Why I Will Watch the Olympics

I’ve watched every Olympics since 1984–when I was 6. Summer. Winter. I’m a fan of the whole thing. I wrote an Olympic short story. I heart the Olympics. This is the first year that my decision to watch feels like a political thing and is something I’ve wrestled with for months now. Russia is doing a terrible job as host, has deplorable human (and animal!) rights issues, and the IOC and USOC have both failed to push them hard enough on the LGBT issues. But can a viewer boycott help?

That’s the...