it, it defines itself as being boring and i think to some extent, the concept of what is just being brought costs on the main use channels is not that engaging anymore. people want fall more depth. right? that's why po costing has exploded because people want to get to know people better . you know, you've seen explosion of digital streaming services which allow for far more in depth conversations and far more kind of in depth interviews. that's far more

interesting. i mean, i know myself i'm, i'm a big consumer of in depth interviews rather than short form topic. and i think that that topic monotony only subjects itself to very short form and can, that will just be a regurgitation of whatever the mainstream paper broadcasting news channels. talking about parlor ceo george farmer. thank you for stepping into the big picture . thanks on collin up. we take you to beijing. we're very careful. olympic games are under way. this is the big picture on our t america. ah, humanity always wants the impossible day. first day 8 say to the government, police, public you government b. they say similar to any,

is the aud, please don't touch my, my private life won't pass my business bank, touch my feet. and this is an impossible contradiction. ah ah,

the winter olympics are under way, and beijing, and r t is alexia sh. epsky is there. for decades, the international olympic committee claimed that sports has nothing to do with politics, and all the games or the olympic games are absolutely free of politics. but in the case of beijing 2022 games, it seems like it's a 3 way abas, where politics, sports, and covet, come into one. now of course, we know about the political boy caught several states and not willing to send their leadership into the opening ceremony of the a beijing winter 2022 games. those countries include, of course, the united states, also canada, u. k. and australia jumped in now in the latest news. also denmark and the netherlands refused to send their diplomats to attend the opening ceremony.

even the athletes who are going i getting bombarded by the press not to use their phones, not to open their e mails and be extremely wary off of the fact that they will probably be surveilled upon by the chinese government. and somehow even taking it to a step to far bill any a george soros even compared seating, been the leader of china to adult hitler saying that these games are a good chance for him to use his strict control propaganda. just like out of hitler did in 1936 olympics just before the start of the 2nd world war. and let's of course, not forget the issue of rush this, but dissipation in these games rush is not allowed to fly its flag because of the water decision has several years back. that in fact, 2022 is the last year that russia can perform at international competitions under a different name on a different flag in this case, just like in tokyo, it will be

r o c and one of the prominent wind to athlete. so for russia's history, for figure skating olympic champion, i like say you good in launched an online petition saying that enough is enough that athletes have already suffered enough and that the country should be allowed to fly its flag and sing its national anthem in the olympics. the petition has already been signed by more than 40000 people anti cove. it messes, of course, have been pretty strict in the chinese capital. but sol, horrible wilco especially compared to the arrival when at the airport. the tests were really, really difficult to say. but now every day i leave the hotel i have to say could be c r test. and i'm going to show you just exactly how easy it is to make a lot of us. i have to brent it's mine station and now it's time for some fun. i was sitting in

a booth and doing my cpr test. now. that's it. very simple. and pretty much every half hour. this little chap here is traversing across the hotel space, disinfecting the air. everything is pretty much automated here in beijing. ah, of course i'll be keeping track of everything happening here in beijing for you. alexey rescue r t reporting from the olympic capitol of when to trying to, to a games beijing in china. even with all those pandemic precautions is the virus an olympic x factor. let's has been holden, host of the ultimate sports hub on portable tv ban alexi,

just set the scene for us at beijing, but that's half a world away. what kind of flying bubble was a team usa in getting there and which if any countries, teams are already compromised by coven? well, number one is great to be with you. i'm really looking forward to chatting with you . so thanks for having me. thanks for. com. at any time, it's my pleasure, it's what we do, right. so in terms of the flying bubble, this was the 1st olympics that the u. s. teams, they chartered, and they had some, some teams were mixed in, but they were all us athletes. no outside, no public, they were not mixed in with the outside public. so they did travel that way and obviously the, the way the last 2 years have been and still continue to be. that's what they did. so i can tell you this. there are 3 players on the us team that unfortunately have tested positive. i've talked to 2 of them throughout our interviews in the last 3 weeks. andy mealy, he plays in a k h l for tor petto, and steve can, for who plays for akbar's was 2 men are in china,

