Podcast appearances and mentions of Simon Kuper

Met vandaag: CDU-fractievoorzitter treedt af na ophef over kind via draagmoeder | Italië gaat vrouwen en kinderen van maffiabazen beschermen | Simon Kuper blikt terug op het WK | Hoe vertaal je de poëzie van Lewis Carroll? | Presentatie: Marcia Luyten.

Gideon talks to Simon Kuper, FT columnist and author of World Cup Fever, about what distinguishes this World Cup from previous tournaments. What role has geopolitics played historically in the World Cup and is there any truth to some of the conspiracy theories surrounding this year's events? Clip: ITV SportFree links to read more on this topic:Bellingham brace carries England past Norway into World Cup semi-finalWorld Cup shows US is ‘golden market' for football, says Major League Soccer bossHow western Europe became a formidable football factoryWhy are China and India so bad at football?Inside the secretive Fifa committee that suspended the US red cardSubscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner.Follow Gideon on Bluesky or X @gideonrachman.bsky.social, @gideonrachmanRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Simon Kuper is one of the few sports journalists who has now attended 10 World Cups. The author of "World Cup Fever: A Soccer Journey in Nine Tournaments" and co-author of "Soccernomics" joins Geoff Bennett to share the highs and lows of this year's World Cup. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Football can be geopolitics by other means. Financial Times Journalist Simon Kuper has covered every World Cup since 1990. This week, he joins Sir Richard Dearlove and guest co-host Baroness Ayesha Hazarika to unpack how football and geopolitics collide.  Kuper explains why he thinks FIFA president Gianni Infantino runs the organization like an autocrat, how U.S. President Donald Trump's red card intervention echoes historical precedents set by Mussolini and Brazil's military government, and why hosting a World Cup brings prestige but rarely economic benefit. The conversation also covers the KGB's use of Soviet football clubs for cover during the Cold War, football's role in the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, why China's investment in football hasn't paid off, and how France's multicultural national team has become a flashpoint in its domestic politics. Plus, in Brief: Russian strikes on Ukraine ahead of the NATO summit, German prosecutors' Nord Stream allegations against Ukraine, deepening Russia-China military cooperation, and reports of Trump pushing for a "master list" of intelligence assets. In this episode: (00:00) World Cup Geopolitics Football & Global Power (00:45) England's Surprising World Cup Victory (03:05) Football As Geopolitics Explained (03:24) Russia-Ukraine War Intelligence Analysis (11:12) Trump CIA Spy List Dangers Exposed (14:25) Andy Burnham Northern Devolution Power Shift (19:10) Simon Kuper On The Geopolitics Of Football (23:07) FIFA Corruption Infantino's Autocratic Control (28:00) Jules Rimet World Cup Origins Peace Vision (30:23) 1954 World Cup Rebuilt German National Identity (38:42) KGB Soviet Football Cold War Espionage (47:53) Argentina 1978 World Cup Junta Propaganda (49:52) Qatar 2022 World Cup Human Rights Backlash (1:02:49) Reflecting On Football Power, Politics, & Identity Show Notes:  Soccernomics: Why European Men and American Women Usually Win―and American Men Don't (Yet) | https://a.co/d/07dBzyak World Cup Fever: A Soccer Journey in Nine Tournaments | https://a.co/d/0g5raBr3 Football Against The Enemy: https://a.co/d/04OUzQgR  Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and guest co-host Baroness Ayesha Hazarika (House of Lords) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lionel Messi is arguably the greatest soccer scorer of all time. But when it comes to penalty kicks, Messi is merely average. Why? Maybe the answer involves game theory.According to game theory, there's an optimal strategy for taking penalty kicks. This strategy involves an idea that was once somewhat controversial in economics — that is, until economists started studying soccer players in real life. On today's show, we kick it over to the hosts of the Soccernomics podcast to explain how game theory has changed soccer, and how soccer has changed game theory. Watch the penalty shootout between Manchester United and Chelsea in the Champions League final in 2008. Support:Planet Money+Read: Our book: Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life Our weekly longform Planet Money newsletterOur weekly Indicator round-up newsletterFollow: InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebook This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee with help from James Sneed. It was edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Annlie Huang. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.The Soccernomics episode was originally hosted by Ashish Malhotra, Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski and sound designed by Alex Roldan.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Team Canada is making Men's World Cup history. With Sunday's 1-nil win over South Africa, it's their first time in the round of 16! We talk to Simon Kuper, a journalist and the author of World Cup Fever: A Soccer Journey in Nine Tournaments, about what's next in FIFA's World Cup 2026.

The World Cup - the goals, the corruption and the colonialism!In this week's Lowdown podcast, Nick Cohen talks to Professor Stefan Szymanski, Professor of the Economics of Sports at Michigan University, about the World Cup and the evolution of global football. They explore how the tournament has shifted from being hosted by nation-states to being controlled by oligarchical interests, with Stefan explaining how FIFA's corruption stems from colonialism's legacy and the post-colonial power struggle within the organisation. The conversation covered dramatic price increases in World Cup tickets from 1994 to the present, with final match tickets rising from $475 (inflation-adjusted) to $10,000 calculated for this year's final! Stefan argues the problem isn't the high prices themselves but where the money is being directed. They discuss the tension between FIFA and UEFA, the flow of talent from developing to developed nations, and the political challenges facing future World Cup hosts including the current tournament in the United States and Canada. The interview concludes with a discussion about whether the World Cup could eventually unravel due to political tensions and boycotts, similar to what happened with the Olympics.Read all about it! Stefan Szymanski @sszy is Professor of the Economics of Sports at Michigan University, a leading sports historian, academic and podcaster - author of Crickonomics: The Anatomy of Modern Cricket, which was Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Sports Book Awards 2023. Stefan is co-host of the Soccernomics podcast, alongside hosted by renowned football author Simon Kuper and Ashish Malhotra. Nick Cohen's @NichCohen4 latest Substack column Writing from London on politics and culture from the UK and beyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump's public position is that his agreement with Iran is great, and better than Obama's nuclear deal. But a leaked draft of the MOU raises some real questions about which side benefits the most, and whether the United States is any better off than before the war. New York Times reporter David Sanger, whom Trump called over the weekend when the agreement was made, joins the show.  Also on today's show: journalists Yeganeh Torbati and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin on their book "Stolen Revolution"; journalist and soccer commentator Simon Kuper, author of "Soccernomics"; Elizabeth Economy, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The World Cup kicked off over the weekend, and so far the mood is meh. Fans are fuming over sell-your-kidney ticket prices, frightened by reports that ICE may target matches, tailgates, and sports bars, and generally feeling down on this quadrennial celebration. We wanted to know: Is there any joy left in this thing? So we called up Simon Kuper. He's a columnist at the Financial Times, "one of the best sportswriters in the English language today" (The New Yorker), and author of the Next Big Idea Club must-read World Cup Fever. He's also attended every World Cup since 1990. Simon tells us how the tournament bridges political divides, why suicides decline during the World Cup, whether “sportswashing” really works, and which storylines to follow, no matter if you're a die-hard footy fan or a first-time viewer.

Simon Kuper, author of World Cup Fever, dissects the language of the World Cup.

The World Cup descends on North America this week, bringing with it billions of viewers, billions of dollars, and no shortage of political controversy. But according to Financial Times columnist Simon Kuper, none of that is new - the tournament has always reflected the world around it. On GZERO World, Kuper and Ian Bremmer discuss how national teams have become flashpoints in debates over immigration and identity, why FIFA remains one of the world's most powerful and least accountable organizations, how Iran's World Cup campaign could become a geopolitical spectacle, and what the tournament reveals about nationalism, belonging, and power in the modern world. Yet for all the politics, money, and controversy surrounding the tournament, Kuper argues the World Cup remains one of the few events capable of captivating entire countries and bringing billions of people together. The result is a tournament that reflects the hopes, divisions, and identities of the nations watching it.  Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The World Cup descends on North America this week, bringing with it billions of viewers, billions of dollars, and no shortage of political controversy. But according to Financial Times columnist Simon Kuper, none of that is new - the tournament has always reflected the world around it. On GZERO World, Kuper and Ian Bremmer discuss how national teams have become flashpoints in debates over immigration and identity, why FIFA remains one of the world's most powerful and least accountable organizations, how Iran's World Cup campaign could become a geopolitical spectacle, and what the tournament reveals about nationalism, belonging, and power in the modern world. Yet for all the politics, money, and controversy surrounding the tournament, Kuper argues the World Cup remains one of the few events capable of captivating entire countries and bringing billions of people together. The result is a tournament that reflects the hopes, divisions, and identities of the nations watching it.  Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Soccer has a massive following around the world. So why do teams lose money? Stefan Szymanski is professor of sport management at the University of Michigan and a leading sports economist. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why, with all the money and sponsorships and hype around professional soccer teams, they operate on thin margin and how “moneyball” style analytics could change the game. His book, written with co-author Simon Kuper, is “Soccernomics (2026 World Cup Edition): Why European Men and American Women Usually Winand American Men Don't (Yet).”   Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The FT's Simon Kuper joins us to kick off our World Cup series, on why tiny social democracies keep producing the best football teams, why FIFA is laundering reputations for dictators, and why this tournament will say more about geopolitics than any leaders' summit this year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For billions of people around the globe, the FIFA World Cup is the ultimate sporting event. But what does the tournament reveal about the world beyond the pitch? This week, we welcome Financial Times journalist and New York Times bestselling author Simon Kuper to discuss his latest book, "World Cup Fever: A Soccer Journey in Nine Tournaments." Drawing on more than three decades of firsthand reporting from World Cups spanning Italy 1990 to Qatar 2022, Kuper reflects on how football's greatest spectacle has evolved — and what that evolution says about politics, culture, globalization, nationalism, media, money, and power. Far more than memorable matches and legendary players, we explore the World Cup as a unique lens through which to view modern history itself. Kuper recounts his experiences covering tournaments staged amid political upheaval, examines FIFA's transformation from a relatively modest governing body into a global commercial powerhouse, and reflects on the growing tensions between football's grassroots appeal and the immense corporate and geopolitical forces that now surround the game. Along the way, we discuss how World Cups have served as stages for dictators and democracies alike, why the tournament remains one of the few truly shared global cultural experiences, and whether the event has become more accessible — or more distant — from the ordinary fans whose passion fuels it. + + +  SUPPORT THE SHOW:  Buy Us a Coffee: https://ko-fi.com/goodseatsstillavailable The "Good Seats" Store: http://tee.pub/lic/RdiDZzQeHSY BUY THE BOOK:  "World Cup Fever: A Soccer Journey in Nine Tournaments": https://amzn.to/4dV2SKN SPONSOR THANKS:  Old School Shirts.com (10% off promo code: GOODSEATS): https://oldschoolshirts.com/goodseats Royal Retros (10% off promo code: SEATS): https://www.503-sports.com?aff=2 FIND AND FOLLOW: Linktree: https://linktr.ee/GoodSeatsStillAvailable Web: https://goodseatsstillavailable.com/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/goodseatsstillavailable.com X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoodSeatsStill YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@goodseatsstillavailable Threads: https://www.threads.net/@goodseatsstillavailable Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodseatsstillavailable/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoodSeatsStillAvailable/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/good-seats-still-available/

Of je nou van voetbal houdt of niet: over twee weken begint het grootste sportevenement ter wereld — midden in het Amerika van Donald Trump. Wordt dit het meest politieke WK ooit? Dat bespreken we in de nieuwe Europa Draait Door met gast Simon Kuper, columnist van de Financial Times en schrijver. Hoe corrupt is de FIFA geworden? En waarom blijft een serieuze boycot van dit WK eigenlijk uit? Ook Iran en de dreiging rond de Straat van Hormuz mag niet ontbreken en praten we met redacteur Tom Dohle over de toekomst van Europese ontwikkelingshulp.

