Do athletes now have a responsibility to use their platform to promote political change? Four-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson sits down with Alastair to discuss the future of athletics, drugs in sport, political polarisation, and recovering from a stroke that doctors feared could stop him from ever walking again. *Interview recorded in February 2023* 00:00 Intro 00:53 The role of sport in political and social change 03:30 Would Michael take the knee 06:00 Do athletes have a responsibility to speak out 10:35 Polarisation in politics 14:43 Has Michael ever considered a political career 19:32 Gender issues in sport 24:14 Drugs and doping 28:19 Russians being kept out of sport 32:50 Concepts Seb Coe should be looking at 35:30 Michael suffering a stroke 43:55 Outro TRIP Plus: Become a member of The Rest Is Politics Plus to support the podcast, receive our exclusive newsletter, enjoy ad-free listening to both TRIP and Leading, benefit from discount book prices on titles mentioned on the pod, join our Discord chatroom, and receive early access to live show tickets and Question Time episodes. Just head to therestispolitics.com to sign up, or start a free trial today on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/therestispolitics. TRIP ELECTION TOUR: To buy tickets for our October Election Tour, just head to https://www.therestispolitics.com/ TRIP Plus: Become a member of The Rest Is Politics Plus to support the podcast, receive our exclusive newsletter, enjoy ad-free listening to both TRIP and Leading, benefit from discount book prices on titles mentioned on the pod, join our Discord chatroom, and receive early access to live show tickets and Question Time episodes. Just head to https://www.therestispolitics.com/ to sign up. ✅ Subscribe Here: https://www.youtube.com/@restispolitics ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 🎙️ Listen To The Podcast: https://lnk.to/TheRestIsPoliticsYT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 📱 Follow Us On Socials: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/restispolitics/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/restispolitics/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@restispolitics Twitter: https://twitter.com/RestIsPolitics