logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2018
56m 44s

338. How to Catch World Cup Fever

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
About this episode
For soccer fans, it's easy. For the rest of us? Not so much, especially since the U.S. team didn't qualify. So here's what to watch for even if you have no team to root for. Because the World Cup isn't just a gargantuan sporting evént; it's a microcosm of human foibles and (yep) economic theory brought to life. 
Up next
Aug 7
684. He Helped Clean Up the Last Crash. Does He See Another One Coming?
Former S.E.C. chair Gary Gensler has had a front-row seat to numerous financial booms and busts. How does he feel about America’s massive bet on A.I.? “Something has to give.” SOURCES: Gary Gensler, professor of the practice of global economics, management, and finance at M.I.T. ... Show More
1h 6m
Aug 5
Does it Take a Twisted Mind to Write Twisted Stories? | Better In Person
Harlan Coben doesn’t think so. The mega-best-selling author talks suburbia, impostor syndrome, and what he learned from his college friend David Foster Wallace. If you'd like to see the video version of Better in Person, you can watch it on YouTube or Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Si ... Show More
44m 59s
Jul 31
683. In the New Space Race, Who Makes the Rules?
Governments started the space age. Now, billionaires and private firms are reinventing it. Guest host Steve Levitt explores what the past can teach us about a high-stakes future. (Part two of a two-part series.) SOURCES: Blaise Agüera y Arcas, vice president and fellow at Google, ... Show More
56m 27s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2022
Qatar's World Cup
Football, aka soccer, is life. At least, it is for many people across the globe. There are few things that are universally beloved but this sport comes close. And as teams on nearly every continent prepare for the start of the World Cup, all eyes are on one tiny country at the ti ... Show More
51m 48s
Dec 2022
Scoring the World Cup
This is the final week of the first World Cup hosted in the Middle East. And it’s been a tournament like no other: We’ve seen Morocco advance further than any Middle East or African team has before, making the whole region proud. And we’ve seen many joyous moments go viral as fan ... Show More
38m 11s
Feb 2006
42 World Cup Soccer 2006
After Italy hosts the Winter Olympics, Germany heats up for the championship games of the World Cup soccer tournament in June. On this week's Travel with Rick Steves, Rick assembles a panel of European soccer fanatics to explain what the excitement is all about. Whether your su ... Show More
53m 30s
Nov 2022
For Love of the Game
Part of the appeal of the World Cup is watching a country’s finest soccer players represent their nations. For many fans, though, it doesn’t have to just be root-root-root for the home team. Atlantic staff writer Clint Smith will be cheering for the U.S., but he will also have hi ... Show More
20m 58s
Jul 2023
The Football Ramble’s Guide To… The first ever World Cup
The World Cup is still brilliant, but it’s got its problems. And yet the issues we face today aren’t as confusing and downright obscene as those faced by the thirteen teams who competed in the first ever World Cup.There was - we stress - some truly outrageous moments. Teams and f ... Show More
25m 30s
Sep 2022
World Corrupt: Coming October 8th
Soccer is a game which has often been called “the world’s most important least important thing.” However this November’s World Cup, the most-watched sporting competition on the planet, forces fans to grapple with the complexities of a tournament which has been twisted into a publ ... Show More
3m 3s