Russell Dinkins & James Cole – Track, Princeton University and Depression

This ^ is a video, hit the play button to watch.

Russell Dinkins is one of the most genuine, thoughtful people I know. He thinks deeply about himself, those close to him, and larger topics such as race, the environment and other topics issues of our time. He should be proud that I can write that lead in first, before saying something like “oh, and he’s also top 15 in the nation for the 800m as a track athlete”. HERE is the link to the famous DMR National Championship race we discuss.

At Princeton I was very socially enmeshed with the track team (specifically the mid-distance guys) and Russell was the crown jewel of the 800m squad – the distance that separates sprinters from distance runners. As such, we floated in the same circles but were never best, best friends.

Russell has recently made a lot of headlines for single handedly saving the Brown University Track Program from getting defunded with his viral article which was venerated by Malcolm Gladwell among others.

Other than a chance run in last summer, I hadn’t spoken to Russell at length since college but we immediately fell back into the swing of things. In this episode we discuss acceptance of self, Princeton University and it’s recent decision to rename the Woodrow Wilson School, Elitism (and race), exposing yourself to people who are different than you, and depression / mental health. The talk is almost 2 hours and we could have gone a lot, lot longer.

We had intended to cover Russell’s viral article, Black Lives Matter and systemic racism and potential action people can take to help. Luckily, Russell has agreed to do an episode 2 which will be published next weekend as a follow up. If you have questions for Russell after watching this episode please enter them below so I can include.