1/2: The Eurovision Song Contest - Campy, Chaotic and Completely Serious

1/2: The Eurovision Song Contest - Campy, Chaotic and Completely Serious

Author: Philipp Gollner May 11, 2026 Duration: 47:30
Eurovision has many things that soccer does - underdogs, spectacular collapses, bloc loyalties, political scores settled through performance, and a continent watching the same spectacle at the same time. And this year, the Eurovision Song Contest, a live-for-TV music contest with continent-wide public voting, is happening in Vienna, this coming weekend. Why there? Austria won it last year. Here is a primer of, a short debate about, and a quiz about the Song Contest. And an outlook on how this...

Hosted by Philipp Gollner, The Assistant Professor of Football: Soccer, Culture, History. is for those who feel the sport’s true depth lies far beyond the final score. This podcast digs into the rich soil from which the global game grows: the local histories, fan subcultures, and political undercurrents that shape its unique character, especially when viewed from an American perspective. Each episode functions like a seminar, with a different expert joining as a "visiting professor" to guide a deep, critical exploration of a specific topic. You’ll hear discussions that treat soccer not just as a spectacle, but as a powerful lens on society, place, and travel. The conversations are unafraid to examine the sport’s role within larger systems, including its operation as a massive commercial enterprise. It’s a European-guided journey through the complexities of the world’s game, designed for listeners who already love soccer but crave a more substantive understanding of its cultural weight and historical echoes. Tune in for a thoughtful, academic-adjacent treatment that connects the dots between the pitch and the wider world.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 83

The Assistant Professor of Football: Soccer, Culture, History.
Podcast Episodes
Eurovision Reactions: a Special Episode with Phil Harrison [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:05
Phil Harrison, a former Visiting Professor on soccer in Albania before the fall of the Iron Curtain, and me are giving our take on the song contest in Vienna this past Saturday. A very helpful visual breakdown of all poi…
Small Town, Big Story: FC Thun's Long Road to an Unlikely Championship [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:09:21
Thun. Population 44,000. Located in the Swiss Bernese Oberland, where the river Aare meets a lake, with the Alps as a backdrop. Switzerland's biggest military town. Not exactly a place you’d expect to find yourself talki…
FK Bodø/Glimt: the history and community behind the headlines [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:25
Bodø/Glimt, the team from the town of Bodø north of the polar circle, counting around 45,000 inhabitants, made it to the round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League this season. After beating Atletico Madrid, Manchester Cit…