Sports · Simon Kuper, Stefan Szymanski, Ashish Malhotra

“Soccer matches are poorly designed experiments — you don't necessarily find out which team was better. But any soccer fan will tell you that. Oftentimes, the better team does not win.” — Nick Greene, via a NASA scientist On June 11, the World Cup comes to North America. Fifty-six years ago, I watched the searing injustice of Johann Cruyff's Holland getting robbed in the 1974 final by Germany. Today I talk with someone who explains how this kind of injustice is built into the game's DNA. Nick Greene — long-suffering Newcastle United fan and author of How to Watch Basketball Like a Genius — has a new book, How to Watch Soccer Like a Genius, which tells us what architects, stuntwomen, paleoanthropologists and computer scientists tell us about the beautiful game. What they tell us is that the game isn't fair. One NASA scientist tells Greene that soccer is a “poorly designed experiment” because the low-scoring nature of the game means results don't reliably identify the better team. Thus the dark fate of the free-scoring, brilliantly inventive Hungarians in 1954 and the Dutch in 1974. So if you want to watch the World Cup like a genius, don't expect the best team to win the tournament. Which may explain why Greene suspects that England — where the pain of World Cup injustice is a national fetish — will win in 2026. On penalties probably. Arsenal style. After 120 minutes of goalless football. Five Takeaways •       Soccer Is a Poorly Designed Experiment: A NASA scientist published a peer-reviewed paper concluding that soccer is a “poorly designed experiment” — the low number of goals means results don't reliably identify the better team. Greene's observation: any soccer fan could have told him that, and saved the journal space. But this is also what makes the game what it is. Unlike basketball's seven-game playoff series — which gives the best team enough chances to emerge on top — a single World Cup match, in a single-elimination tournament, means one error can have outsized consequences. The imperfect and the human are inseparable. •       Justice Has Nothing to Do With It: The 1974 Dutch vs 2004 Greece: Andrew's most painful memory: the 1974 World Cup final, where the magnificent Dutch side led by Cruyff was beaten by the Germans. The Dutch didn't win, but they are remembered as one of the greatest teams in history. The 2004 Greek side, which won Euro 2004 by parking the bus and grinding nil-nil victories, actually won — and are remembered as a fluke. The lesson Greene draws: the shared understanding built into soccer watching is that winning is only one metric, and often not the most important one. It is an imperfect and profoundly human enterprise. •       How to Appreciate Defense: The cliché American complaint about soccer is the low scoring. Greene's response: this is partly a failure to appreciate defense, which in soccer can look like the absence of good offense. He discusses Italy's history of outstanding defensive play — the Catenaccio system, Paolo Maldini, Beckenbauer — and the intelligence required to prevent goals. Andrew's contribution: his wife, who watches American football, taught him that defense is where the sophistication lives. The same is true of soccer. The genius watcher watches the defenders. •       VAR: Too Much, Going in the Right Direction: Greene's measured verdict on VAR — video assistant refereeing. His worst case: when it ruins a goal celebration. The player scores, the crowd erupts, the flag goes up, three minutes of review, okay everyone start celebrating again. That destroys the cathartic moment that makes soccer's rare goals so electrifying. His prediction: VAR will evolve toward the coach's challenge model used in American football and basketball — a limited number of challenges per half, preserving the flow of the game while correcting the worst errors. It's relatively young. It'll be futted and fidgeted with. •       Don't Bet On It. Watch the Game: Greene's best advice for American newcomers to soccer. Not about tactics, not about history. Betting on soccer is a mug's game — partly because results don't reliably reflect the better team (the NASA paper again), and partly because talking about your bets is the least interesting conversation you can have about sport. His prediction for the tournament: England. Reasoning: Harry Kane is playing. Andrew's reaction: Kane is a Spurs man, so reluctant endorsement. But please, Nick. Don't. About the Guest Nick Greene is a contributing writer at Slate and the author of How to Watch Soccer Like a Genius: What Architects, Stuntwomen, Paleoanthropologists, and Computer Scientists Reveal About the World's Game (Abrams Press, May 12, 2026) and How to Watch Basketball Like a Genius (Abrams Press, 2021). His work has appeared in the Washington Post, Chicago Magazine, and elsewhere. He is a Newcastle United fan and lives in Berkeley, California. References: •       How to Watch Soccer Like a Genius by Nick Greene (Abrams Press, May 12, 2026). •       Simon Kuper, Going to the Match — referenced in the introduction as a recent KOA episode on nine consecutive World Cups. •       Franklin Foer, How Soccer Explains the World — referenced as the prior KOA World Cup episode. •       David Winner, Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Soccer — blurbed the book; relevant to the 1974 Dutch discussion. About Keen On America Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States — hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 2,900 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting. WebsiteSubstackYouTubeApple PodcastsSpotify Chapters: 

Maarten de Fockert. Ook wel Heintje Davids genoemd. Stoppen, doorgaan. Stoppen, doorgaan. Er gebeurt veel in dat koppie. Maar, nu is hij er uit. Hij stopt echt met voetballen. En dat terwijl Vriends de hoogtijdagen van zijn carriere beleefd. Met Adelaide United wordt er volop gestreden voor 'Europees' voetbal. En Verhaar dan, veilig spelen met Exca en de show stelen met zaalvoetbal. Dat is maar weinigen gegeven hoor. Dat en veel meer in deze Cor Potcast! Het is tevens de laatste aflevering samen met FC Afkicken. En we kunnen terugkijken op 7 prachtige seizoenen, waarin zelfs vriendschappen zijn ontstaan. Wat wil je nog meer! Veel luisterplezier! AanradersVerhaar: De serie The TestamentsFockert: Het concert van Nick Mulvey in Paradiso + het boek De ByzantijnVriends: De film Marty Supreme ESPN Compleet Neem nu een ESPN Compleet abonnement en mis niks van de ontknoping in de VriendenLoterij Eredivisie en Keuken Kampioen Divisie! Kijk snel op espn.nl/cor! Haal nu je kaartjes voor Maarten de Fockert in gesprek met Simon Kuper: https://onlineveilingmeester.nl/nl/veilingen/8860/kavels Pre-order nu het boekkie van Vriends, Jonas: https://www.overamsteluitgevers.com/boek/3655/jacobine-de-brauw-en-bart-vriends-jonas.html Volg ons op Instagram: @corpotcastVolg onze Spotify-lijst: Cor Potcast Elftal van de MaandSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Toen Nelson Mandela sprak over zijn droom van een regenboognatie, zag hij sport (en vooral voetbal) als veel meer dan een spel. Het moest een land dat verscheurd was door apartheid samenbrengen. Maar ruim dertig jaar later blijft de vraag hangen: kan voetbal écht politieke en sociale verdeeldheid overbruggen?In deze aflevering van De Africast gaan we daarover in gesprek met Simon Kuper, internationaal journalist en auteur van klassiekers als Voetbal als oorlog en Soccernomics. Vanuit Parijs blikt hij terug op de rol van voetbal in Zuid-Afrika: van de laatste jaren van apartheid tot het iconische WK van 2010, dat het land aan de wereld moest presenteren als verenigd en vernieuwd.We bespreken hoe zwarte spelers al tijdens apartheid langzaam doorbraken in “witte” competities, waarom het WK van 2010 zo'n emotioneel moment was voor miljoenen Zuid-Afrikanen en wat er overblijft van Mandela's sportieve ideaal nu ongelijkheid, werkloosheid en politieke spanningen opnieuw oplopen.Daarnaast hoor je een bijdrage van de Koolkast⁠Volg onze LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/africastpodcast?originalSubdomain=nlVoor mooie beelden, quizjes en 'behind the scenes', volg onze Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/africast_podcast/Link met Jos of Joeri via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jos-hummelen/ & https://www.linkedin.com/in/joerinortier/

Met vandaag: de beschikbaarheid van gezondheidszorg in Gaza neemt nog steeds af | Thelma Schoon kiest op haar dertigste voor het priesterschap | Brussel zoekt naar een onderhandelaar voor in de Oekraïne-oorlog | Simon Kuper onderzocht diepgewortelde mythes in het voetbal | Kiest cabaretier Yora Rienstra de skinny-bike als alternatief voor haar fatbike? | Presentatie: Chris Kijne.

