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Nikki Giovanni doesn't think about her legacy. But here's a moment she felt proud : Wild Card with Rachel Martin

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Nikki Giovanni doesn't think about her legacy. But here's a moment she felt proud : Wild Card with Rachel Martin

Nikki Giovanni takes part in a Q&A following a screening of the documentary Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project.

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Nikki Giovanni takes part in a Q&A following a screening of the documentary Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project.

Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for FLC

A note from Wild Card host Rachel Martin:

There are so many words I could use to describe Nikki Giovanni: poet, revolutionary, queer icon, feminist, space enthusiast, mother and grandmother, legend. Giovanni is all those things. But she is also a woman who figured out really early that she did not have to apologize to anyone for who she was – or what she wanted from her life.

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She can write poems that look directly at all of the pain and hatred in the world, and she can write children’s books about feeling safe and loved. She can also conjure what it will look like when humans set up shop on Mars, and Black women lead the way.

Nikki Giovanni just turned 81, and her first eight or so decades of life have been about as accomplished as anyone could hope for. She has been doing it her own way all along. And writing it down so the rest of us can start to see beyond ourselves and whatever hard thing we are stuck in.

Nikki Giovanni reads her poem “A Good Cry.”

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This Wild Card interview has been edited for length and clarity. Host Rachel Martin asks guests randomly-selected questions from a deck of cards. Tap play above to listen to the full podcast, or read an excerpt below.

Question 1: Were you obsessed with a particular cosmic question as a kid?

Nikki Giovanni: Yes. I wanted to know why Mars was red. And my obsession was that there was a war on Mars and that they had developed atomic energy so that Mars burned itself up. And as I lay in bed for most of my life, looking out the window, I have seen Mars, which is why I talk about it a lot. And I would like to go to Mars because I think that as a Black woman, my sisters and I could build a community.

Rachel Martin: When did Mars first come into your head? Do you remember?

Giovanni: I shared a bedroom with my big sister. She wanted the bed by the wall, I don’t know why. That gave me the bed by the window. And so I would look out the window and watch the stars. And the stars haven’t changed. So you have to ask yourself, what are they telling us? What am I learning?

Martin: Did fixing your gaze upward make you feel safer? You had a tough home life. You’ve talked and written a lot about that. Did that help you escape whatever was going on at home?

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Giovanni: Well, my parents had what I would call, in nice words, a troubled marriage. And space let me know that this could not be the end. When you start to look at the stars and you think about the other life forms, you think, “Well, there is something else. I can’t quit now. There is something else.”

Question 2: What emotion do you understand better than all the others?

Giovanni: Patience. I’m incredibly patient.

Martin: Where does that come from?

Giovanni: Well, I don’t know. I’m the baby sister of two. So you’re always watching your big sisters because they’re always so wonderful. They’re prettier, they’re more intelligent, everything. And you want to say, well, one day I’ll grow up or whatever.

But I also have a great love of old people and old women. I have very few friends my age. I’m 81. Being 80 kicked my butt. I mean, if it could be wrong with me, it was wrong with me. And I was thinking, okay, I had lung cancer, and I had breast cancer, and I realized I don’t want to be sitting in hell – because I don’t think I’m going to heaven – but I don’t want to be sitting in hell, and have people say “she fought cancer for 20 years.” I’m not fighting any disease. I’m learning to live with it. And I want the disease to live with me.

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So every morning that I wake up, me and cancer, we’re in good shape. And I say, well, let’s take a shower and go about our day. And one day, we won’t. And then that means that I’ll be transitioned. I’ll be in another place.

Martin: Yeah. Are you afraid of anything?

Giovanni: Well, I’m – I’m very cautious around ostriches.

Martin: Nikki, what are you talking about? Ostriches? You’re afraid of ostriches?

Giovanni: Well, yeah. Have you ever been on a safari? They are mean. And that kick will kill you. Ask a lion. If you had to put a lion against an ostrich, the lion is gone.

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Martin: That’s just not where I thought we were going to go. [laughs]

Giovanni: I’m not afraid of lions because lions are an intelligent being that, unless you’re threatening them, they’re not going to bother you. You have to be careful around ostriches. People need to know that.

Question 3: Do you think about the legacy that you will leave behind?

Giovanni: No.

Martin: Wow. I’m surprised by that answer.

Giovanni: Because it gets you caught up in your life, and your life is not about your life, your life is about your duty. And so, no, I don’t think about it.

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Martin: Have you seen people get too caught up in preemptively analyzing their legacy?

Giovanni: Oh, I’ve seen a lot. I know a lot of famous people, and they’ll say, “I wonder what my stamp would look like.” I’ll be dead. So it doesn’t matter. I’m just glad when me and cancer wake up. And one day, we won’t.

My friend Tony Morrison whom I love so very much, she wrote in Sula, when Sula is dying, she says, “oh wait till I tell Nell it doesn’t hurt. Wait till I tell Nell.”

Martin: Let me ask this question in a different way. I get what you’re saying, that you don’t want to get wrapped up in your ego. But are there moments when you think back on your life and allow yourself moments to feel proud?

