Jacobin Radio

In a jam-packed final installment of The People’s Game on Jacobin Radio, Mel and Alan speak with five distinguished guests. The feature interview is with Jules Boykoff, author of Red Card: The 2026 World Cup, Sportswashing, and the FIFA Greed Machine. Boykoff, speaking on the day before the final between Spain and Argentina, reflects on what has defied, met, or exceeded his expectations about this year’s men’s World Cup soccer tournament. What lasting impact might the most profitable, largest, and longest major soccer tournament in history have on the global game? What does a 39-day carnival of soccer staged during a time of global and national crisis reveal about 21st-century society?

We also ask One Fair Wage organizer Saru Jayaramen, political scientist Vanessa Tyson (who played varsity soccer at Princeton), and left progressive congressional candidates Chris Rabb (PA-3) and Randy Villegas (CA-22) for their take on the tournament. Meanwhile, former UK Member of Parliament George Galloway says the corruption has gone too far, and promises to expose the depths of FIFA’s mendacity to the world.

Finally, the People’s Game’s co-hosts and co-producers — Alan Minsky, Meleiza Figueroa, and Fernando Romero — summarize their thoughts and feelings about the North American World Cup. An equal measure of triumph and disgrace? Did the excitement of so many great games once again earn FIFA a pass? Or was this the year that fans finally have had enough?

Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman features conversations with leading thinkers and activists, with a focus on labor, the economy, and protest movements.

Michaela Brangan, co-chair of the group that wrote DSA’s new platform, speaks about the group’s vision. Hagen Blix, co-author of Why We Fear AI, examines exactly that.

Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global.

We try to cover a lot of topics on this show, and that inevitably leads to many more follow-up questions.

Luckily for you, on this latest episode of Confronting Capitalism, Vivek Chibber answers YOUR questions! In particular, Vivek explains property under market socialism, assesses the effectiveness of salting in working-class jobs, and disentangles class locations and occupations.

The latest issue of Catalyst is out and you can subscribe for just $20 using the code CONFRONTINGCAPITALISM: https://catalyst-journal.com/subscribe/?code=CONFRONTINGCAPITALISM

Have a question for us? Write to us by email: confronting.capitalism@jacobin.com

Confronting Capitalism with Vivek Chibber is produced by Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy, and published by Jacobin. Music by Zonkey.

Kim Phillips-Fein, author of Country of Lords, traces the anti-egalitarian tradition in American politics. Aziz Rana discusses the tensions between the Declaration and the Constitution (from a 2024 interview). And Jasmine Wynn, author of a recent Jacobin article, looks at the National Black Empowerment Coalition, basically an AIPAC front group.

Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global.

The World Cup has entered its final week, and so far we’ve seen unprecedented levels of direct political interference in the organization of the tournament.

The FIFA president Gianni Infantino gave his ally Donald Trump a blank check to exclude anyone he liked from the US, even referees. Trump himself notoriously weighed in after a US player received a red card before their game against Belgium; FIFA agreed to cancel the player’s suspension as a favor to the US president.

To discuss the politics of the World Cup, Long Reads is joined by David Goldblatt. David is one of the leading historians of the sport. His books include The Ball Is Round: A Global History of Football, The Age of Football: The Global Game in the Twenty-First Century, and, most recently, Injury Time: Football in a State of Emergency.

This interview was conducted Tuesday, July 14th, before the semi finals between France and Spain and between Argentina and England.

Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies with music by Knxwledge.