The Winter (Olympics) of Discontent

Mark and Pete · Feb 10, 2026 · 10m · transcript

The Winter Olympics are facing an awkward little problem: winter is increasingly unreliable. In this episode of Mark and Pete, we explore the growing concern that the Winter Games may not have a long-term future, thanks to warming temperatures, shrinking snow seasons, and the rising cost of staging a global sporting spectacle in an era where snow has become a luxury item.

It’s a story that sounds absurd at first, almost like satire. How can the Winter Olympics exist without winter? Yet the facts are stacking up. Fewer countries are willing or able to host the Games, and even traditional…