About
Alison Brown and Jill Jaracz.
Keep the Flame Alive® is the podcast for fans of the Olympics and Paralympics. Hosted by Jill Jaracz and Alison Brown, this weekly show has everything fans want to know about the Olympic and Paralympic Movements: how sports work, history, host city information, and much more! During the Games, our daily recaps cover all of the action.
Founded in 2017, Keep the Flame Alive® is one of the first continually-running podcasts about the Olympics and Paralympics. When the Games are on, we have daily recap episodes with results from all events of the day. When the cauldron is out, we talk about everything that makes the Games what they are.
We have been featured on the BBC and BBC South, as well as in numerous articles including the Associated Press. We’re noted speakers about Olympic history and podcasting. We’ve been nominated for multiple Sports Podcasts Awards and a Women in Podcasting Award. We’re honored to have been accredited for three Olympics and Paralympics–Beijing 2022, Paris 2024 and Milan-Cortina 2026–and multiple events, including Team USA Media Summits, the 2024 US Swimming Olympic Trials and 2025 World Figure Skating Championships.
Meet The Team!
Jill Jaracz – Co-Host and Executive Producer
Jill Jaracz got hooked on the Olympics during LA 1984. A former research librarian, she’s also a freelance writer. Being away from the daily water cooler chat of the Olympics inspired her to create this podcast in 2017.
Since then, she’s been accredited for three Olympics, three Paralympics, multiple Team USA Summits, 2024 USA Swimming Olympic Trials, and the 2019 USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships, among other events.
Check out her website and LinkedIn profile for more.
Alison Brown – Co-Host and Producer
Alison Brown fell in love with the Olympics watching Dorothy Hamill and Nadia Comenici, but didn’t know what she was getting into when she said yes to doing this podcast.
Alison brings years of research experience to the show, having been a former research librarian. She also spent several years in the nonprofit sector.
With the podcast, Alison has been accredited for two Olympics, three Paralympics, multiple Team USA Media Summits, and the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships, among other events.
Follow her on LinkedIn.
Ben Jackson – Producer and Contributor
Ben Jackson is a journalist turned trade association executive. He has tried a number of Olympic sports and currently does fencing and archery. He attended the Paris 2024 Olympics and was accredited for the Paris Media Center.
Book Club Claire - Contributor
Claire leads the Keep the Flame Alive Book Club, which meets two to four times per year. At Paris 2024, she was accredited for the Paris Media Center and produced video content for the show. Claire is an athletics fanatic (especially throws) and has attended
Follow Claire’s adventures at her YouTube channel.
Film Buff Fran – Contributor
Francesca Johnson leads our Movie Club discussions.
Super Fan Sarah – Contributor
Sarah Patton has been officially recognized as Team USA’s #1 fan and is a regular contributor and guest host on Keep the Flame Alive. She attended the Paris 2024 Olympics with her husband and son (Team USA’s #2 fan).