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.
Where this was said
At 59:40 · 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 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.
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.
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.
Thomas's wife deferred her CrossFit career — she's in the global top 1% of athletes — to put him through law school debt-free. He wants her to chase the dream now; she wants the emergency fund and house down payment first. On a $200K lawyer income with no debt, the opportunity cost is just a few months of slower saving.
Underground calisthenics battles are exactly like UFC meets a rap battle — 150 people crowded around a circle, fighters walking out with masks and chains, nicknames like 'Extra Money' vs 'Calisthenics the Prince,' and people throwing money and betting. The battle set: 100 burpees, 50 muscle-ups, 75 dips, 75 squats with a 65-pound dumbbell. This is the next big spectator sport.
Rico Verhoeven controlled the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion for approximately 10 rounds — and had his appeal upheld when officials admitted the fight was stopped after the bell. The result was never overturned. Rogan calls it either incompetence or corruption, and argues the money behind Usyk made an upset politically inconvenient.
Rogan lays out a blunt case: boxing's 3-judge system is structurally broken, and the judges know who the promoter wants to win. Glory's 5-judge format is the right model. Corruption doesn't have to be conscious — just knowing Usyk is the cash cow is enough to tilt the scales.
With the Usyk-Wilder fight stalling and Fury-Joshua coming too late, the real fight the world wants is the rematch. Rico is a free agent. Usyk vacated his belts. The story is unfinished and both Rogan and Rico know it. His Excellency Turki Alasheikh already called for it ringside — the question is money.
Rico texted Jason Statham during the Canelo-Crawford fight. Statham showed Rico's highlight videos to promoters. Two days later, Rico was on a call about fighting Anthony Joshua. When Joshua pulled out, Rico pitched Usyk himself — Undisputed vs. Undisputed. Usyk said yes in two weeks. The whole thing started with one text.
Every heavyweight who faced Usyk tried to move to the right — straight into his power hand. Rico and Peter Fury identified the obvious solution: move left, away from the left hand, and smother him with size. It sounds simple. Nobody had done it. That one adjustment was the foundation of 10 dominant rounds.
MMA fans boo when fights go to the ground. They love stand-up. Kickboxing is pure stand-up. Yet it barely exists in America while boxing and MMA are enormous. Rogan's diagnosis: no promotion machine. If the UFC got behind kickboxing the way they've built MMA, it would explode. The talent is there — the storytelling machine is not.
A nation of 17 million people gave the world Ramon Deckers, Peter Aerts, Badr Hari, Melvin Manhoef, Rob Kamen, Ernesto Hoost, and Rico Verhoeven. Rico's theory: the country is so small that every gym shares knowledge freely. In the US, you need a flight. In Holland, you drive 40 minutes and spar the national champion.
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.