![Origins at eHistory show](https://d3dthqtvwic6y7.cloudfront.net/podcast-covers/000/053/436/small/origins-at-ehistory.jpg)
Summary: The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games have already generated a great deal of political controversy around the world. Protesters have used the Olympic torch relay as a stage from which to protest China's human rights record, and in response Chinese activists have denounced the protests. This month, historian Al Senn of the University of Wisconsin -- the foremost American historian of the Olympics -- reminds us that the Olympics are no stranger to politics and he puts these current controversies in historical context.