they're in protocol. jake sanderson, who in a hockey sense, holland is going to be an amazing n h l player. an amazing part of this team plays in north dakota now was a 5th overall pick a couple years ago. he did not make it the beijing, he's still al a. he's uncovered protocol so it has effect of the u. s. in that way so far we hope that's it. but traditionally they flung commercial a lot of times. yeah. a lot of times they did. yeah. and how about the other countries, are they try to ring what it yeah, yeah, but they are in russia, had some issues to their the russian team who i think going into this thing in the olympics from the games get going for real on the 9th. they're the favorites. they had 6 players that tested positive survey fetterhoff. i'm sure many that follow hockey, know that name the great detroit red wing part of the russian 5. he was one of them along with the key to nestor, off and like jake sanderson for the us team. he's going to be a massive part of their team. he is one of the absolute best offense man, anywhere in the world. i don't care what lead you put him in. this guy's an

unbelievable player. he'll be a huge part of the russian team. those guys have been cleared. they have, excuse me, they have 3 that are released and now headed to beijing. the other 3 or so and protocol for russia, you realize as he picks up this information, you can go for your sports wagering app. bad as far as it's not just the russian hockey team, that's a deep with these k h l players whose games you call on portable t v. here's canadian brandon. yep. who's skating for team china? there's a lot bigger picture than just, you know, come here and is competing the love, you know, we want to grow the sport sport and i fall in love with. and then all of us here to be able to bring that over to my country and really show them what it's all about. if you're a love hockey, yeah. got to watch these games on portable tv benz calling them from back here. but

the national hockey league decided against sending players for team usaid it some one ago. some did want to go including alexander of african who calls his home. your office is here on your show is a 6 blocks down the road from his. he was one of a handful of players that said, i want to go and, you know, i'll, i'll add another layer to that over his said when he retires. and i believe he will break the goal record. i believe he will be the greatest goals score that ever played. by the time he's done. as long as his hell folds up. he said that he wanted to go, and he's always said that once he's done, he wants to go back to russia and play one year with the novel, moscow, and other great team in our league. he talked about it brad, marsha, the boston bruins was very open. he was probably the most open of the n h l players encountering david the great star from the edmonton oilers. he kind of nipped around in a little bit, but he didn't really come out as strongly as marsha did. marsan was the one canadian guy, but still an h. l guy. it wasn't so much the players that didn't want to go. it was

the any challenge go figure this weekend. the n h l is in vegas. they're holding their all star game this weekend. i'm not surprised about the oh vetch can. when you go to a caps game, there just seems to be an envoy. lope of intensity around the captain, we're speaking with the ultimate sports hub, host a ben holden, who's interview with 5 time speeds. gating gold medalist bonnie blair is must see on port about tv. here's a peak. it was special for me to look out into the audience and see all those different emotions because they can safely say that that's what it feels like to winning a gold medal. and i was lucky enough to do it 5 different times. i at 3 different olympics in. yeah. like, you know been there. there is nothing quite like it. i teared up just watching this is the inter we did it the other day she competed in 84889294. and what struck me about your, at times emotional interview with her,

is how much it meant to have her family there, which this year's athletes may not. but vladimir putin is there and meeting with chinese president. she, as ukraine still looms large, how well can athletes tune out that in the diplomatic boycott and no buds in the stands? yeah, it's tough and i think really, you know, there are quite a few guys that are in the men's side of the turn them and even the women side, the women's turn, them it began a couple days ago they've, they've been used to that really. i mean the, some of the, some of the teams in the cage i've had fans and the buildings. but i think at the end of the day they're pro athletes kinda like what you and i do, you block it out, you focus, you just dial in and 0 and it's disappointing from that standpoint. but you know, as far as body goes, i mean i got choked up and she said to me, when i all i asked her was as i said, bonnie, take me back to the moment your 1st time on the podium winning gold because she had

