Jul 8, 2026 · 50 min · 11 segments
The World Cup is heating up here in the United States as teams head into the quarter finals. It has had its fair share of controversies: immigration crackdowns, exorbitant ticket prices, and a cozy…
Alex ShephardGuest
Jonathan GeyerHost
He is co-founder and editor of Golden Goal, a one-off soccer magazine dedicated to analyzing the complexities of the World Cup through an internationalist lens.
Today, we discuss what the beautiful game can teach us about the world, including all the greed, corruption, and so forth that makes this tournament so appealing to autocrats, and also why, despite those flaws, it remains the greatest sporting event in the world.
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He is co-founder and editor of Golden Goal, a one-off soccer magazine dedicated to analyzing the complexities of the World Cup through an internationalist lens.
Today, we discuss what the beautiful game can teach us about the world, including all the greed, corruption, and so forth that makes this tournament so appealing to autocrats, and also why, despite those flaws, it remains the greatest sporting event in the world.