Podbit · The Bill Simmons Podcast
Bill Simmons built a full category-by-category case for why Matt Damon deserves to be in the conversation with DiCaprio. Damon wins action movies, ensemble work, comedy, range, and iconic rewatchable films. DiCaprio wins Oscar bait and the most iconic single moments. After The Odyssey, it's genuinely close.
Where this was said
At 1:08:24 · chapter starts 20:19
Bill launches the losers segment with Tuchel, the coach hired to make England bold who instead implemented the most conservative strategy imaginable the moment they went ahead. Chris Ryan argues Tuchel lost control of the midfield and panicked 15 minutes too early, while Anthony focuses on the baffling exclusion of Bukayo Saka — the same player who then scored a hat trick in the meaningless third-place match. Christian Pulisic follows: not just for the injury that cut his tournament short, but for deeper questions about his leadership, his relationship with teammates and coaches, and the ominous fact that ex-players felt it was open season to criticize him the moment the US exited. FIFA is next, criticized for hydration breaks in air-conditioned domes — effectively commercial timeouts, Bill says — and for rigging the World Cup hosting rotation to funnel the 2034 event to Saudi Arabia [1] — Anthony Dabbundo "Anthony Dabbundo defended VAR as getting more calls right than the pre-VAR era ever did. Chris Ryan countered that it kills the cathartic g…" 57:50 . VAR generates the most back-and-forth: Anthony argues it gets dramatically more calls right than the pre-VAR era, while Chris says it kills momentum and gives managers an invisible reset button; Bill proposes a blue card / sin bin as a smarter middle ground than the current all-or-nothing red card system.
Lionel Messi led the tournament in goals plus assists at age 39, including a hat trick in Argentina's first game, cementing his status as the best player at the 2026 World Cup.
Messi led the 2026 World Cup in goals plus assists at age 39, then wandered into scrums where much bigger opponents simply stepped aside because he was God. The Ronaldo-or-Maradona debate is finished — it's Messi and then everyone else.
After Bellingham trash-talked Messi and got hit with the smirk heard round the world, the internet exploded. Bill Simmons argued the Messi smirk meme will go down as a top-5 sports meme of all time — and read five De Niro film comparisons from a listener email.
Lamine Yamal, playing through a hamstring injury at the 2026 World Cup, has now won both the Euros and the World Cup before turning 21, arguably the most accomplished resume of any under-21 player ever.
Lawrence, Kansas became an Algerian outpost. Mexicans and Koreans sang Gangnam Style together in LA on opening day. The 40-city 2026 World Cup delivered cultural moments nobody predicted — and in a divided country, it arrived at exactly the right time.
Thomas Tuchel was brought in to make England aggressive. Instead, he parked the bus up 1-0 against Argentina — leaving Saka on the bench, keeping a gassed Harry Kane on, and letting Messi camp on the right side until Enzo Fernandez's strike leveled it. Not one England fan thought this was right.
Steven Pressfield's insight: don't wait for the commitment to feel real before acting like a professional. Set up the studio. Make the schedule. Show up. Commitment doesn't precede action — it follows it. You act like a pro first, and your brain catches up with justifications after. The action is the commitment.
Robby Hoffman isn't fearless — she's terrified all the time. The difference is she does it anyway, because not doing it feels worse than the fear itself.
John Mulaney texted Robby Hoffman out of nowhere saying he'd been a fan for a while and wanted to make a Netflix special with her. Robby called it 'shocking, horrifying, anxiety-inducing, surreal and thrilling' — and said yes.
Mulaney is buttoned-up, suit-wearing, classy. Robby is gritty, raw, and undefined. Together they made the collab nobody expected. Batman and Robin. Eminem and Dido.
Music had Pope Gregory forcing notation. Comedy has had 'magical thinking' — he's just got funny bones. But jokes work through discoverable, teachable mechanics. Writing down the rules doesn't kill the magic; it gives more people access to it.
Howard Ashman had one insight nobody else had: animated Disney films should be Broadway musicals. The third song of every great musical is the character sitting alone explaining what they want. That's 'Part of Your World.' That structure — combined with Alan Menken's compositions — generated Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, and turned Disney Animation into the most profitable creative engine in entertainment history.
The Lion King musical has been running for 30 years across Broadway, London's West End, and global touring companies. It has grossed over $11 billion in total revenue — more than Avatar, more than Avengers: Endgame, more than any album, more than any video game. It generates an average of $350 million in revenue every single year. Disney owns it outright.
The anonymous French artist Invader has hidden 1,500 pixelated mosaic artworks across Paris alone, with thousands more scattered across 80+ cities — affixed to the Eiffel Tower, the Hollywood sign, and even sent to the International Space Station. He might be even busier than Banksy.
The Flash Invaders app turns city streets into a treasure hunt, letting players scan Invader's hidden mosaics for points. Players have collectively logged over 47 million flashes. Unlike most mobile games that glue you to a screen, this one forces you to look up and engage with your surroundings.
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.