It turns out there’s a not-insignificant intersection between the World Cup, democracy, and authoritarianism.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino holds the FIFA World Cup winner’s trophy while speaking during the FIFA World Cup 2026 International Broadcast Center Grand Opening ceremony.(Sam Hodde / Getty Images)
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We swear to god, we haven’t turned into a sports podcast (despite all Matt’s efforts). But it turns out there’s a not-insignificant intersection between the World Cup, democracy, and authoritarianism. So we invited Alex Shephard—a senior editor and writer at the New Republic and founder of Golden Goal, a literary magazine about the 2026 World Cup—to walk us through the dramas, controversies, and political implications of the global tournament that’s kicking off this week. Whether you’re obsessed with sports, like Matt, or have barely heard of them, like Aaron, there’s something in this conversation for you.
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We swear to God, we haven’t turned into a sports podcast (despite all Matt’s efforts). But it turns out there’s a not-insignificant intersection between the World Cup, democracy, and authoritarianism. So we invited Alex Shephard—a senior editor and writer at The New Republic and founder of Golden Goal, a literary magazine about the 2026 World Cup—to walk us through the dramas, controversies, and political implications of the global tournament that’s kicking off this week. Whether you’re obsessed with sports, like Matt, or have barely heard of them, like Aaron, there’s something in this conversation for you.
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Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
We are officially almost at the end of the 2026 election. To reflect back on the crazy twists and turns and the major progressive successes of this cycle, we spoke with Usamah Andrabi, the communications director for Justice Democrats. Justice Democrats is best known as the org that recruited AOC in 2018, but they’re a lot more than that, and their story is, in a lot of ways, the story of the left’s resurgence over the last few years.
(Note: We recorded this episode a few weeks ago. At first we were concerned about whether a conversation focused largely on how progressives have used primaries to make the Democratic Party better was appropriate for the day before the general election. But then corporate Dem Haley Stevens endorsed MAGA freak Mike Rogers in an attempt to ratfuck Democrats’ U.S. senate nominee in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed. And we remembered that yes, beating the far right absolutely requires us to defeat the corporate Dems who are far more interested in protecting their billionaire donors than defeating fascism. Let’s beat these MAGA freaks on Tuesday and then let’s clear out the rot in our party starting Wednesday.)
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Matt DaSilvaMatt DaSilva is a co-host of the Fighting Fascism podcast.
Aaron RegunbergTwitterAaron Regunberg is a climate lawyer, a contributing editor at The New Republic, and a former Rhode Island state representative.
Jonathan SmuckerTwitterJonathan Smucker is cofounder and executive director of Popular Comms, a cofounder of Pennsylvania Stands Up, and the author of Hegemony How-To: A Roadmap for Radicals. He has worked for over 25 years as a political organizer, campaigner, and strategist, and has trained thousands of organizers and social movement participants.