Waarom gaan al die ploegen toch naar Ibiza? Dat antwoord hoort u vandaag in de Cor Potcast. Want, hoe belangrijk is zo'n teamuitje nu? En werkt het beter voor een ploeg die wat gepresteerd heeft, of juist voor een ploeg die net even in een dipje zit? Wij zijn het er in ieder geval over eens: een fietstochtje met hartslagmeter door Valencia doet geen enkele ploeg kwaad. Veel luisterplezier! Afsluitende nummerThomas Verhaar - Maarten de Focker, vieze vuile ... AanradersVerhaar: Het WK Voetbal QuizboekFockert: De film MichaelVriends: Het boek Wij vinden dat fijn van Stephanie Hoogenberk ESPN Compleet Neem nu een ESPN Compleet abonnement en mis niks van de ontknoping in de VriendenLoterij Eredivisie en Keuken Kampioen Divisie! Kijk snel op espn.nl/cor! Doe nu mee met de veiling voor het Prinses Maxima Centrum op: https://onlineveilingmeester.nl/nl/veilingen/8860/kavels Haal nu je kaartjes voor Maarten de Fockert in gesprek met Simon Kuper: https://onlineveilingmeester.nl/nl/veilingen/8860/kavels Pre-order nu het boekkie van Vriends, Jonas: https://www.overamsteluitgevers.com/boek/3655/jacobine-de-brauw-en-bart-vriends-jonas.html Volg ons op Instagram: @corpotcastVolg onze Spotify-lijst: Cor Potcast Elftal van de MaandSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Great presentations are rarely accidents. They work because the speaker respects one brutal truth: audiences are distracted, overloaded, and ready to tune out fast. That is why Simon Kuper's advice lands so well. It is not theory for academics or conference organisers. It is practical guidance for anyone who has to stand up in front of a room, win attention, and leave people remembering something useful. In Japan, the US, Europe, and across Asia-Pacific, the pressure on presenters has only increased in the post-pandemic era. Hybrid meetings, shorter attention spans, and dense slide decks have made clear speaking more valuable than ever. Whether you are a corporate leader, sales professional, entrepreneur, or team manager, the same rule applies: simplify, sharpen, and connect. The best speakers do not try to say everything. They make one clear point and make it stick.  Why do audiences switch off before a presenter even begins? Audiences often arrive mentally exhausted, so your opening has to win attention immediately. If earlier speakers have dragged on, overloaded the room with jargon, or read from slides, your audience is already halfway gone before you say a word. That is why the first few seconds matter so much. A hesitant walk to the stage, fiddling with a laptop, apologising for the time slot, or opening with a stale joke tells people to check their phones. Strong presenters do the opposite. They walk on with intent, start cleanly, and give the room a reason to listen. In a Tokyo boardroom, a Sydney conference, or a New York client pitch, that same principle holds. Attention is not granted out of politeness anymore. It has to be earned fast. The opening should sound like the start of a conversation that matters, not the start of an obligation. Do now: Rehearse your first 20 seconds until they feel crisp, confident, and natural. Cut any opening line that sounds generic, apologetic, or slow. What is the one thing people actually remember from a presentation? Most audiences remember one key idea, not your entire slide deck. That means the real job of a presenter is not to cram in more content. It is to make one central message impossible to forget. This is where many business presentations go wrong. Executives, SMEs, and multinational teams often try to squeeze in every data point, every caveat, and every side issue. The result is message cannibalisation. Instead of clarity, the audience gets clutter. A stronger approach is to choose one big idea, support it with evidence, and wrap it in stories or anecdotes people can recall later. Research in communication and memory repeatedly shows that narrative sticks better than raw data alone. Numbers are useful, but stories give them shape. If your audience leaves saying, "The big point was clear," you have succeeded. If they leave saying, "There was a lot in there," you probably have not. Do now: Write your presentation's core message in one sentence. If a slide does not strengthen that sentence, delete it or move it to backup material. Should presenters speak for less time than they are given? Yes, finishing early is usually smarter than filling every minute. A 15-minute speaking slot is often best delivered in 12 minutes, because brevity creates clarity and leaves the audience wanting more, not less. We have all seen the opposite. The speaker realises time is running out, starts racing through important slides, skips examples, and leaves everyone feeling short-changed. This happens in corporate town halls, startup pitches, industry panels, and internal training sessions across every market. Speaking slightly under time forces discipline. It pushes you to remove repetition, sharpen transitions, and focus only on what matters. In high-context business cultures like Japan, concise delivery also signals preparation and respect for the audience. In US or European settings, it helps maintain pace and energy. Less content, handled well, usually lands harder than more content delivered in panic. Do now: Build your talk to 80 percent of the allotted time. Use the remaining margin for pauses, reactions, and audience engagement. Do you need to memorise a presentation word for word? No, but you do need strong structure and enough rehearsal to sound fluent. Reading a speech kills connection, while rigid memorisation can make you brittle if anything goes off-script. A better method is to know your flow, not every syllable. Think in chapters, landmarks, or signposts. That is how experienced lecturers, trainers, and keynote speakers stay natural while keeping their order intact. Your slides can help guide you, and notes are perfectly respectable if they support rather than dominate. The goal is not to perform like an actor reciting lines. It is to sound like a thinking professional who knows the terrain. This matters for leaders in every environment, from Rakuten-style fast-moving corporate settings to more formal multinational presentations. When you know the structure deeply, you can adjust tone, pace, and examples to match the room without getting lost. Do now: Rehearse out loud several times using only your key headings. Train yourself to speak from structure, not from a script. How should presenters use movement, slides, and visuals? Movement and visuals should support your message, not compete with it. A speaker who paces aimlessly or shows cluttered slides creates distraction, not engagement. Purposeful movement can be powerful. Step closer to the audience when making a personal point. Use broader physicality when addressing the whole room. But nervous wandering makes you look unsettled. The same is true for slides. Great visuals are simple enough to grasp in a few seconds. Dense text, tiny charts, and overloaded graphs force audiences to choose between reading and listening, and that is a battle the speaker usually loses. This problem is common across industries, especially in expert-led fields like finance, consulting, engineering, and economics, where presenters know too much and try to show it all. Your mouth is for words. Your slides are for reinforcement. The visual should serve the talk, not become the talk. Do now: Check every slide with a two-second test. If the audience cannot get the point almost instantly, simplify it. What language and humour actually work in business presentations? Simple language beats clichés, jargon, and recycled jokes nearly every time. Audiences respond better to fresh, direct speech than to empty formulas they have heard a hundred times before. That means dropping lines like "without further ado," "last but not least," or "I know it is a difficult slot after lunch." These phrases add nothing and quietly signal laziness. The same goes for motherhood statements such as "all stakeholders need to work together" or bland claims that every company "values all employees." People know these lines are stock phrases. They do not trust them. Clearer language works better, especially for international audiences and non-native English speakers. In Asia-Pacific and Europe, where many business events include mixed-language audiences, simplicity is not dumbing down. It is smart communication. Even quotes need care. Famous lines from Marcus Aurelius or other overused sources rarely feel fresh. New, precise language beats borrowed grandeur. Do now: Replace every cliché in your talk with a plain-English sentence that sounds like something a real person would actually say. Final takeaway Excellent presenters are memorable because they are disciplined. They start strongly, focus on one idea, speak briefly, use structure instead of scripts, simplify visuals, and speak in clear human language. That combination is what makes a conference talk, client pitch, or team presentation worth attending. For leaders, executives, and salespeople, the next move is straightforward: stop treating presentations as information dumps and start treating them as decisions about attention. The audience does not reward effort. It rewards clarity. Simon Kuper's advice is valuable because it reminds us that good presenting is less about showing how much we know and more about making sure other people can use it.  Author bio Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie One Carnegie Award in 2018 and 2021, and the recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award in 2012. As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver leadership, communication, sales, and presentation programmes globally, including Leadership Training for Results. He is the author of several books, including the best-sellers Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery, and Japan Presentations Mastery, as well as Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His books have also been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigyō, Purezen no Tatsujin, Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō, and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā. Greg also publishes daily business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan's Top Business Interviews, followed by executives looking for practical success strategies in Japan. 

In de FC Afkicken Daily van donderdag 23 april bespreken Bart Obbink, Jean Paul Rison en Hugo Heinen het laatste voetbalnieuws. Met vandaag onder meer het ontslag van Liam Rosenior bij Chelsea, Frenkie de Jong nieuwe Nederlandse recordhouder bij Barcelona, de blessure van Yamal die misschien wel roet in het eten gooit in de aanloop naar het WK, Te Kloese in verband gebracht met een terugkeer naar Mexico en het escortschandaal in Milaan! (00:00) Intro(00:56) Rosenior ontslagen(10:03) Frenkie verbreekt record van Cuco(12:37) Race tegen de klok voor Yamal(14:10) WK voorbereiding Afkicken(14:49) Dennis te Kloese in verband gebracht met Monterrey(16:20) Telstar zet goede stap richting lijfsbehoud(18:58) Eredivisiewedstrijden vanavond(23:16) Escortschandaal in Milaan(24:39) Gaat Italië Iran vervangen op het WK?De Macht van het WK, dé geopolitieke WK-voorbeschouwing met Simon Kuper!Van de bestuurskamer van FIFA-baas Infantino tot de banlieues van Mbappé: De Macht van het WK Voetbal geeft je een unieke blik op de sport én de wereldpolitiek. Waarom helpt voetbal ons om de wereld beter te begrijpen?Kaarten vindt je via: https://www.haagschcollege.nl/college...RØDEBen je zelf op zoek naar de beste podcast apparatuur voor in de studio of onderweg? Check: https://rode.com/en-nlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us9P3NmP1EUSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In de FC Afkicken Daily van woensdag 22 april blikken Mart ten Have, Stan Wagtman en Mounir Boualin vooruit op de transferzomer van Ajax, PSV en Feyenoord, de waarschijnlijke aanstelling van Joris Mathijsen bij Fortuna Sittard en Paul Simonis bij Sparta!De Macht van het WK, dé geopolitieke WK-voorbeschouwing met Simon Kuper!Simon KuperVan de bestuurskamer van FIFA-baas Infantino tot de banlieues van Mbappé: De Macht van het WK Voetbal geeft je een unieke blik op de sport én de wereldpolitiek. Waarom helpt voetbal ons om de wereld beter te begrijpen?Kaarten vindt je via: https://www.haagschcollege.nl/college/machtvanhetwkvoetbalCoach van het JaarInschrijven voor onze FC Afkicken subleague bij Coach van het Jaar? Dat kan via: https://www.coachvanhetjaar.nl/app/RØDEBen je zelf op zoek naar de beste podcast apparatuur voor in de studio of onderweg? Check: https://rode.com/en-nlSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

World renowned and best selling author Simon Kuper returns to CURVA MUNDIAL to discuss his latest book, "World Cup Fever," his updated version of "Soccernomics," and the 2026 World Cup for this special EXTRA TIME episode. Get your World Cup inspired gear from our Merch Store!EXTRA TIME is when we bring back a previous guest and catch up on what they are doing as we prepare for the upcoming season of CURVA MUNDIAL.

In the first of our occasional 'Football In A Library' series, Adrian Goldberg interviews Simon Kuper about his book 'World Cup Fever'.Prdouced by Adrian Goldberg. Socials by Mark Machado/Football Smash.

In de FC Afkicken Daily van vrijdag 3 april bespreken Mart ten Have, Hugo Heinen en Kenneth Lentze het laatste voetbalnieuws. Met vandaag onder meer Girona coach Míchel, die in verband wordt gebracht met Ajax, Branco die openlijk solliciteert naar Feyenoord, wederom een nieuw hoofdstuk in 'Paspoort Gate', en blikken de heren vooruit op het aankomende Eredivisie weekend.(00:00) Intro(01:00) Míchel nieuwe trainer Ajax(05:20) Ajax neemt het op tegen Twente(10:30) Coach Van Het Jaar(15:00) PSV kan officieus kampioen worden tegen Utrecht(18:30) Feyenoord reist af naar Volendam(22:30) Branco solliciteert bij Feyenoord(25:30) AZ verwelkomt Fortuna Sittard(26:20) Paspoort Gate(27:20) Excelsior in eigen huis tegen NEC(29:40) De IJsselderby(35:00) Overige wedstrijden(36:00) DEDB in de VolkskrantDe Macht van het WK, dé geopolitieke WK-voorbeschouwing met Simon Kuper!Van de bestuurskamer van FIFA-baas Infantino tot de banlieues van Mbappé: De Macht van het WK Voetbal geeft je een unieke blik op de sport én de wereldpolitiek. Waarom helpt voetbal ons om de wereld beter te begrijpen?Kaarten vindt je via: https://www.haagschcollege.nl/college/machtvanhetwkvoetbalCoach van het JaarInschrijven voor onze FC Afkicken subleague bij Coach van het Jaar? Dat kan via: https://www.coachvanhetjaar.nl/app/RØDEBen je zelf op zoek naar de beste podcast apparatuur voor in de studio of onderweg? Check: https://rode.com/en-nlSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In de FC Afkicken Daily van donderdag 2 april bespreken Lars van Velsum, Bart Obbink en Jean-Paul Rison het laatste voetbalnieuws! Met vandaag onder meer nieuwe ontwikkelingen in paspoort-gate, de zware poule van Oranje op het WK, Wout Weghorst die bij Twente wordt genoemd en Spurs dat De Zerbi aanstelt!(00:00) Intro(01:31) Paspoort gate gaat door!(14:18) Nederland op 2 na zwaarste groep van WK(17:38) Japan wint van Engeland(19:40) Anco Jansen niet tevreden over Ake en de Vrij(21:20) Bastoni krijgt haatreacties(25:03) Wout Weghorst op weg naar Twente?(27:48) Leo Sauer het hele seizoen gebleseerd(30:39) Simon Kuper komt naar Nederland(34:20) Johan Plat nieuwe trainer van Cambuur(36:46) De Zerbi naar Tottenham Hotspur(38:45) Outro De Macht van het WK, dé geopolitieke WK-voorbeschouwing met Simon Kuper! Van de bestuurskamer van FIFA-baas Infantino tot de banlieues van Mbappé: De Macht van het WK Voetbal geeft je een unieke blik op de sport én de wereldpolitiek. Waarom helpt voetbal ons om de wereld beter te begrijpen? Kaarten vindt je via: https://www.haagschcollege.nl/college/machtvanhetwkvoetbal RØDEBen je zelf op zoek naar de beste podcast apparatuur voor in de studio of onderweg? Check: https://rode.com/en-nlSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“When Haiti plays Brazil, Haitians will feel equal. Football gives even the weakest and the poorest a fighting chance. That is profound.” — Dimitry Elias LégerYesterday, Simon Kuper defined the World Cup as a religious feast for all of humanity. Today, Dimitry Elias Léger asks whether God is watching. His new novel, Death of the Soccer God, is a fictional reimagining of the most famous goal in American World Cup history — scored in 1950 by a non-American. Joe Gaëtjens was a half-German, half-Haitian teenager sent to New York to study, not to play football. He picked up the game in Central Park, somehow (as a non-American) made it onto the US team at the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, and scored the goal that famously beat England one–nil in Belo Horizonte. England was so heavily favoured that the football-mad BBC didn't even send a reporter.Léger — a Haitian-born writer and (for his sins) an Arsenal fan — spent three weeks in Brazil researching the novel, two of them in Belo Horizonte. The philosophical question at the core of the book asks if God loves Haiti. Does God, Léger wonders, have a particular affection for the poorest people on earth?And now, for the first time in decades, Haiti have qualified for the World Cup. In the United States of all places. They're in the toughest group — with Morocco and, yes, Brazil. For ninety minutes, Haiti will be the Seleção's equal. The democratic spectacle of football, Léger says, gives even the weakest and the poorest a fighting chance. God might even be watching. Five Takeaways•       The Most Famous Goal in American World Cup History Was Scored by a Haitian: Belo Horizonte, 1950. The US beat England one–nil. The scorer was Joe Gaëtjens — a half-German, half-Haitian teenager sent to New York to study, not to play football. He picked up the game in Central Park. He couldn't tell his parents he was playing for America in the World Cup. The BBC didn't even send a reporter. England was so heavily favoured it wasn't supposed to matter.•       Football Is the Only Arena Where Foot-Eye Coordination Is the Dominant Skill: We use our hands for everything. Football inverts it. That's why it seems miraculous when Pelé or Maradona or Messi does what they do. The feet are not supposed to be that graceful. It's more art than science, more jazz than chess.•       Pelé Looks Like a Typical Haitian Kid: The first televised World Cup final was 1958 in Stockholm. Pelé was sixteen and scored a hat-trick. He looked like a majority of the planet's population. That helped football explode globally. He introduced the bicycle kick, the samba flair. Brazil won three World Cups in twelve years.•       Papa Doc Disappeared Him: In real life, Gaëtjens returned to Haiti after his glory years, ran afoul of the dictator François Duvalier, and was disappeared — never seen again. In the novel, the hero confronts the dictator face to face. Dictators have always used football to drape themselves in glory. The beautiful game has a very dark side.•       Haiti Play Brazil This Summer: Haiti have qualified for the World Cup for the first time in decades. They're in the toughest group — with Brazil and Morocco. For ninety minutes, Haiti will be Brazil's equal. Football gives even the weakest and the poorest a fighting chance. That is profound. About the GuestDimitry Elias Léger is a Haitian-born novelist and Arsenal supporter. He is the author of God Loves Haiti and Death of the Soccer God.References:•       Death of the Soccer God by Dimitri Elias Léger — the novel under discussion.•       Episode 2856: One Life in Nine World Cups — Simon Kuper on football fever. The companion conversation.•       Episode 2849: How Stories Can Save Us — Colum McCann on storytelling and empathy. Léger is the novelist to McCann's activist.About Keen On AmericaNobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States — hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 2,800 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting.WebsiteSubstackYouTubeApple PodcastsSpotify Chapters:(00:31) - Introduction: World Cup fever, Kuper, Foer, and going fiction (02:30) - Joe Gaëtjens: the Haitian teenager who beat England (04:19) - Half German, half Haitian: the immigrant who wasn't even American (06:45) - Does God exist? The philosophical question behind both novels (08:20) - Football as foot-eye coordination: why it seems miraculous (10:15) - Maradona, Messi, Pelé, Ronaldo: who is the greatest? (12:08) - Pelé in the first televised World Cup final: looking like a typical Haitian kid (14:22) - Football and jazz: the improvisational connection (16:30) - Belo Horizonte: two weeks walking the pitch (18:45) - Papa Doc disappeared him: the dark side of football and dictators (20:55) - Haiti qualified for the World Cup. They play Brazil. (23:10) - Equal footing for ninety minutes: what football gives the poorest

