The Daily Show takes on the World Cup

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The Daily Show with Jon Stewart sends “correspondent” John Oliver to Johannesburg to learn “… about the rich African culture at the World Cup.”

Brilliant piece. It strikes the right balance between on the one hand, the disdain most fans feel about FIFA, and, on the other, the passion associated with the World Cup. It is also satisfying to see Rich Mkhondo, the spokesperson for organizing committee, exposed as a windbag and making up a “cultural tradition” for the vuvuzela.

Sean Jacobs

Further Reading

Goodbye, Piassa

The demolition of an historic district in Addis Ababa shows a central contradiction of modernization: the desire to improve the country while devaluing its people and culture.