won a bronze also that a lympics and that was really how it started and she is an unbelievable woman. she's one of the greatest olympians ever. and very fortunate to be able to talk with her yesterday. amazing conversation you can find on portable tv. these games are always a showcase for the whole country. has their though historically been a whole my home field, the home court advantage for the whole country's athletes. i mean, i think there can be, i mean, you look at, you know, look at lake, placid and 80, you know, the america, i think that would be the 1st line. that would be the 1st one i was 9, and that's why i fell in love with hockey as an american kid. i love magic johnson . i was 9. i grew up in lansing, michigan. yeah. where magic from when that happened? i felt love. so i think from that standpoint it can be, that was obviously an entirely different time in our, in our country. and there were a lot of things as you all know, going on globally and that impacted not just sports, but it impacted the entire world. and it impacted our entire country. so i think it can. in terms of the men's hockey tournament,

china's got an uphill mountain like no other team has ever had their, their plan against the top 11 teams rank teams in the country. they're 32nd in the world rankings entering the tournament. the u. s. is 7th. i really think russia sweden and finland are the top 3 teams. and i think a lot of that holland is because of all the familiarity that those k h l guys are going to have there. so many guys, the russian teams, all cage, all players. so you have a ton of familiarity. can the us do? well, i think they can, but it's a different piece of puzzle pieces that david quinn's got to put together. he has 15 college guys on his team to go with. the pros am literally out of time, so i need a one word answer your prediction baseball. the schedule says pearson catchers report. february 17. yes or no. and oh no. been holden ultimate sports hub, portable tv. thank you for stepping into the big picture. come again way. you and thank you for watching the big picture. we'll do back same time next week. if you'll watch in real time, our live stream and youtube dot com slash r t america,

and all of my shows are on demand and youtube dot com slash the big picture r t. and i am just proudly part of a vast cast. on the aforementioned portable tv app, free in the app store or google play, or on any connected devices, portable by tv. i am holland cook in washington and ad holland cook on twitter. where if you follow me, i'll follow you question more. ah . a

or fibro ukraine continues unabated with the u. s. and u. k. taking the lead. however, not only from members on board, even ukraine is attempting to dampen expectations of it on conflict with russia. will washington in london get their way in october, 1962 in a period known as the cuban missile crisis united states. and then the soviet union were on the brink of war, 1st floor to february 2022. and the americans and russians find themselves in a similarity powerless situation. this time on the russian ukrainian border will diplomacy as in 960 to be enough to prevent war in 2022.

our come to sophie collision or is me sophie shall not say. and times of trouble way turned to art for comfort or return to literature for wisdom. and my guest today is to world literature, demi urge, master storyteller and noble prize winner, or hunt palmer or hunt, bye milk novelist recipient only a 2006 noble prize in literature. it's really great to have you with us once again . 12 years later. great pleasure. hi. i am also very happy to undress my rights and readers. so i just got my copy add basically 2 days ago, and i'm like, deep into this booker most of the russian readers are gonna get it this week. so it's like a huge thing. let's dive right into this. okay. later, novel that came out in russia nights of plague. it is about a plague outbreak on

a sectional ottoman island. and, you know, using saying and interviews that you pondered on this novel for 40 years and you to, for years to write it. no, pandemic was inside back then. and yet you chose this topic for your book and you sort of hick, the bull's eye with it. isn't a coincidence, or did you see the coin students? but i am in my mind, is busy with the subject of play for the last 40 years. in my earlier books in silent house, there is a historian who's researching it historical ottoman, played on in my right castle, they shorter book and other historical. now that are the scenes of plague in a stumble, i've been thinking about a plague for 40 years because it, at the beginning i thought this is such an opportunity to talk about it. then i change my mind. it wasn't a po for another 20 years. what was a report to think about the right.