Right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella won Colombia's presidency by less than one percentage point, promising jungle mega-prisons and a militarized drug war. With Ecuador and El Salvador already in the same camp, the only firewall is Brazil's October election.
Where this was said
At 54:40 · chapter starts 54:25
The mood lifts completely as Tommy and Ben turn to the FIFA World Cup, which both say they're addicted to. Tommy describes attending the US-Paraguay game, calling it the best experience ever, while both marvel at the US team looking serious in the tournament for the first time. The real story, though, is Cape Verde: a tiny island nation of half a million people, 350 miles off West Africa, holding Spain to a draw and then Uruguay to a draw. [1] — Tommy Vietor "Cape Verde — a half-million-person island nation 350 miles off West Africa — held Spain and Uruguay to draws. Their 40-year-old goalkeeper …" 1:00:30 Their 40-year-old goalkeeper went from 50,000 to 15 million Instagram followers overnight; one player almost ignored the national coach's LinkedIn DM as spam. Ben adds Messi's 5 goals in 2 games, France looking lights out with Mbappé, and the DRC drawing Portugal. [2] — Ben Rhodes "Messi scored 5 goals in first 2 World Cup games: Lionel Messi scored five goals in Argentina's first two World Cup matches, a stunning disp…" 1:02:55 But the fan videos are what's capturing everyone's hearts. Tommy and Ben watch a compilation showing Norway fans rowing in Times Square, Scottish Tartan Army fans marching through Little Havana, English fans singing Sweet Caroline at a Texas rodeo, a Scot in a kilt rollerblading through Miami, and Uzbeki fans riding into Houston's stadium on horseback in full traditional dress. Iranian players left a locker-room note in LA reading 'we came with pride, competed with honor, and leave with dignity.' Ben says this is soft power for humanity itself — every country winning at once.
Right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella 'El Tigre' won Colombia's presidential runoff by less than one percentage point — 49.66% to 48.7% — in a deeply divided country.
The World Cup is producing extraordinary moments of cross-cultural joy: Scottish fans marching through Little Havana, Uzbek fans riding into Houston's stadium on horseback, Iranian players leaving a heartfelt locker-room note in LA. Ben Rhodes calls it soft power not for any one country — but for humanity.
Cape Verde — a half-million-person island nation 350 miles off West Africa — held Spain and Uruguay to draws. Their 40-year-old goalkeeper went from 50,000 to 15 million Instagram followers. One player thought the national team's LinkedIn outreach was spam. This is what the World Cup is for.
Cape Verde's 40-year-old goalkeeper helped hold both Spain and Uruguay to draws at the World Cup, and in the process went from 50,000 to 15 million Instagram followers overnight.
Lionel Messi scored five goals in Argentina's first two World Cup matches, a stunning display that Ben Rhodes called unbelievable.
Ten years ago, 90% of tech media coverage was relentlessly negative and Kalanick felt he couldn't speak freely. Today, the rise of independent podcasters and Elon Musk buying Twitter has fundamentally changed the game — and it's why he's finally willing to talk.
Kay Classman, 28, was arrested for repeatedly posing as a 16-year-old and enrolling in Bronx high schools across multiple districts. She wasn't a predator — just someone so sad and lonely she wanted her lost childhood back. That's somehow sadder.
Disney, Meta, and Paramount have collectively paid Trump roughly $60 million to settle what Galloway calls nuisance lawsuits — all routed to his presidential library. Newsrooms are folding. The White House is handpicking press pool participants. This is what the end of a free press looks like.
One cheap fake documentary made by a teenager in his mother's basement convinced 16% of Americans that 9/11 was an inside job. Social media didn't invent conspiracy — it just gave it a rocket engine.
A progressive organization with a stated mission to destroy Turning Point USA received millions from ActBlue and is now publicly pushing the narrative that TPUSA insiders and Israel murdered Charlie Kirk. Andrew Wilson traced the network of accounts all amplifying the same conspiracy in perfect unison.
The microphone-bomb theory fails on every physical front: no smoke, no ignition, mic on the wrong side of the wound. And the .30-06 rifle round used is extensively documented by the US Army — it does not always produce a through-and-through wound. Wilson argues this is a well-studied projectile with well-understood behavior.
Andrew Wilson publicly offered Candace Owens $300,000 to debate her theory that Israel and TPUSA murdered Charlie Kirk. She refused. He argues that flat-earthers will debate anyone, but Kirk conspiracy theorists won't defend their claims under scrutiny.
Erika Kirk became the CEO of TPUSA while grieving her husband's murder in public, and now faces tens of thousands accusing her of conspiring to kill him. Andrew Wilson calls it mind-boggling psychological torture. The sparklers at the memorial weren't suspicious — they were a grieving widow doing her best in an impossible situation.
Joe Rogan and Andrew Wilson watch a bystander video of the Corey Ruiz police shooting in Madison, Wisconsin live on air. The video is so blurry they initially think a female officer fired the fatal shots. They later learn a male officer did, after Ruiz allegedly pulled a knife and stabbed officers. Their conclusion: you cannot have a hot take on a story you don't understand yet.
We use essential and analytics cookies to run Vuci. To understand how the site is used: Privacy Policy.
Install Vuci on your phone
Add it to your home screen for a faster, app-like experience.
Install Vuci on your phone
Tap the Share button, then “Add to Home Screen”.
A new version is available
Reload to get the latest Vuci.