“The World Cup is a kind of religious feast. It's like Easter, or Passover, or Eid, but it's for all of humanity.” — A Church of England vicar, quoted by Simon KuperNick Hornby measured his (sad) life in Arsenal fixtures. The FT columnist Simon Kuper has measured his in World Cups. His new book, World Cup Fever: A Soccer Journey in Nine Tournaments, is the Kuper story told through the nine tournaments he attended as a journalist — from Italy 1990 to Qatar 2022.World Cup Fever is as irresistible as a Maradona slalom or a Pelé feint. In 1990, three Oxford students blag their way into Italy on Mars corporate tickets, pulling out library cards at the Swiss border to prove they're not Liverpool hooligans. In 1998, France's World Cup victory changes Kuper's life — he buys an apartment/office in Paris and never really leaves, even writing World Cup Fever there. In 2006, the newly reunited Germany reinvents itself as the nice guy of World Cups, and the German Football Association's designated handler of World War Two queries receives exactly zero calls. In 2014, Brazil loses one–seven to Germany in the most stunning result in tournament history — and Kuper watches Brazilian football lovers line the road to applaud the German bus.But, after Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022, those glory days might now be history, Kuper fears. The North American World Cup this summer will be the biggest yet — forty-eight teams, three host countries, and a grifter FIFA president (Gianni Infantino) not unlike Donald Trump. What could possibly go wrong?So who will win in 2026? Kuper thinks England have their best squad since 1966. Spain are probably the best team. Messi will be thirty-nine. But the World Cup has so many random elements that none of that really counts. What matters, a Church of England vicar told Kuper, is that the World Cup is a religious feast for all of humanity. In a time when we're increasingly lonely and miserable, it's the most joyous communal event we have. As the non-doctrinal Kuper promises, “it's like Easter, or Passover, or Eid, but it's for all of humanity.” Five Takeaways•       Every World Cup, You Remember Where You Were: Kuper's first was 1978 — eight years old, sitting with his parents and grandparents in the Netherlands. His mother is now dead. His grandparents are long dead. But he can see it: June 25th, 1978. Nick Hornby measured his life in Arsenal fixtures. Kuper has measured his in World Cups.•       The Oxford Library Card Got Them Past the Border Guards: Italy 1990. Three students blag World Cup tickets from Mars. The Italian border guards see “Liverpool” on a passport and think: hooligans. Five years after Heysel. They pull out their Oxford library cards. “Studenti, Oxford.” The guards make a snap sociological analysis and let them in.•       One–Seven: The Wall Came Down: Brazil 2014. The home of World Cup football loses to Germany in the most shocking result in tournament history. Brazilian fans line the road to applaud the German bus. They've accepted it: the era is over. Brazil will never again be impregnable. Kuper compares it to the fall of the Berlin Wall — equally stunning, no going back.•       The World Cup Is a Religious Feast for All of Humanity: A Church of England vicar told Kuper: it's like Easter, Passover, or Eid, but everyone's allowed to join. In a time when we're all atomised and on separate screens, the World Cup is the biggest communal event we have. Fans hug, exchange shirts, celebrate shared nationhood and shared humanity.•       England's Best Chance Since 1966: Kuper and his co-author Stefan Szymanski say this is the strongest England squad in sixty years. One-in-six chance of winning. Spain are probably the best team. Messi will be thirty-nine. France have reached four of the last seven finals. But the World Cup has so many random elements that quality alone won't decide it. About the GuestSimon Kuper is a columnist for the Financial Times and the author of Soccernomics (with Stefan Szymanski), The Barcelona Complex, and World Cup Fever. Born in Uganda to South African parents, raised in the Netherlands, educated at Oxford, he lives in Paris.References:•       World Cup Fever by Simon Kuper — the book under discussion.•       Simon Kuper's FT column — his political and society writing for the Financial Times.About Keen On AmericaNobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States — hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 2,800 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting.WebsiteSubstackYouTubeApple PodcastsSpotify Chapters:(00:00) - (00:31) - Introduction: life measured in four-year increments (02:07) - First World Cup: Holland 1978, sitting with the dead (05:45) - Nine tournaments in a row: the double life of a football writer (09:25) - Italy 1990: Oxford library cards, Italian border guards, and Mars tickets (12:35) - Gascoigne, Cameroon, and England's last real chance (16:03) - USA 1994: Maradona's primal scream and the end of Germany as villain (18:23) - France 1998: the World Cup that changed his life (22:16) - Korea/Japan 2002: feeling four years old in Tokyo (24:36) - Germany 2006: Wannsee, the new Germany, and zero queries about the war (31:20) - South Africa 2010: nation building in his parents' backyard (34:26) - Brazil 2014: one–seven and the end of an era (38:48) - Russia 2018: Peruvians on Red Square and the policeman who'd never met a foreigner (43:46) - Qatar 2022: the World Cup of the Global South (46:30) - USA 2026: forty-eight teams, Trump, Infantino, and why we shouldn't boycott

