How to Understand World Cup Soccer

How to Understand World Cup Soccer

Laurent Dubois and David Steele join the show to talk the beauty of soccer, and remembering Capital Gazette sports columnist and shooting victim John McNamara.

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

This week we speak to Duke University professor and author of The Language of the Game: How to Understand Soccer Laurent DuBois about the latest in the World Cup. Later in the show, we speak to Sporting News columnist David Steele about his long-time friend the sportswriter John McNamara, who was killed in the mass shooting at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland.

We also have Choice Words about the NHL’s first black player, William O’Ree, and news of his induction into the NHL Hall of Fame. That and more on the Edge of Sports Podcast!

Laurent Dubois
Twitter: @Soccerpolitics
The Language of the Game: How to Understand Soccer

David Steele
Twitter: @David_C_Steele
Sporting News Column

Zirin
Willie O’Ree at Long Last Makes the NHL Hall of Fame

Time is running out to have your gift matched 

In this time of unrelenting, often unprecedented cruelty and lawlessness, I’m grateful for Nation readers like you. 

So many of you have taken to the streets, organized in your neighborhood and with your union, and showed up at the ballot box to vote for progressive candidates. You’re proving that it is possible—to paraphrase the legendary Patti Smith—to redeem the work of the fools running our government.

And as we head into 2026, I promise that The Nation will fight like never before for justice, humanity, and dignity in these United States. 

At a time when most news organizations are either cutting budgets or cozying up to Trump by bringing in right-wing propagandists, The Nation’s writers, editors, copy editors, fact-checkers, and illustrators confront head-on the administration’s deadly abuses of power, blatant corruption, and deconstruction of both government and civil society. 

We couldn’t do this crucial work without you.

Through the end of the year, a generous donor is matching all donations to The Nation’s independent journalism up to $75,000. But the end of the year is now only days away. 

Time is running out to have your gift doubled. Don’t wait—donate now to ensure that our newsroom has the full $150,000 to start the new year. 

Another world really is possible. Together, we can and will win it!

Love and Solidarity,

John Nichols 

Executive Editor, The Nation

Ad Policy
x