{"podcast":{"title":"The Jacob Shapiro Podcast","slug":"the-jacob-shapiro-podcast-5326035","podcast_index_feed_id":5326035,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/jacob-shapiro/","website_url":"https://www.jacobshapiro.com","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/b9153f19-90a0-43d3-bd17-554c3a800780/hOlXRn8A0JZIW_T_d93mt16u.png","author":"Jacob Shapiro","episode_count":350,"summary":"Hosted by Jacob Shapiro, the Jacob Shapiro Podcast is long-form exploration of geopolitics, markets, crypto, agriculture, macro-finance, commodities, ForEx, and much much more! Tune in biweekly for interviews with experts across the globe, and weekly for roundups of global financial and geopolitical events!","last_synced_at":"2026-07-31T22:18:10.564697+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-jacob-shapiro-podcast-5326035"},"episode":{"title":"Why Is China Bad at Soccer?","slug":"why-is-china-bad-at-soccer","published_at":"2026-07-19T12:30:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-jacob-shapiro-podcast-5326035/why-is-china-bad-at-soccer","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-jacob-shapiro-podcast-5326035","url":"https://jacobshapiro.com/podcasts/why-is-china-bad-at-soccer","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/f752764b-c45e-4f2e-a771-cb04ff6ab920.mp3","summary":"Jacob grabs Chris Branch, senior writer at The Athletic and author of The Pulse, to talk about the World Cup as geopolitics. They cover Trump's red-card intervention and the Balogun controversy, England-Argentina and the ghost of the Falklands, why sports and politics were never actually separate, and why China and India can barely qualify while Cape Verde runs wild. Plus: whether soccer ever truly takes hold in America, and why it might take a billionaire treating the sport like a Carnegie library to make it happen. -- Timestamps: (00:00) - Welcome and Guest Intro (01:41) - In-Person Catch-Up (02:40) - Meet Chris Branch (03:28) - Why This World Cup Hit Different (05:09) - Sports Writing Meets Politics (07:11) - Fan Culture and National Rivalries (10:24) - FIFA Corruption and New Fans (14:03) - Picking a Premier League Team (15:16) - Can Soccer Catch On in America (17:49) - Why MLS Struggles (21:55) - Pay-to-Play and US Development (29:22) - Women’s Soccer and Global Gaps (33:47) - Trump, FIFA, and the Balogun Saga (35:29) - Red Card Controversy (36:25) - Iran Match Bad Karma (37:37) - Play Anyway Debate (42:22) - Sports as Common Ground (44:37) - Stars Politics and Fandom (56:10) - Money Youth Sports Future (01:04:53) - Closing Stories and Wrap -- Referenced in the Show: The Pulse - https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/newsletters/the-pulse/ -- Jacob Shapiro Site: jacobshapiro.com Jacob Shapiro LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jacob-l-s-a9337416 Jacob Twitter: x.com/JacobShap Jacob Shapiro Substack: jashap.substack.com/subscribe -- The Jacob Shapiro Show is produced and edited by Audiographies LLC. More information at audiographies.com -- Jacob Shapiro is a speaker, consultant, author, and researcher covering global politics and affairs, economics, markets, technology, history,…","meta_description":"Jacob grabs Chris Branch, senior writer at The Athletic and author of The Pulse, to talk about the World Cup as geopolitics. They cover Trump's red-card i…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":4280,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-jacob-shapiro-podcast-5326035/episodes/why-is-china-bad-at-soccer/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-jacob-shapiro-podcast-5326035/why-is-china-bad-at-soccer.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}