n de FC Afkicken Daily van dinsdag 24 maart bespreken Bart Obbink, Mart ten Have en Joost Blaauwhof het laatste voetbalnieuws! Met vandaag onder meer alle heisa rond Dean James, Go Ahead Eagles en NAC, Ronald Koemand die geen vervanger voor Memphis bij Oranje ziet, Manchester City dat de League Cup wint en de 436 wedstrijden van Marten de Roon voor Atalanta!(00:00) Intro(01:08) Dean James-Gate(20:52) Wij gaan samenwerken met Simon Kuper(24:06) Memphis Depay doet toch niet mee(31:52) Manchester City wint de League Cup!(34:40) Marten de Roon meeste duels gespeeld voor Atalanta(37:01) Kenneth Taylor blinkt uit bij Lazio(38:58) Johan Cruijff 10 jaar geleden overleden(39:40) Outro De Macht van het WK, dé geopolitieke WK-voorbeschouwing met Simon Kuper! Van de bestuurskamer van FIFA-baas Infantino tot de banlieues van Mbappé: De Macht van het WK Voetbal geeft je een unieke blik op de sport én de wereldpolitiek. Waarom helpt voetbal ons om de wereld beter te begrijpen? Kaarten vindt je via: https://www.haagschcollege.nl/college/machtvanhetwkvoetbal RØDEBen je zelf op zoek naar de beste podcast apparatuur voor in de studio of onderweg? Check: https://rode.com/en-nlSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Le sort des Libanais, attaqués par Israël en réponse aux tirs du Hezbollah, préoccupe la presse hebdomadaire. C'est « la guerre de trop » pour Le Point, ou encore « une guerre qui n'est pas la leur », comme le titre Le Nouvel Obs, qui ajoute : « À Beyrouth, comme dans les villages pris en étau dans le sud du pays, on commence à redouter que Tsahal "fasse comme à Gaza" ». Il faut dire que le ministre israélien d'extrême droite Bezalel Smotrich en a brandi la menace : « Très bientôt, Dahiyeh (banlieue sud de Beyrouth et bastion du Hezbollah, ndlr) ressemblera à Khan Younès », ville de Gaza rasée par l'armée israélienne. Le Nouvel Obs a rencontré le docteur Abu-Sittah, qui travaille à l'hôpital de Nabatieh, à une cinquantaine de kilomètres de Beyrouth. « À ses yeux, nous dit le Nouvel Obs, ce qui se passe au Liban s'inscrit dans la continuité de ce qu'il a observé à Gaza : « Il y a un schéma qui se répète. Les deux territoires sont pris au piège entre la mer, Israël d'un côté, et un régime hostile de l'autre ». « Sans compter, ajoute encore le docteur Abu-Sittah, que le massacre commis en Palestine a contribué à normaliser un niveau de brutalité extraordinaire. Tout ce qu'Israël fait au Liban paraîtra presque acceptable en comparaison de Gaza ».  Engrenage destructeur L'hebdomadaire Le Point s'est lui aussi rendu au Liban. Plus précisément à Dahiyeh, cette banlieue sud de Beyrouth, fief du Hezbollah, qu'Israël dit vouloir anéantir. Le Point précise d'ailleurs : « La menace de faire de Beyrouth un nouveau Gaza figurait noir sur blanc sur des tracts de propagande largués par avion le 13 mars, appelant la population libanaise à collaborer avec les services israéliens, pour mettre fin au piège tendu par le Hezbollah ». « Depuis que l'organisation chiite a repris les hostilités, le 2 mars, en soutien à son parrain iranien, poursuit l'hebdomadaire, l'angoisse d'un engrenage destructeur s'est emparée de Beyrouth ». Le Point a rencontré Walid Joumblatt, présenté comme « l'expérimenté chef de la communauté druze, longtemps à la tête du Parti socialiste progressiste » qui déclare : « Je ne vois aucune lueur d'espoir. Toute la population libanaise est prise en otage. Les chiites sont otages de cette faction irano-libanaise qu'est le Hezbollah ». Faisant allusion aux centaines de milliers de Libanais déplacés par cette nouvelle guerre, Walid Joumblatt ajoute : « Les distributions de tentes rappellent l'exode des Palestiniens en 1948 : cela devait durer deux semaines, cela fait soixante-dix-huit ans. » Croisade Le Nouvel Obs s'intéresse à celui qu'il appelle « le guerrier de Trump ». Autrement dit, Pete Hegseth, « ancien animateur de Fox News devenu le visage de l'offensive contre l'Iran », explique l'hebdomadaire, qui le décrit ainsi : « Machiste, belliqueux et inconséquent, le secrétaire américain à la Défense, auto-rebaptisé ministre de la Guerre, a entrepris de transformer l'armée des États-Unis pour en faire une machine à tuer ». L'hebdomadaire n'y va pas de main morte, mais il faut dire que Pete Hegseth, ancien militaire lui-même, aligne les déclarations guerrières sans sourciller. « Nous ne sommes plus des défenseurs, clame-t-il. Nous sommes des guerriers entraînés à tuer l'ennemi et à briser sa volonté. Fini les règles d'engagement correctes, place à une létalité maximale ». « Le patron de l'armée », poursuit le Nouvel Obs, estime « que les objectifs de démocratisation en Irak et en Afghanistan ont détourné les militaires de leur objectif : tuer l'ennemi ». Il s'agit « d'une croisade idéologique et religieuse », précise encore l'hebdomadaire. Outre « ses tatouages représentant notamment la croix de Jérusalem et la devise latine Deus Vult (Dieu veut) », « Pete Hegseth dirige régulièrement des séances de prières avant les frappes ». Donald Trump n'y trouve rien à redire et salue « un grand chef militaire, une source d'inspiration incroyable pour nos forces armées ». «Voilà, quoi...» Courrier International nous fait découvrir un article du Financial Times. Un article qui explique comment « parler parisien », écrit donc par un journaliste britannique, Simon Kuper, et ça ne manque pas d'humour. Le journaliste s'amuse ainsi de nos expressions « bouche-trous » comme « "voilà quoi", pour finir une phrase quand on n'a plus rien à dire. Ou "du coup", formule de remplissage qui veut dire "ainsi" ou "par conséquent". » Bien sûr, Simon Kupper a aussi remarqué que notre belle langue française ne manquait pas d'anglicismes : « burn-out, brainstorming, ou encore team et corporate ». Il remarque également que « le français emprunte depuis longtemps à l'arabe et aux langues africaines, et prend pour exemple le mot "baraka" », utilisé de longue date.   Il y a aussi bien sûr le verlan, le « renversement des syllabes ». « La plupart des Parisiens, hormis les vieux bourgeois, utilisent le verlan, en particulier dans les situations décontractées, remarque enfin Simon Kupper. "Femme" devient "meuf" et "un truc de fou", "un truc de ouf" ».  À lire aussiGuerre au Moyen-Orient : le Liban risque d'affronter une grave crise alimentaire

Guest host Nora Young speaks with Reuters national security reporter Phillip Stewart about Washington's military objectives as the United States and Israel-Iran war intensifies, and Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari discusses the situation inside IranFinancial Times columnist and author Simon Kuper discusses how the World Cup reflects global politics, culture and powerToronto Star national columnist Susan Delacourt and The Economist's Canada correspondent Rob Russo take stock of Mark Carney's first year as prime ministerUniversity of Waterloo associate professor Troy Vasiga and New York Times technology reporter Natasha Singer look back on "learn to code" campaigns and whether they delivered on their promise as AI disrupts tech

Een leven tussen Zuid-Afrika, Groot-Brittannië, Frankrijk en Leiden maakte van Simon Kuper een wereldburger. „In deze tijd van nativisme en Geert Wilders is dat geen populair ding." Toch voelt hij zich verbonden met Nederland, met name met ons voetbal: „Mijn hart slaat voor Oranje. En dat is raar, want ik ben nooit Nederlander geworden.” Als kosmopoliet raakt hij gefrustreerd als hij Nederlanders hoort klagen: „Dan denk ik: je moet je bewust zijn van waar je over klaagt.”Kupers liefde voor voetbal sluit kritiek op haar misstanden niet uit. Mussolini, Videla, Poetin, Trump... „Het uitleveren van het WK aan dictators zat er vanaf het begin al ingebakken.” Toch moet je toeschouwers het plezier niet ontzeggen: „Veel van die mensen hebben weinig plezier in hun leven.” En het WK verbindt volgens Kuper. Bij Nederland–Uruguay in 2010 keek driekwart van de bevolking. „Dat is waarschijnlijk het meest gemeenschappelijke moment dat Nederland statistisch gezien ooit heeft gehad."Heeft u vragen, suggesties of ideeën over onze journalistiek? Mail dan naar podcast@nrc.nl.Presentatie: Pieter van der WielenRedactie en productie: Merel van Waalwijk van DoornMixage: AudiochefMuziek: Rufus van BaardwijkFoto: NRCZie het privacybeleid op https://art19.com/privacy en de privacyverklaring van Californië op https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Taking Stock Susan Hayes talks to renowned writer Simon Kuper about why Donald Trump does not actually meet the criteria of being called a 'fascist'. In the monthly 'Techscape' slot Susan talk to Helen Coffey of The Independet about her experience of being interviewed by an AI recruiter.Plus, Susan is also joined by Claer Barret of the FT and by Jennifer Loftus of the Acorn Life Group to talk about the growing number of people who don't want to retire.

Could Trump woo the upcoming 2026 World Cup and subvert the world's most beloved sport for his own ugly ends? Not according to Simon Kuper, the Anglo-Dutch-French football writer whose adventures at the last nine World Cups are documented in his upcoming book World Cup Fever. Mussolini failed to control the 1934 World Cup in Italy, Kuper reminds us, and Trump won't have any more success manipulating the 2026 competition in America. Rather than a stage for political power, he argues, the World Cup represents the greatest of all communal sporting experiences. The Beautiful Game 1 Authoritarians 0. Justice is round. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

It's that time of year when we gather together with friends from near and far, indulge in seasonal treats, and take a lighthearted look at the stories that are rounding out these past 12 wild months. It's our annual Christmas extravaganza (

With next year's World Cup on the horizon, a new book explores the impact of the world's largest sporting event, from its effect on culture to its political and social role. Joining guest host Tom Dunne to discuss is Simon Kuper, Financial Times Writer and author of ‘World Cup Fever: A Footballing Journey in Nice Tournaments'...

Met vandaag: - Politiek verslaggever Wilma Borgman en goede vriend Johran Willigers over de nieuwe Tweede Kamervoorzitter Thom van Campen; - Schrijver en journalist Simon Kuper bezocht negen WK's voetbal en schreef erover in 'De wereld aan mijn voeten'; - Documentairemaker Sinan Can volgde het spoor van de Nederlandse Oekraïne-strijder Jesse; - Journalisten Dick Drayer en Diederik Samwel over de spanning rond de mogelijke WK-kwalificatie van Suriname en Curaçao; Presentatie: Coen Verbraak.

We spelen vandaag met een vijfmans verdediging: Simon Kuper, Nico Dijkshoorn, Frans Thomése, Wessel Penning en Thomas Heerma van Voss. Waarom weten Nederlanders veel over voetbal, waarom vinden we voetbal leuk en we weten wie de nieuwe spits van Oranje is. Deze podcast wordt mogelijk gemaakt door Staatsloterij. Bekijk de podcast ook op ons YouTube-kanaal. Probeer het zelf of geef Hard gras cadeau! https://www.hardgras.nl/#ABONNEMENTSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aan tafel deze week: VNO-NCW-voorzitter Ingrid Thijssen, CEO ASML Christophe Fouquet, voorzitter RvC Gasunie Diederik Samsom, journalist Simon Kuper Presentatie: Twan Huys Wil je meer weten over de gasten in Buitenhof? Op onze website vind je meer informatie. Daar kan je deze aflevering ook terugkijken en je vindt er natuurlijk nog veel meer gesprekken: https://bit.ly/buitenhof-16-nov-25 De komende weken gaan CDA en D66 onder leiding van informateur Sybrand Buma aan het werk om plannen voor Nederland te schrijven. Grote problemen wachten al lang op een antwoord. Hoe kijkt VNO-NCW-voorzitter Ingrid Thijssen naar de ontwikkelingen in Den Haag? En hoe groot is het belang voor het bedrijfsleven dat er snel een stabiel kabinet komt? Christophe Fouquet, de CEO van ASML, is bij ons te gast. Zijn bedrijf werd besproken door de groten der aarde, zoals Xi Jinping en Donald Trump, en is wereldwijd marktleider in de ontwikkeling van chipmachines. Wat is de impact van de veranderende wereld op ASML? Waarom is ASML in de wereld van AI gestapt? En heeft het bedrijf nog adviezen aan de informateurs? Al meer dan dertig jaar maakt Diederik Samsom zich hard voor de strijd tegen klimaatverandering: van activist tot politicus, van ondernemer tot Europees ambtenaar. Achter de schermen geldt hij als één van de architecten van de Europese Green Deal. In zijn boek Groene Supermacht blikt Samsom terug op zijn jaren als kabinetschef van Eurocommissaris Frans Timmermans. Tevens praten we met hem over de COP in Brazilië, waar de wereld zich buigt over nieuwe stappen in het klimaatbeleid. En journalist Simon Kuper schuift aan. Hij heeft Zuid-Afrikaanse ouders, een Britse opvoeding gehad en woont nu in Parijs. Kuper woonde ook jarenlang in Nederland en werd hier verliefd op voetbal en het WK. Voor zijn boek De wereld aan mijn voeten trekt hij langs negen WK's. Kuper noemt het boek zelf een liefdesverklaring aan het WK. Hij laat zien hoe politiek voetbal is, maar vooral hoe de sport verbindt. 

A first networking event in years - a breakfast event at The Reform Club on Belfast's Royal Avenue in the company of business leaders, listening to journalist Simon Kuper talk about what business can learn from sport. Simon has written books on Barcelona, taking a different approach to Damian Hughes but also writes extensively across other areas than sport. A journalist for the FT he brought a perspective to the topic that has me moderating my own view - that sports teams and business teams are very different my nature - there are clearly some areas of crossover. A very worthwhile event and grateful for the invite as well as the opportunity to meet some very interesting people from different corners of the north. (thanks to Joanne at Clarendon and AAB and MLN.)

We speak with author and ‘Financial Times’ journalist Simon Kuper about his new book, ‘World Cup Fever: A Footballing Journey in Nine Tournaments’, on how football has transformed the world.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Simon Kuper Joins Dotun Adebayo and Tim Vickery to discuss his new book World Cup Fever about her personal journey travelling to the last 9 World CupsWatch this episode on Youtube: https://youtube.com/live/OtC8-18DQCgPurchase the book here: https://stanchionbooks.com/products/world-cup-fever-a-footballing-journey-in-nine-tournamentsWe'll be back on Football Smash later this week with the Global Soccer Interactive, with all the latest from this round of World Cup qualifying.