Giovanni: Oh, there are moments that I feel proud because I’ve worked hard. And when I went to the opening of the African American Museum in D.C, I had forgotten we gave permission to use my poetry. And when I turned a corner, there was a photograph of me. And it brought tears to my eyes. And I turned over my shoulder and said, “Look, grandmother, I did my duty.” And that still amazes me. It’s like she was there. I did my duty and that’s what matters to me.

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A conspicuously dressed-down shooter won Olympic silver. Then he went viral

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A conspicuously dressed-down shooter won Olympic silver. Then he went viral

Turkey’s Yusuf Dikec, pictured competing in the shooting 10m air pistol mixed team gold medal match at Chateauroux Shooting Center on Tuesday, went viral for his casual look.

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NPR is in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics. For more of our coverage from the Games, head to our latest updates.

Olympic shooters have been getting lots of attention for their cyberpunk-looking gear. But one is standing out for his decidedly lower-tech look — and the fact that he got to the podium nonetheless.

On Tuesday, Turkey’s Yusuf Dikec shot his way to a silver medal in the air pistol mixed team competition, and to instant online fame. His winning quality, the internet decided, was his seeming nonchalance.

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While many of Dikec’s competitors were decked out in large ear protectors, visors and sci fi-esque shooting glasses, he played it a different kind of cool with regular eyeglasses and barely visible ear plugs.

Wearing a jersey that looked like an ordinary T-shirt, and shooting with his free hand tucked in his pants pocket, the 51-year-old gave off a noticeably casual vibe.

So casual, in fact, that scores of social media users jokingly wondered whether Turkey had sent a hitman to the Olympics. Some praised his aura as “infinite,” others as “insane.”

And many drew a contrast between Dikec and South Korean shooter Kim Yeji, whose futuristic aesthetic and unflappable demeanor made her an overnight style sensation earlier this week.

Memes joked that the two embodied the contrast between Google Sheets vs. Microsoft Excel, men vs. women packing for a trip and anime protagonist vs. recently divorced engineer, to name a few.

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“South Korea sent a fully-kitted out player for the Olympic shooting,” read one viral tweet. “Turkey sent [a] guy with no specialized lenses, eye cover or ear protection and got the silver medal.”

Dikec and his teammate, Sevval Ilayda Tarhan, won silver in the mixed team 10-meter air pistol event, bringing home Turkey’s first-ever medal in Olympic shooting.

He placed 13th in his individual event, and is already looking ahead to his next Olympics.

“I hope next in Los Angeles (for) a gold medal,” he said afterward, according to the Associated Press.

The former officer loves dancing and cats

This is Dikec’s fifth Olympics — he has competed in shooting events in every Summer Games since 2008.

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He’s also a seven-time European champion and 2014 double world champion in the 25m standard pistol and 25m centerfire pistol, according to his Olympics biography.

Dikec’s bio says he took up shooting in 2001 after he started working as a non-commissioned officer for the Gendarmerie General Command (an armed law enforcement organization in Turkey).

His current occupation is listed as “athlete,” and EuroNews reports that he retired from the Gendarmerie.

Dikec lists exactly one hobby on his bio page: dancing. He’s also a cat lover, as social media sleuths quickly discovered.

His philosophy, ironically, is, “Success doesn’t come with your hands in your pockets.”

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His unique style comes down to personal preference

Sevval Ilayda Tarhan (L) and Yusuf Dikec (R) pose with the Turkish flag and their silver medals beneath the Eiffel Tower.

Sevval Ilayda Tarhan and Yusuf Dikec pose with the Turkish flag and their silver medals beneath the Eiffel Tower on Wednesday.

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Shooting glasses — a customizable combo of a lens, mechanical iris and blinders that together can help athletes better line up their mark — have become pretty standard in recent years, though clearly not all athletes are required to use them.

Dikec told Turkish radio station Radyo Gol that while most shooters use one eye, he prefers to use both.

“Shooting with two eyes — I believe that it’s better,” he said, according to a translation from CNN. “I’ve done a lot of research on it, so I didn’t need the equipment.”

Chinese rifle shooter Liu Yukun won a gold medal Thursday with a similarly sparse set of gear, the AP notes — just earplugs, with no blinder or visor.

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And Dikec is not the only athlete who shoots with his other hand in his pocket. He told the radio station that it’s a matter of feeling more motivated and comfortable.

The stance “is actually about bringing the body to equilibrium and focusing and concentrating,” he added.

Dikec seems to be taking his social media stardom in stride, reposting several memes to his Instagram page (and, of course, a photo of his silver medal). He has also continued to defend his style.

EuroNews reports that he told the Turkish press: “I did not need special equipment. I’m a natural, a natural shooter.”

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How Paul & Shark Is Activating in Unexpected Locations with Purpose

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How Paul & Shark Is Activating in Unexpected Locations with Purpose
Tapping into an evolving travel mindset among consumers, Paul & Shark CEO Andrea Dini shares why he is building the brand’s presence in new spaces — including the Spanish island of Formentera for its summer activation — and how it is driving its mission to operate with purpose.
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Abby Wambach has won 2 gold medals. She says real success came later : Wild Card with Rachel Martin

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Abby Wambach has won 2 gold medals. She says real success came later : Wild Card with Rachel Martin

Abby Wambach celebrates the 5-2 victory against Japan in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada in 2015.

