Ivica Osim, Open Wounds (1/2): A Roadcast through Bosnia, and through my own Story

Ivica Osim, Open Wounds (1/2): A Roadcast through Bosnia, and through my own Story

Author: Philipp Gollner September 1, 2025 Duration: 49:35
Sturm Graz is and was a workers club when I came to the club in the 90s, one year before Ivica Osim arrived. We knew he was a mathematician, soccer player and coach, and he knew workers clubs, from Željezničar, in Grbavica, back home in Sarajevo, the city then under a yearlong siege in the Bosnian independence wars. But he added something else. To him, the game was discourse, it was beauty. He explained soccer to us in a way we’d never seen it. Professorial and sometimes grumpy, but always ex...

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: 50

The Assistant Professor of Football: Soccer, Culture, History.
Podcast Episodes
An Austrian and an Indian walk into the World Cup... [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:52
... or: an Economist and a Tactics Nerd on what the last 6 weeks tell us about where the game is going. A spontaneous and incomplete post-final reaction. HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE: The recent CNN piece with me on wh…
World Cup 1994: An American Game, Revisited [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:16
If you're old enough — what do you remember about the 1994 World Cup? And if you're not, try to picture it. Soccer in the United States before MLS existed. Matches inside the Pontiac Silverdome, a domed football stadium…
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…