Donald Trump zaprezentował przywódcom państw arabskich swój plan pokojowy dla Strefy Gazy. Zakłada on zawieszenie broni, zwolnienie przez Hamas zakładników, rozmieszczenie w Gazie sił stabilizacyjnych oraz wycofanie stamtąd Izraela. Jednocześnie prezydent USA skrytykował Wielką Brytanię, Francję i kilka innych państw Zachodu, które uznały państwowość Palestyny. W poniedziałek w Waszyngtonie będzie z nim rozmawiał Benjamin Netanjahu, któremu propozycja Trumpa krzyżuje własne plany, m.in. zapowiadanej coraz śmielej aneksji Zachodniego Brzegu Jordanu. Tymczasem armia izraelska bombarduje miasto Gaza. Tylko w czwartek zginęło tam kilkadziesiąt osób, a dalsze ataki zagrażają milionowi Palestyńczyków. Dariusz Rosiak relacjonuje w tym tygodniu bezpośrednio z Jerozolimy, skąd opowie o reakcjach Izraelczyków na amerykańską propozycję oraz o tym, jak wojna w Strefie Gazy zmieniła życie wszystkich w regionie.W niedzielnych wyborach obywatele Mołdawii zadecydują o tym, czy ich kraj będzie nadal dążył do członkostwa z Unią Europejską. Partia prezydent Mai Sandu może utracić większość w parlamencie – a tego bardzo chciałby Władimir Putin. Dlaczego w Mołdawii tak silne są nastroje prorosyjskie?Trzy lata po eksplozjach, które uszkodziły gazociągi Nord Stream 1 i 2, wciąż nie wiadomo, kto stał za tym sabotażem. A w Niemczech pojawiają się pomysły wznowienia dostaw gazu z Rosji. Czy to możliwe – i czemu mogą w tym pomóc Amerykanie?Stany Zjednoczone wracają do paliw kopalnych i utrudniają naukowcom badania klimatu. Czy osiągamy właśnie moment, w którym na zapobieżenie planetarnej katastrofie będzie po prostu za późno?Eksperci ONZ wzywają federacje sportowe FIFA i UEFA do wykluczenia z rozgrywek międzynarodowych piłkarskiej reprezentacji Izraela. Jaki sens mają sportowe sankcje? Oraz jaką siłę w polityce stanowią kibice?Rozkład jazdy: (03:06) Dariusz Rosiak w Jerozolimie — zaczynamy kolejny „Raport” wyjazdowy(14:18) Gershon Baskin, negocjator w rozmowach z Hamasem, o nastrojach w Izraelu(28:40) Dariusz Rosiak o tym, czym Izrael różni się od Rosji (32:46) Jakub Pieńkowski: Czy Mołdawia zwróci się w stronę Rosji?(54:22) Podziękowania(1:00:52) Marcin Pośpiech: Czy Nord Stream wraca do łask?(1:13:56) Szymon Malinowski: Zmiany klimatu: czy już jest za późno?(1:33:13) Simon Kuper i Michał Banasiak: Futbol i polityka(1:59:47) Do usłyszenia---------------------------------------------Raport o stanie świata to audycja, która istnieje dzięki naszym Patronom, dołącz się do zbiórki ➡️ ⁠https://patronite.pl/DariuszRosiak⁠Subskrybuj newsletter Raportu o stanie świata ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠➡️ ⁠https://dariuszrosiak.substack.com⁠Koszulki i kubki Raportu ➡️ ⁠https://patronite-sklep.pl/kolekcja/raport-o-stanie-swiata/⁠ [Autopromocja]

