{"podcast":{"title":"The Decibel","slug":"the-decibel-3326560","podcast_index_feed_id":3326560,"rss_url":"https://feeds.simplecast.com/TGclX98p","website_url":"https://www.theglobeandmail.com/podcasts/the-decibel/","image_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/5829159f-6973-4aae-be8c-2e4a6cf3b1a8/0d94ae70-0b05-4b0d-b3fe-e6466dd76d2f/3000x3000/show-cover-show-the-decibel.jpg?aid=rss_feed","author":"The Globe and Mail","episode_count":1333,"summary":"Context is everything. Join us Monday to Friday for a Canadian daily news podcast from The Globe and Mail. Explore a story shaping our world, in conversation with reporters, experts, and the people at the centre of the news.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-30T18:18:10.233623+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-decibel-3326560"},"episode":{"title":"Pitch and Power: How the ’90 World Cup captured England’s heart","slug":"pitch-and-power-how-the-90-world-cup-captured-england-s-heart","published_at":"2026-07-19T09:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-decibel-3326560/pitch-and-power-how-the-90-world-cup-captured-england-s-heart","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-decibel-3326560","url":"https://www.theglobeandmail.com/podcasts/the-decibel/","audio_url":"https://afp-119681-injected.calisto.simplecastaudio.com/8b638145-9d42-4003-985c-054905c039a5/episodes/a520afc8-907f-4570-be5a-b5a2459f5027/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=8b638145-9d42-4003-985c-054905c039a5&awEpisodeId=a520afc8-907f-4570-be5a-b5a2459f5027&feed=TGclX98p","summary":"Pitch and Power is The Globe and Mail's World Cup podcast. In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher’s England was a country under strain, marked by industrial decline, social unrest and sharp political divides. In that climate, English soccer became a national problem rather than a point of pride. Stadiums crumbled, hooliganism spread and tragedy struck at Bradford, Heysel, and Hillsborough. The game felt like a relic: toxic, unsafe, unloved. Then, in the summer of 1990, something shifted.This episode traces how the 1990 World Cup helped detoxify English soccer and reframe national identity. We look at how an improbable tournament run became a cultural moment that opened the door to Britpop on the radio, “Cool Britannia” in the headlines and the Premier League era that followed. This is the story of a sport crawling out of the wreckage and a country finding a new way to love its national team.","meta_description":"Pitch and Power is The Globe and Mail's World Cup podcast. In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher’s England was a country under strain, marked by industrial decl…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2735,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-decibel-3326560/episodes/pitch-and-power-how-the-90-world-cup-captured-england-s-heart/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-decibel-3326560/pitch-and-power-how-the-90-world-cup-captured-england-s-heart.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}