CORTINA 1956 – Cold War, Dolce Vita and Olympic Dreams | Book presentation

CORTINA 1956 – Cold War, Dolce Vita and Olympic Dreams

Book presentation with author

Andrea Goldstein

and

Amy Bass
professor of sport studies
at Manhattanville University

Moderator
Claudio Pagliara
Director Italian Cultural Institute in NY

Seventy years after Cortina 1956, the Olympic flame returns to the Dolomites with Milan Cortina 2026. Andrea Goldstein‘s essay, Cortina 1956. An Olympics between the Cold War and the Dolce Vita, recalls that event that marked post-war Italy, spanning sport, international politics, and social life.

About the book: Tenley Albright – who had started skating as a child to recover from polio and won the gold medal despite a serious injury just days before the competition – and Prince Bertil of Sweden – who made sure slope salters and sled drivers were invited to his gala reception. Toni Sailer – who entered history by winning all the Alpine ski races by monstrous margins – and Sophia Loren – who arrived with the few things necessary for a couple of days crammed into seven fiery red trunks. Eugenio Monti – who on his home bobsleigh track collected the first laurels of a career that ended 12 years later, at the age of 40, with two Olympic gold medals – and Lester Rodney – who in the middle of the Cold War covered the Soviet triumphs for the daily paper of the American Communist Party. These are but some of the protagonists of the first Olympics organized in Italy, in the midst of an economic boom, just 11 years after the end of the Second World War. But they were also the first to be broadcast live on television, the first in which a woman read the athletes’ oath, the first in which the two Germanys competed under the same flag, the first with a strong business involvement. The story of Cortina 1956 ranges from sports to economics, from politics to social life, in an ideal journey that leads from those unforgettable Games to Milan Cortina 2026. Milan Cortina 2026.

Andrea Goldstein has a three-decade career in global governance, including at the OECD Economics Department in Paris, UNESCAP in Seoul and the World Bank in Washington. He also worked at Nomisma in Bologna and the Italian Securities and Exchange Commission in Rome. In addition to 14 OECD Economic and Investment Reviews, Andrea has authored more than 10 books and 30 academic articles on emerging economies, international investment, and the political economy of global sports. Andrea has also published extensively in newspapers such as the Financial Times, Le Monde, South China Morning Post, China Daily and Il Sole-24 Ore. He was educated at Bocconi and Columbia, has taught at the Catholic University in Milan and Sciences-Po in Paris, and is Past President of the Bocconi Alumni Community in Paris.

Amy Bass is a professor of sport studies at Manhattanville University and chair of the division of social science and communication. She received a PhD with distinction in history from Stony Brook University and did her undergraduate work at Bates College.  Her first book, Not the Triumph but the Struggle: The 1968 Olympic Games and the Making of the Black Athlete, is considered a standard-bearer for those interested in studying sport from a cultural perspective.  Her follow-up, In the Game, solidified that reputation.  Her third book, Those About Him Remained Silent: The Battle over W.E.B. Du Bois, received Honorable Mention from the National Council on Public History. Her most recent work, ONE GOAL: A Coach, A Team, and the Game That Brought a Divided Town Together, was named a best book of 2018 by the Boston Globe and Library Journal. Bass edits her own series, “Sporting,” for Temple University Press.  In mainstream media, she has written for Slate, Salon, and The Christian Century, and is a frequent contributor for CNN, both in print and in studio, and worked across eight Olympic Games for NBC Sports, winning an Emmy Award for Live Event Turnaround at the London Olympic Games.