This week I'm in South Africa on a book and speaking tour and am chatting at the Franschoek Literary Festival, so we are all South Africa today. A country of contradictions, rich in resources, vibrant in culture, yet S.A. is held back by inequality, corruption, and the long shadow of apartheid. In this episode, we explore its uneasy present and remarkable past: from Mandela's legacy to Elon Musk's childhood, from empire and race to why Donald Trump has fixated on white Afrikaners. We travel through Cape Town and Johannesburg, unpacking it all with FT journalist Simon Kuper, and along the way, we encounter pencil tests, Springboks, slabs of the Berlin Wall, and the political ghosts of the Cold War. Is South Africa being used, once again, as a pawn in someone else's game? Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Americans, it's time to move to Europe! The American geo-strategist Jason Pack anticipated last week's advice from Simon Kuper and moved to London a few years ago during the first Trump Presidency. Pack, the host of the excellent Disorder podcast, confesses to be thrilled to have escaped MAGA America. He describes the esthetics of contemporary Washington DC as "post-apocalyptic" and criticizes what he sees as the Trump administration's hostile atmosphere, ideological purity tests, and institutional destruction. Contrasting this with Europe's ideological fluidity, Pack warns that Trump's isolationist policies are increasing global disorder by fundamentally undermining America's global leadership role with its erstwhile European allies. Five Key Takeaways* Pack left America because he found the "esthetics" of working in policy and media spaces increasingly distasteful, particularly during Trump's first administration.* He argues that European political systems allow for greater ideological fluidity, while American politics demands strict partisan loyalty.* Pack describes Washington DC as "post-apocalyptic" with institutions functioning like zombies - going through motions without accomplishing anything meaningful.* Unlike European populists who want to control institutions, Pack believes Trump's administration aims to destroy government institutions entirely.* Pack warns that America's deteriorating relationships with traditional allies is creating a "rudderless world" with increased global disorder and potential for conflict. Full TranscriptAndrew Keen: Hello, everybody. Over the last few days, we've been focusing on the impressions of America, of Trump's America around the world. We had the Financial Times' controversial columnist, Simon Cooper, on the show, arguing that it's the end of the American dream. He had a piece in the FT this week, arguing that it's time to move to Europe for Americans. Not everyone agrees. We had the London-based FT writer Jemima Kelly on the show recently, also suggesting that she hasn't quite given up on America. She is, of course, a Brit living in the UK and looking at America from London. My guest today, another old friend, is Jason Pack. He is the host of the Excellent Disorder podcast. Jason's been on the shows lots of times before. He's an observer of the world's early 21st century disorder. And he is an American living in London. So I'm thrilled that Jason is back on the show. Jason, did you have a chance to look at Simon Cooper's piece? Is it time for Americans to move to Europe?Jason Pack: You've already moved. Well, he's just popularizing what I've believed for eight or 10 years already. So yeah, I looked at the piece. I really enjoyed your podcast with him. I don't think many Americans will move because most Americans are not particularly global in their outlook. And as disenchanted as they will be, their networks of family and of perspective are in America. Some elites in media and finance will move. But for me, I just found the aesthetics of America becoming distasteful when I worked in D.C. during the first Trump administration. And that's why I pursued a European citizenship.Andrew Keen: Jason, it's interesting that you choose the word aesthetics. Two thoughts on that. Firstly, America has never been distinguished for its aesthetics. People never came to America for aesthetics. It's never been a particularly beautiful country, a very dynamic place, a very powerful place. So why do you choose that word aesthetic?Jason Pack: Because for most upper middle class Americans, life under Trump, particularly if they're white and heterosexual, will not change tremendously. But the aesthetics of working in the policy space or in the media will change. Having to deal with all the BS that we hear when we wake up and turn on the TV in the morning, having to interact with Republican nutcase friends who say, oh, the fat is being trimmed by the doge and don't worry about all those people who've been being laid off. The aesthetics of it are ugly and mean. And I have found among some Republican colleagues and friends of mine that they love the vileness of this dog-eat-dog aesthetic.Andrew Keen: Yeah, it's an interesting way of putting it. And I understand exactly what you're saying. I'm less concerned with the aesthetics as with the reality. And my sense in some ways of what's happening is that the Trump people are obsessed with what you call aesthetics. They want to appear mean. I'm not actually sure that they're quite as mean as they'd like to think they are.Jason Pack: Oh, they're pretty mean. I mean, people are running around the NIH offices, according to colleagues of mine. And if you're out to the bathroom and your card is inserted in your computer, they go in, they steal the data from your computer.Andrew Keen: Actually, I take your point. What I meant more by that is that whereas most traditional authoritarian regimes hide their crimes against migrants. They deny wrongdoing. My sense of the Trump regime, or certainly a lot of the people involved in this Trump administration, is that they actually exaggerate it because it gives them pleasure and it somehow benefits their brand. I'm not convinced that they're quite as bad as they'd like to think.Jason Pack: Oh, I agree with that. They make Schadenfreude a principle. They want to showcase that they enjoy other people's pain. It's a bizarre psychological thing. Trump, for example, wanted to show his virility and his meanness, probably because he's an inner coward and he's not that feral. But we digress in terms of the aesthetics of the individual American wanting to leave. I experienced American government, like the State Department, and then, the bureaucracy of the policy space, say think tanks, or even the government relations trade space, say working for oil companies and government relations, as already authoritarian and ass-kissing in America, and the aesthetics of those industries I have always preferred in Europe, and that's only diverging.Andrew Keen: One of the things that always struck me about Washington, D.C. It was always uncomfortable as an imperial city. It always has been since the end of the Second World War, with America dominating the world as being one of two or perhaps the only super power in the world. But Washington, DC seems to always have been uncomfortable wearing its imperial mantle cloak in comparison, I think, to cities like London or Paris. I wonder whether, I'm not sure how much time you've spent back in America since Trump came back to power. I wonder if in that sense DC is trying to catch up with London and Paris.Jason Pack: I actually was giving a briefing in Congress to staffers of the House Foreign Affairs Committee only three weeks ago, and DC seemed post-apocalyptic to me. Many of my favorite restaurants were closing. There was traffic jams at bizarre hours of the day, which I think this is because the Trump people don't know how public transport works and they just ride their cars everywhere. So, yes, it seemed very bizarre being back. You were trying to gauge the interlocutor you were speaking to, were they merely pretending to be on board with Trump's stuff, but they actually secretly think it's ridiculous, or were they true believers? And you had to assess that before you would make your comments. So there is a slide to a kind of, again, neo-authoritarian aesthetic. In my conference, it became clear that the Republican Congressional staffers thought that it was all junk and that Trump doesn't care about Libya and he doesn't understand these issues. But we needed to make lip service in how we expressed our recommendations. So, fascinatingly, various speakers said, oh, there's a transactional win. There's a way that cheaper oil can be gotten here or we could make this policy recommendation appeal to the transactional impulses of the administration. Even though everyone knew that we were speaking in a Democrat echo-chamber where the only Republicans present were anti-Trump Republicans anyway.Andrew Keen: Describe DC as post-apocalyptic. What exactly then, Jason, is the apocalypse?Jason Pack: I don't think that the Trump people who are running the show understand how government works and whether you're at state or the NIH or USAID, you're kind of under siege and you're just doing what you're supposed to do and going through the motions. I mean, there's so much of like the zombie apocalypse going on. So maybe it's more zombie apocalypse than regular apocalypse, whereby the institutions are pretending to do their work, but they know that it doesn't accomplish anything. And the Trumpian appointees are kind of pretending to kind of cancel people on DAI, but the institutions are still continuing.Andrew Keen: I'm going to vulgarize something you said earlier. You talked about Trump wanting to appear bigger than he actually is. Maybe we might call that small penis syndrome. Is that, and then that's my term, Jason, let's be clear, not yours. Maybe it's fair or not. He probably would deny it, but I don't think he'll come on this show. He's more than welcome. Is that also reflected in the people working for him? Is there a bit of a small penis syndrome going on with a lot of the Trump people? Are they small town boys coming to America, coming to D.C. And in all their raison d'état trying to smash up the world that they always envied?Jason Pack: 100%. If you look at the Tucker Carlson and the Hegset, who went to Princeton in 03, and obviously Tucker Carlsen's WASP elite background is well known, they wanted to make it conventionally and couldn't. Hegson didn't achieve the rank of lieutenant general or colonel or anything in the army. He didn't make it in finance and Vance, obviously had just a minor career in finance, they didn't make the big time except through their hate and resentment of the establishment that succeeded on merit. So, I mean, you could call that small penis syndrome. I think another thing to point out is that many of them have been selected because whether they've been accused of rape or financial crimes or just meanness, they owe the great leader their ability to be in that position. And if he would throw them overboard they're entirely exposed, so that cash patels of the world and the Hexeds of the world serve at the mercy of the great leader, because if they were thrown to the wolves, they could be devoured for their misdeeds. And I think that that makes it a place where it's all about loyalty to the boss. But maybe we could pivot to the initial topic about how I think Europe is a place where you can reinvent yourself as an individual now. Certainly in the political and ideology space, and America really hasn't been for much of my left.Andrew Keen: Yeah, it's interesting. And this is how actually our conversation you're doing. You're a much better podcast host than I am, Jason. You're reminding us of the real conversation rather than getting led down one Trumpian byway or another. I did a show recently on why I still believe in the American dream. And I was interviewed by my friend, David Maschiottra, another old friend of the show. And I suggested I originally came to America to reinvent myself and that's always been the platform with which Europeans have come to America. You're suggesting that perhaps the reverse is true now.Jason Pack: I really enjoyed that episode. I thought you were a great guest and he was a natural host. But I realized how it wasn't speaking to me. Many of my European friends who work in law, finance, tech, startup, you know, they finished their degrees in Italy or in England and they moved to America. And that's where they raised venture capital and they go on the exact success trajectory that you explained and they fetishize, oh my God, when my green card is gonna come through, I'm gonna have this big party. That never resonated with me because America was never a land of opportunity for me. And it hit me in hearing your podcast that that's because what I've aspired to is to work in government slash think tank or to be a professional expert. And if you don't ally yourself with one of the major political movements, you're always branded and you can never move ahead. I'll give a few examples if you're interested in the way that my trying to be in the center has meant that I could never find a place in America.Andrew Keen: Absolutely. So you're suggesting that your quote-unquote American dream could only be realized in Europe.Jason Pack: So I moved to the Middle East to serve my country after 9/11. If Gore had been elected president, I likely would have joined the army or the Marines or something. But Bush was president and I knew I needed to do this on my own. So, you know, I lived in Beirut, then I went to Iraq. Where did you graduate from, Jason? I graduated from Williams in 2002, but I was changing my studies as soon as the 9-11 happened. I stopped my senior thesis in biology and I pivoted to doing the Middle East. I thought the Middle East was going to be the next big thing. But I didn't realize that if you wanted to do it your own way, for example, living in Syria prior to working in government, then you couldn't get those security clearances. But in the UK, that's not really a problem. If you go to Leeds or Oxford and you got sent to study Arabic in Syria, you can work for the UK government, but not in America. If your went and did that your own way, your loyalties would be questioned. You wouldn't get your security clearance. I got an internship to work at the U.S. Embassy in Muscat, where I fell afoul of my supervisors because I was someone who wanted to speak in Arabic with Omanis and, for example, go to hear prayers at the mosque and really be a part of the society. And I was told, don't do that. But aren't we here to understand about Oman? And they're like, no, it's really important to mostly socialize with people at the embassy. But my British colleagues, they were out there in Omani society, and they were, for example, really participating in stuff because the relationship between the Omanis and the Brits and the Americans is a happy one. That's just a small example, but I wanna make the kind of further point, which is that if you wanna get promoted in think tank world in America, it doesn't matter whether it's Cato or Heritage on the right or New America Foundation or Middle East Institute on the left. You have to buy in hook, line, and sinker to the party line of those institutions. And if that party line is DEI, as it was at the Middle East Institute when I was there, and you're a white heterosexual male, you're not going to get promoted. And if, for example, you want to then interact with some Zionist think tank like FDD, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, I was going to a fellowship there for work that I had done about monitoring ISIS in Libya, and they had proposed a funding line for my project, which was just technically reading jihadi Facebook posts and monitoring them. And then they did some more research on me, ironically, after we had already signed the funds. And they said, oh, we're so sorry, we are going to have to pull back on this. We are going have to pay you a kill fee. We are really, really sorry. And I came to understand why that was. And it was because I had advocated that the Iranians should be allowed to get the bomb so that they could have mutually assured destruction theory with Israel.Andrew Keen: Well, Jason, I take your point, but everyone has their own narrative when it comes to why their career didn't did or didn't take off and how they know what that doesn't happen in Europe. I'm just making a contrast. Let me just come back to my argument about America, which is it isn't necessarily as straightforward as perhaps at first it seems. I think one of the reasons why America has always been a great place for reinvention is because of the absence of memory.Jason Pack: No, but what I'm saying is Google will inspire on you, and if you're not within the ideological cadre, you cannot progress at these kind of institutions.Andrew Keen: Okay, I take your point on that, but thinking more broadly, America is a place where you can, I've done so many different things in this country from being a scholar to being an internet entrepreneur to being an expert on technology to being a critic of technology to being against podcasts, to being a podcaster. And you can get away, and I've failed in practically all of them, if not all of them, but the fact is that because people don't have memory, you can keep on doing different things and people won't say, well, how can you get away with this? Last week you were doing X. My sense, and maybe correct me if I'm wrong about London or Europe, is there is much more memory. You can't get away with perpetual reinvention in Europe as you can in the U.S. and maybe that's because of the fact that in your language, living in Europe with its memory and respect for memory is more aesthetically pleasing. So I'm not suggesting this is as simple as it might appear.Jason Pack: I agree with that last point, but I think I'm trying to bring something else out. In spheres like tech or podcasting, there isn't credentialism in America. And therefore, if you're just good at it, you don't need the credentials and you can get going. And you and other Europeans who had great merit, as you do, have benefited from that. And in Europe, you might run up against credentialism, but, oh, but you didn't work at the BBC, so you don't get the job. I'm making a different point about ideological purity within the very specific realms of, say, working for an American presidential candidate or briefing a policymaker or rising up at a think tank. I have briefed labor MPs, Lib Dem MPs and Tory MPs. And they don't ask my politics. I can go in there and get a meeting with Keir Starmer's people on Libya, and they don't care about the fact that I want him to do something slightly different. Criticized him and praised him at different times on my podcast, try having an influence with some Trump people and then say, Oh, well, you know, I really think that I can help you on this Libya policy, but I happened to run a fairly anti-Trump podcast. No, you just can't get the briefing because America is about ideological purity tests and getting your ticket punch in the government and think tank and exporting professions, and therefore it's not some place you can reinvent yourself. If you're clearly an anti-Trump Republican McCainite, you can't all of a sudden become an AOC Democrat for the purpose of one meeting. But in Europe you can, because you can be a Lib Dem like Liz Truss and then be a Tory Prime Minister. And no one cares what my position on these topics are when they ask me to brief Keir Starmer's people and that's something that I find so fantastic about Europe.Andrew Keen: Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, you know this stuff better than I do. But isn't someone like Truss rooted in ideological purity? She was a Lib Dem when she was at Oxford. Yeah, but that was a long time ago. I can reverse that, Jason, and say, well, when Trump was young, he ran around with Bill and Hillary Clinton, he went to their wedding, he funded them. He never was even a Republican until 2014 or 15. So, I mean, he's an example of the very ideological fluidity that you idealize in Europe.Jason Pack: I agree with your point. I think that he's an exception there and he wouldn't have allowed it from his staffers. They now have essentially loyalty tested everything. It's