The Away End with Daniel Alarcón and John Green

On Episode 21 of The Away End podcast, the road to the long-awaited bracket reveal has come to an end! But first, Daniel and John have a disagreement over what John facetiously dubbed, “one of the greatest moments in World Cup history” that Daniel surmises began with a schoolyard promise between Dibu and El Loco. They discuss some of their most anticipated matches, and listener questions lead them to arrive at the healthy ways to enjoy competition and express national pride during the World Cup.
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On Episode 20 of The Away End podcast, Daniel is recovering from a whirlwind weekend that included watching vignettes of the UEFA Champions League final between PSG and Arsenal on his phone's screen as he was being called to make an important speech. A discussion about the USMNT's win over Senegal leads to a discussion about Mauricio Pochettino's questionable approach of dismissing players like Diego Luna from the 26-man roster via email. John gets a vuvuzela and does his Spain deep dive and Daniel tells a musical story about a song sweeter than hummingbird nectar.
If you're enjoying the show, please rate and review wherever you listen, tell your friends about The Away End, and email us at awayendpod@gmail.com.
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After Daniel takes a victory lap for his (Arsenal's) finish atop the Premiere League and talks about sharing the joy with his son Eliseo, albeit for different reasons, John, Daniel, and Sean read and discuss several listener questions. Plus a most excellent listener story about being an American in Spain while Spain was winning the World Cup!
If you're enjoying the show, please rate and review wherever you listen, tell your friends about The Away End, and email us at awayendpod@gmail.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Episode 18 of The Away End, Daniel’s story about watching the Arsenal v. West Ham game and the aftermath leads John to zero in on a major problem with human behavior. In his Brazil deep dive, Daniel introduces us to jogo bonito (The Beautiful Game), talks about his hero Ronaldinho and wonders if Brazil has recovered from the 7-1 loss to Germany in the semi-finals of the 2014 World Cup. Plus, John continues to construct the legend of “everyone’s favorite third-tier English soccer team”, AFC Wimbledon.
If you're enjoying the show, please rate and review wherever you listen, tell your friends about The Away End, and email us at awayendpod@gmail.com.
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Author of the new book, World Cup Fever: A Soccer Journey in Nine Tournaments, Simon Kuper joins The Away End for a discussion about football and the complexity of national identity, the globalization of style at the top of the game and the lower quality of football that expansion of the World Cup could bring. They talk about the intellectual pursuit of the game and the counterpoint that expanding the tournament will lead to an evolution of the game where new countries with national football identities can test themselves against the best in the world. They also explore the collective delusion of winning, the fragility of confidence, the hotel concierge mentality of FIFA and how to enjoy the World Cup in spite of it all.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.