Up to date with new questions at 12:55 p.m. ET on February 10, 2026.
You received’t discover this in Cortina d’Ampezzo over the following few weeks, however for a number of a long time of the Olympics’ historical past, the competition awarded medals not only for sport however for artwork too.
Within the Summer season Video games from 1912 to 1948, musicians, painters, and loads of different aesthetes went brain-to-brain in occasions resembling lyric poetry and chamber music. “City planning” was even contested one yr below the umbrella of the structure competitors.
Lest you suppose the humanities’ inclusion odd—one wonders what muscle groups want stretching earlier than going for gold in watercolor—the submissions needed to be no less than about sports activities.
The Olympic committee should convey these occasions again. Properly, perhaps not city planning—however add trivia to the combo as a substitute. Organizers can throw in just a few sports activities questions for good measure, however with trivia, should you’re not working up a sweat considering, you’re not doing it proper.
Discover earlier questions right here, and to get Atlantic Trivia in your inbox on daily basis, join The Atlantic Each day.
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
- The inaugural Golden Globe for Finest Podcast was awarded final month to Good Hold, hosted by what comic (and four-time Golden Globes emcee)?
— From David Sims’s evaluate of the primary episodes of Pete Davidson’s new podcast - On the opening ceremony of this yr’s Winter Olympics, the musician Giovanni Andrea Zanon performed a 300-year-old violin constructed by what grasp famed for his long-lasting string devices?
— From Ellen Cushing’s article on the retro really feel of the Olympic kickoff - Within the capital metropolis Ashgabat, a 40-foot-tall golden statue honors Saparmurat Niyazov, former president of what nation?
— From Gal Beckerman’s essay on President Trump’s monuments to himself
And by the best way, do you know that—properly, the place to start with Ashgabat? The huge statue of Niyazov is, like, the ninth factor you discover concerning the metropolis.
All of the marble hits guests first. The capital has practically 550 buildings clad in white marble, the very best focus anyplace on the earth. Mix that with the desert setting and the large avenues that worldwide guests report as spotless and eerily empty, and also you get an otherworldly impact.
Hoping to get across the ghostly metropolis? Get pleasure from your experience in a white automobile; darkly coloured vehicles are outlawed. You’ll be able to head to the airport modeled on a flying white falcon, or to the world’s largest enclosed Ferris wheel, made from white metal. There’s additionally the large (white) Palace of Happiness, which might accommodate seven weddings without delay. And in case you have been questioning, brides within the nation usually put on—bought you right here!—crimson.
See you tomorrow.
Solutions:
- Amy Poehler. To start with, David isn’t actually positive that Davidson’s new mission is a “podcast”: You’ll be able to watch it solely on video and, then, solely on Netflix. But when we’re judging it as a podcast, then we must always choose it a failure, David says—too slack, too slouch. Celebrities hanging out doesn’t all the time successful podcast make. Learn extra.
- Antonio Stradivari. His devices—every of which is called a Stradivarius—are a core a part of Italy’s heritage, which skews very, very outdated; Ellen writes that Italy is “a rustic whose best-known cultural influences lived in the course of the Renaissance.” However she imagines that’s not the only real cause this Video games’ opening present was so targeted on the previous. Learn extra.
- Turkmenistan. If the dimensions of the statue that Niyazov constructed doesn’t telegraph his opinion of himself, contemplate that it used to rotate 360 levels on daily basis in order that it all the time confronted the solar. Likewise, Gal writes, Trump’s intuition to monumentalize himself is clarifying—and alienating—for anyone watching. Learn extra.
How did you do? Come again tomorrow for extra questions, and should you suppose up a fantastic query after studying an Atlantic story—or just need to share a truth—ship it my method at [email protected].
Monday, February 9, 2026
- What’s the identify—all too acquainted to athletes—of the knee ligament between the femur and tibia that acts as a stabilizer for pivoting motions?
— From Sally Jenkins’s essay on Lindsey Vonn’s Olympic spill on the ski slopes - The custom of crotch-related controversies on the Tremendous Bowl halftime present will be traced to the 2007 efficiency by what artist (or “the artist previously often called” what)?
— From Spencer Kornhaber’s article on Dangerous Bunny’s buoyant efficiency - Regardless of its identify, what beverage truly comprises solely 3.25 p.c fats, moderately than the complete 4 p.c or extra that naturally happens?
— From Sarah Zhang’s article on what occurs to all that additional fats
And by the best way, do you know that people have a bone that doesn’t hook up with some other? We consider the skeleton as fairly contiguous, however in the course of the neck, the hyoid bone, which helps the bottom of the tongue, is articulated solely distantly to the remainder of the skeleton by muscle groups and ligaments. It’s, as scientists name it, a “floating bone.”
As a result of it’s not readily attachable, the hyoid is usually left off of mannequin skeletons. Excessive-end ones cling it with string or wire.
You understand how to pick out a very good avocado (squeeze) or watermelon (slap); now, subsequent time you’re skeleton buying, you’ll be capable of choose a winner.
Solutions:
- ACL. Vonn, the American favourite on this Olympics’ downhill-skiing competitors, tore her left ACL simply greater than every week earlier than competing. However, as Sally writes, the 41-year-old who had spent a long time pushing her physique to the restrict was by no means going to bow out moderately than danger additional damage. Learn extra.
- Prince. Spencer writes that the sight of (and scattered pearl clutching over) Dangerous Bunny’s crotch grabs is definitely refreshing—that amid the suffocating “fascism discourse” elsewhere, some attractive gyrating feels “subtly throwback-y and weirdly healthful.” Learn extra.
- Complete milk. As Sarah studies, the milk that cows produce hovered for many years round 3.65 p.c fats by weight, however selective breeding in recent times has pushed it as excessive as 4.24 p.c. This has led to a fantastic butterfat glut; cheese makers discover the milk too wealthy to work with, and dairy farmers promoting entire milk at 3.25 p.c fats have to determine the place to place all the surplus. Learn extra.