not a place where if you were Democrat with ideas that would benefit the Trumpian establishment, you can be heard. I'll give an example. I like the Abraham Accords and I have a colleague who wants to help extend the Abraham Accords to Pakistan, she can only work with ideologically pure Republicans in the pitching of this idea. She can't work with someone like me because I don't have the ideological purity, even though this is a nonpartisan idea and it should be embraced if you can get the Trumpians to be interested in it. But that's not how America works and it has not been. Reagan, of course, if you said that you like taxes, and I'm someone who likes taxes and I don't believe in the Laffer curve, and neoliberalism is a sham, you couldn't be on that economic team. So there are different ideological tests. Trump was never a politician, so he's not an expert like me in the expert class where we've been litmus tested our whole careers.Andrew Keen: Interesting. Jason, yesterday I was talking to someone who was thinking of hiring me to do a speech in Europe to a business group, and we were discussing the kinds of speeches I could give, and one of the things I suggested was a defense of America, suggesting that we can believe in America and that everyone's wrong. And these people have hired me before. I've often made provocative counterintuitive arguments, there was a little bit of a silence and they said, you can't make that speech in Europe. No one will take it seriously to a business community. What's generally, I mean, you travel a lot, you talk to lots of different people. Have people really given up on the promise of America, particularly within the establishment, the business establishment, the political establishment?Jason Pack: I don't know. I think that many Europeans still think that this is a passing phase. I will comment on the fact that I do not see anti-Americanism in my daily life as a result of Trump, the way that, for example, you do see anti-Semitism as a results of Netanyahu's policy. The individual Jew is tarred by horrible things happening in Gaza, but the individual American is not tarred by the deporting and illegal detentions and sacking of people by Doge because people in Poland or London or even the Middle East understand that you're likely to not be a Trump supporter and they're not targeting you as an individual as a result of that. So I think they believe in the promise of America and they still might like to move to America. But on individual level if you want to be a political animal inside the beast of campaigns, rising up to be a David Axelrod kind of figure. America has been a place of these litmus tests. Whereas in Europe, you know, I feel that there's tremendous fluidity because in Italy they have so and so many political parties and in Germany, what's the distinction between the SPD at one moment in the CDU and the Greens and there's a tradition of coalitions that allows the individual to reinvent himself.Andrew Keen: One of the things that came up with Cooper, and he's certainly no defender of Marine Le Pen or Meloni in Italy, but he suggested that the Trump people are far to the right of Le Pen and Meloni. Would you agree with that?Jason Pack: Because they want to break down institutions, whereas Le Pen and Meloni simply want to conquer the institutions and use them. They're not full-blown, disordering neopopulists, to use the language of my disorder podcast. When Meloni is in power, she loves the Italian state and she wants it to function merely with her ideological slant. Whereas the Trumpians, they have a Bannonite wing, they don't simply wanna have a MAGA agenda, use the U.S. Government. No, they want to break the Department of Agriculture. They want to break the EPA. They simply want to destroy our institutions. And there's no European political party that wants that. Maybe on the fringe like reform, but reform probably doesn't even want that.Andrew Keen: But Jason, we've heard so much about how the Bannonites idealized Orban in Hungary. A lot of people believe that Project 2025 was cooked up in Budapest trying to model America on Orban. Is there any truth to that? I mean, are the Trump people really re-exporting Orbanism back into the United States?Jason Pack: That there is some truth, but it can be overplayed. It can go back further to Berlusconi. It's the idea that a particularly charismatic political leader can come to dominate the media landscape by either having a state media channel in the Berlusconi sense or cowing media coverage to make it more favorable, which is something that Orban has done geniusly, and then doling out contracts and using the state for patronage, say, Orban's father's construction business and all those concrete soccer stadiums. There is an attempt potentially in Trump land to, through an ideological project, cow the media and the checks and balances and have a one-party state with state media. I think it's going to be difficult for them to achieve, but Chuck Carlson and others and Bannon seem to want that.Andrew Keen: You were on Monocle recently talking about the Pope's death. J.D. Vance, of course, is someone who apparently had a last, one of the last conversations with the Pope. Pope wasn't particularly, Pope Francis wasn't particularly keen on him. Bannon and Vance are both outspoken Catholics. What's your take on the sort of this global religious movement on the part of right-wing Catholics, and how does it fit in, not only to the death of Francis, but perhaps the new Pope?Jason Pack: It's a very interesting question. I'm not a right-wing Catholic, so I'm really not in a position to...Andrew Keen: I thought you were Jason, that's why you could always come on the show.Jason Pack: I think that they don't have the theological bona fides to say that what they call Catholicism is Catholicism because obviously Jesus turned the other cheek, you know, and Jesus didn't want to punish his enemies and make poor black or Hispanic women suffer. But there is an interesting thing that has been going on since 1968, which is that there was a backlash against the student protests and free love and the condom and all the social changes that that brought about. And Catholics have been at the forefront, particularly Catholic institutions, in saying this has gone too far and we need to use religion to retake our society. And if we don't, no one will have children and we will lose out and the Muslims and Africans will rule the roost because they're having babies. And that right-wing Catholicism is caught up in the moral panic and culture wars since 1968. What I argued in the monocle interview that you referenced from earlier today is something quite different, which is that the Catholic Church has a unique kind of authority, and that that unique kind of authority can be used to stand up against Trump, Bannon, Orban, and other neopopulists in a way that, say, Mark Carney or Keir Starmer cannot, because if Mark Kearney and Keir Stormer say, you guys are not sufficiently correctly American and you're not following the American laws, blah, blah blah, the kind of Americans who support Trump are not convinced by that because they say, these are just, you know, pinko Brits and Canadians. I don't even care about Mark Kearny, but it's quite different if the next Pontiff is someone who comes not only from the school of Francis, but maybe more so is a great communicator vested in the real doctrines of the church, the Lateran Councils and Vatican too, and can say, actually this given thing that Trump has just said is not in line with the principles of Jesus. It's not inline with what the Vatican has said about, for example, migration or social equity. And I find that that is a unique opportunity because even the right-wing Catholics have to acknowledge the Pope and Christian doctrine and the ability of the Catholic hierarchy to say this is not in line with our teachings. So I think there's a very interesting opportunity right now.Andrew Keen: Perhaps that brings to mind Stalin's supposedly famous remarks to Churchill at Potsdam when they were talking about the Pope. Stalin said to Churchill, the Pope, how many divisions does he have? In other words, it's all about ideology, morality, and ultimately it doesn't really. It's the kind of thing that perhaps if some of the Trump people were as smart as Stalin, they might make the same remark.Jason Pack: That was a physical war, and the Pope didn't have divisions to sway the battles in World War II, but this is an ideological or an influence war. And the Pope, if you've just seen from media coverage over the last week, is someone who has tremendous media influence. And I do think that the new pontiff could, if he wanted to, stand up to the moral underpinnings of Trump and pull even the most right-wing Catholics away from a Trumpian analysis. Religion is supposed to be about, because Jesus didn't say punish your enemies. Don't turn the other cheek and own the libs. Jesus said something quite different than that. And it will be the opportunity of the new Catholic leader to point that out.Andrew Keen: I'm not sure if you've seen the movie Conclave, which was very prescient, made by my dear London friend, or at least produced by Tessa Ross at House Productions. But I wonder in these new conversations whether in the debates about who should the new Pope be, they'll mull over TikTok presence.Jason Pack: I hope they will. And I want to point out something that many people probably are not aware, which is that the College of Cardinals that constitutes the conclave does not have to pick one of their member to be pope. For the last six centuries, they have always chosen one of their own number, but they don't have to. So they could choose someone who has not only an ability to make great TikToks, but someone who can put forth a vision about climate change, about tax equity, for example, maybe about AI and what constitutes humanity from within the Catholic tradition, but reaching new faithful. And I think that they might actually consider we're doing this because in places like Western Europe, attendance is down, but in Eastern Europe and Latin America, it isn't. And in Africa, it's surging. So they may want to reach new millennials in Gen Z with a new message, but one which is rooted in their tradition. And I think that that would be a great counterbalance to what Trump and his ilk have done to how media coverage place things like climate change and migrants these days.Andrew Keen: Speaking of Trump and his ilk, Jason, lots of conversations here about the first cracks in his monolith. Speaking to me from London, I always look at the front page of The Telegraph, a conservative English newspaper. I refuse to give the money, so I never actually read any of the pieces. But I'm always curious as to the traditional conservative media attitude to Trump. What do not so much the Conservative Party, which seems to be in crisis in the UK, but what does Conservative media, Conservative thinkers, what's their take currently on Trump? Are you seeing a crack? Are people seeing this guy's absolutely insane and that the tariff policy is going to make all of us, everybody in the world poorer?Jason Pack: Well, Trump has always been a vote loser in the UK. So that even though Farage brags about his relationship, it isn't something that gets him more votes for reform. And whether it's Sunak or Badnak, and Badnak is the current leader of the Tory party, which is an opposition, she can't so closely associate herself with Trump because he's not popular in even right-wing British circles. However, the Tory media, like the telegraph and the spectator, they love the idea that he's owning the Libs. We talked about Schadenfreude, we talked about attacking the woke. The spectator has taken a very anti-woke turn over the last five to 10 years. And they love the ideal of pointing out the hypocrisies of the left and the effeminacy of it and all of that. And that gets them more clicks. So from a media perspective, there is a way in which the Murdoch media is always going to love the click bait, New York post bait of the Trump presidency. And that applies very much, you know, with the sun and the Daily Mail and the way that they cover media in this country.Andrew Keen: Although I was found in the U.S. That perhaps the newspaper that has been most persistently and usefully critical of Trump is the Wall Street Journal, which is owned by Murdoch.Jason Pack: Yeah, but that's a very highbrow paper, and I think that it's been very critical of the tariff policy and it said a lot of intelligent things about Trump's early missteps. It doesn't reach the same people as the New York Post or the Daily Mail do.Andrew Keen: Finally, Jason, let's go back to Disorder, your excellent podcast. You started it a couple of years ago before this new Trump madness. You were always one of the early people on this global disorder. How much more disordered can the world become? Of course, it could become more disorded in terms of war. In late April 2025, is the world more disordered than it was in April 2024, when Biden was still in power? I mean, we still have these wars in Gaza, in Ukraine, doesn't seem as if that much has changed, or am I wrong?Jason Pack: I take your point, but I'm using disorder in a particularly technical sense in a way by which I mean the inability of major powers to coordinate together for optimal solutions. So in the Biden days of last year, yes, the Ukraine and Gaza wars may be waging, but if Jake Sullivan or Blinken were smarter or more courageous, they could host a summit and work together with their French and British and Argentinian allies. Put forth some solutions. The world is more disordered today because it doesn't have a leader. It doesn't have institutions, the UN or NATO or the G7 where those solutions on things like the Ukraine war attacks could happen. And you may say, but wait, Jason, isn't Trump actually doing more leadership? He's trying to bring the Ukrainians and the Russians to the table. And I would say he isn't. They're not proposing actual solutions. They don't care about solving underlying issues. They're merely trying to get media wins. He wants the Japanese to come to Washington to have the semblance of a new trade deal, not a real trade deal. He's trying to reorder global finance in semblance, not in reality. So the ability to come to actual solutions through real coordinating mechanisms where I compromise with you is much weaker than it was last year. And on the Disorder Podcast, we explore all these domains from tax havens to cryptocurrency to cyber attacks. And I think that listeners of Keen On would really enjoy how we delve into those topics and try to see how they reflect where we're at in the global system.Andrew Keen: Yeah, it's a strongly, I would strongly agree with you. I would encourage all keen on listeners to listen to Disorder and vice versa if this gets onto the Disorder podcast. What about the China issue? How structural is the tariff crisis, if that's the right word, gonna change US relations with China? Is this the new Cold War, Jason?Jason Pack: I'm not an economist, but from what I've been told by the economists I've interviewed on my podcast, it's absolutely completely game changing because whether it's an Apple iPhone or most pieces of manufactured kit that you purchase or inputs into American manufacturing, it's assembled everywhere and the connections between China and America are essential to the global economy. Work and it's not like you can all of a sudden move those supply chains. So this trade war is really a 1930s style beggar thy neighbor approach to things and that led to and deepened the great depression, right? So I am very worried. I had the sense that Trump might back off because he does seem to be very sensitive to the markets. But maybe this is such an ideological project and, you know, Andrew Ross Sorkin on CNBC was just saying, even though he's willing to back off if the T bill rate changes, he thinks that his strategy is working and that he's going to get some deals. And that terrifies me because that's not what's happening. It isn't working. And God forbid that they'll push this to its logical conclusion and cause a new recession or depression.Andrew Keen: I know you've got to run Jason. So final question, let's return to where we began with America and the changing nature of America. Your last episode of Disorder was with Corey Sharpe, who is a very, very good and one of Washington DC's, I think, smartest foreign policy analysts. She asks, what's America without allies? If this continues, what, indeed, I mean, you're happy in London, so I don't sound like you're coming back, whatever. But what will America become if indeed all these traditional allies, the UK, France, Germany, become, if not enemies, certainly just transactional relationships? What becomes of America without allies?Jason Pack: Wow, great question. I'm gonna treat this in two parts, the American cultural component and then the structural geopolitical component. I'm a proud American. Culturally, I work on Sundays. I don't take any holiday. I get angry at contractors who are not direct. I am going to be American my whole life and I want an American style work ethic and I wanna things to function and the customer to always be right. So I didn't move to Europe to get European stuff in that way, and I think America will still be great at new inventions and at hard work and at all of that stuff and will still, the NFL will still be a much better run sports league than European sports leagues. Americans are great at certain things. The problem is what if America's role in the world as having the reserve currency, coordinating the NATO allies. If that's eviscerated, we're just going to be living more and more in the global enduring disorder, as Corey Schacke points out, which is that the Europeans don't know how to lead. They can't step up because they don't have one prima inter Paris. And since the decline of the British Empire, the British haven't learned how, for example, to coordinate the Europeans for the defense of Ukraine or for making new missile technologies or dealing with the defense industry. So we're just dealing with a rudderless world. And that's very worrying because there could be major conflict. And then I just have to hope that a new American administration, it could be a Republican one, but I think it just can't be a Trumpian one, will go back to its old role of leadership. I haven't lost hope in America. I've just lost hope in this current administration.Andrew Keen: Well, I haven't lost hope in Jason Pack. He is an ally of ours at Keen On. He's the host of the Excellent Disorder podcast. Jason, it's always fun to have you on the show. So much to discuss and no doubt there will be much more over the summer, so we'll have you back on in the next month or two. Thank you so much. Keep well. Stay American in London. Thank you again.Jason Pack: It was a great pleasure. Thanks, Andrew. See you then. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

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Back in 1911, the Mona Lisa didn't get a lot of attention. Art critics considered it an excellent example of a painting from the renaissance era, but the general public wasn't nearly so enamored. That changed in August of that year, when someone plucked it off the wall of the Louvre, busted it out of its glass box and frame, and took off with it. Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Kristin pulled from: “Who stole the Mona Lisa?” by Simon Kuper for Slate “Stolen: How the Mona Lisa became the world's most famous painting,” by James Zug for Smithsonian Magazine “Stealing Mona Lisa,” by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler for Vanity Fair The documentary “Mona Lisa is Missing” “When Picasso went on trial for stealing the Mona Lisa,” by Ian Shank for Artsy.net “The man who stole the Mona Lisa,” by Laura Cumming for The Guardian “The Theft That Made The ‘Mona Lisa' A Masterpiece,” NPR.org Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts! Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you'll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90's style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin's previous podcast, Let's Go To Court.