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Abby Wambach celebrates the 5-2 victory against Japan in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada in 2015.

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A note from Wild Card host Rachel Martin: We’ve all got unexpected turns in our lives, right? But let’s be honest, some people have more than most. And I am going to put Abby Wambach in that camp. Here’s the short version of what went down.

She’s this global U.S. soccer star with two Olympic gold medals and a World Cup championship. She also holds the U.S. goal scoring record for women and men. She’s on top of the world. When she retires from soccer in 2015, life becomes disorienting. And it turns out she’s been hiding a drinking problem, and roughly five months later she gets a DUI. Then comes rehab, and a personal reckoning.

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She writes a book about all of it, then goes to an event to promote said book and ends up meeting the woman who would become her second wife, the author Glennon Doyle. Now she’s the stepmom of three kids, a leadership coach, and the co-host of the hit podcast she does with Doyle called We Can Do Hard Things.

I mean, she’s only 44 and Abby Wambach has lived at least three lives. And in her show, you hear all the stuff Wambach has learned in those lives.

And if for any reason you are feeling a little bit down, watch Wambach’s winning goal against Brazil in the 2004 gold medal Olympics match (it’s at 2:07:30 in the clip below). Just do it. You will feel happier. Trust me.

Abby Wambach’s goal against Brazil in 2004.

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This Wild Card interview has been edited for length and clarity. Host Rachel Martin asks guests randomly-selected questions from a deck of cards. Tap play above to listen to the full podcast, or read an excerpt below.

Question 1: When you were bored as a kid, where would your imagination take you?

Abby Wambach: When I was growing up, there weren’t any women athletes to watch on television. It was just basically, you know, Michael Jordan. And so I saw him win a lot of championships after scoring those last-second points. And so when I was bored, I would imagine a ball kind of coming in from the sideline into the box and I would imagine myself scoring the goal in the last second.

So when those moments started to actually happen, I had played through this moment so often in my head. And because of the imagining, I never stopped believing that we could have that one moment come to fruition. And people ask me all the time, “How did you score so many big goals in such important moments?” And there’s a lot of reasons for it, but I think one of the first steps is believing and imagining that you can do it before you do it.

Rachel Martin: I mean, that’s so powerful. Now, everybody talks about manifesting, right? Like, you just think it and then it can happen. But that’s like a very clear example of doing that.

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Wambach: Yeah. I mean, my wife, it drives her nuts because I’m such an optimist and sometimes that can steer me awry. But if you want something in your life, it’s not just that you are ready for it, it’s that this moment has already happened.

Question 2: Has your idea of success changed over time?

Wambach: I don’t think it necessarily has changed. I think the context of my life has changed. It’s a feeling of self-esteem that I think determined my success. My definition of success is, how do I feel about myself today?

Because I’ve had high levels of success. And I know for certain, when we watch the gold medal ceremonies at the Olympics, the athletes that are standing on that top podium are going to feel really good about themselves. But that moment is fleeting. You have to wake up tomorrow and also feel good about yourself.

Martin: Without all the fanfare.

Abby Wambach and Glennon Doyle at the Alliance For Women In Media Foundation’s 49th Annual Gracie Awards in May.

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Wambach: Yeah. And I think that having a gold medal is really cool. I think it’s really cool. But let me tell you, a couple weeks away from the Olympics after getting a gold medal, I still have to look at myself in the mirror and say, “How do I feel about myself today? What did I do today to feel good?”

I can’t rely on being an Olympic gold medal winner and having that be the thing that sustains me throughout my life. Because it doesn’t work. Things that we do in the past will not justify how we feel in the present. And so I think that my idea of success hasn’t changed, because I’ve always kind of held this belief, but I think my definition of what makes me feel good every day has changed throughout my life.

Question 3: Are you comfortable with being forgotten?

Wambach: I am. When I retired, Gatorade pitched me on a possible commercial shoot that they wanted to do for my retirement game. And as I was reading through the storyboards, I just started to weep because the idea of this commercial was, “Forget me.” Because if I am forgotten, then I know that the game has grown and the game is better. If I am forgotten, then somebody else has taken my place. And that is the natural order of the world.

Wambach says she is very comfortable with being forgotten.

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I believe that records are meant to be broken. I believe that growth, especially 10 years ago where we were with women’s soccer, was required, was necessary, was not just possible, but inevitable. So I think that we all should live a life like that. I think we should all lay our cards out, leave it on the field, whatever you want to say. And then in the end, if you are forgotten, it means that you have done the right kind of work here to make the world a little bit better by having existed.

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The funniest thing about this is I was coaching my kid’s rec league team about five or six years ago. And we were warming up for the championship game. I was telling them about when I retired from playing soccer. And one of the players said, “Wait, you played soccer?” I said, “Yes.” And she said, “Who did you play for?” And I said, “The United States of America.” And she said, “Oh. Do you know Alex Morgan?” And I was like, sheesh, we need to be careful what we wish for, peeps. So yeah, forget me.

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