You put your finger on why the World Cup works and called it inclusion, but there's a harder mechanism underneath it. The pitch is the cleanest case of a single principle: presence is the only claim that counts.
Nobody on that field is there by blood, or by ancestry, or by who arrived first. You're the best player right now or you aren't. Being here now is the whole argument…and everyone gets to watch it adjudicated in real time, which is exactly why everyone watches.
That's also why the Cyclops is the right monster. One eye is the tribal eye; it can only see confirmation of itself. Two eyes take in the whole field—-every accent, every color, the best of whatever type. The fans who want a mirror on the pitch and the critics who want actors of the "correct" identity are making the same mistake from opposite ends: they've traded the conversation for the reflection.
And the joinable thing is the human thing. Polish kids buying comics about Norwegian strikers, half the planet buying the Odyssey to argue about it, that's culture doing the one thing culture is for, which is staying open to anyone who shows up.
yes - the World Cup is absolutely meritocratic, you can't buy your way in. Which is also why people so hated Trump's attempt to cheat on behalf of the US team (something I will write about later on) and get one of the players unbanned was so extraordinarily unpopular....
Some of these items in your kleptocracy tracker seem so clearly out of the ballpark of presidential duties that Trump can be prosecuted or held accountable in some way.
Your description of the cyclops made me, and I imagine many others, think of Trump and those around him. But, to me, the thing that is different is that, while Trump seems casual and thoughtless, he is vengeful and sadistic and his grievances are often sourced by his imagination. It’s been a longtime since I read the book (while traveling in Greece in my 20’s!) but I recall that the Cyclops was just doing what cyclops’s do, without reason, real or imagined. In other words, Trump is the cyclops of our time, only worse.
And as always, thank you for sharing your travelogues. Due to health issues, my travels have been limited. I’ve adjusted by noticing the differences within my location, such as the day to day changing wildlife and vegetation while hiking along the nearby Mississippi River. It’s an interesting form of appreciating life and one that I relish. Even so, I’m grateful for the opportunity to see what you visit. I very much enjoy visiting other places and simply being there, so I don’t rule out the possibility that I’ll figure out a way to so. Ultimately, I may have to do it come what may, and muddle on through. That may be what any of us do for most of our lives, whether we realize it or not. 🤣
Thank you, Ms. Applebaum. Your articles are always an informative experience that leaves me better informed about the world we live in. Today's article left me better informed as always, but the humanistic journey getting there was a nice departure.
Say Anne, I’m not sure if you’d include this in the kleptocracy tracker, but according to Heather Cox Richardson, the administration is getting around restrictions on drilling and the like near national monuments by changing Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. (Along with all of his ridiculous changes to DC within the zone that requires additional scrutiny.) She wrote about it on 7/25. https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-25-2026?r=5k9s3t&utm_medium=ios
Lucky you Anne! I looked at getting a ticket to the Odyssey at IMAX in Warsaw and couldn't get anything other than the front row for 10 days. Still haven't secured a spot yet. But for all the reasons you have recommended we watch the Odyssey and World Cup, for their citizen of the world leaning, I would also high recommend Spielberg's "Disclosure Day" American centric but highly focused on the idea of a globalised world that focuses on empathy as the key that is missing within the human race and which beings from another world use to "disarm" humans and avoid conflict as they make contact. Quite a unique view on the current problems we are experiencing in the world today.
You put your finger on why the World Cup works and called it inclusion, but there's a harder mechanism underneath it. The pitch is the cleanest case of a single principle: presence is the only claim that counts.
Nobody on that field is there by blood, or by ancestry, or by who arrived first. You're the best player right now or you aren't. Being here now is the whole argument…and everyone gets to watch it adjudicated in real time, which is exactly why everyone watches.
That's also why the Cyclops is the right monster. One eye is the tribal eye; it can only see confirmation of itself. Two eyes take in the whole field—-every accent, every color, the best of whatever type. The fans who want a mirror on the pitch and the critics who want actors of the "correct" identity are making the same mistake from opposite ends: they've traded the conversation for the reflection.
And the joinable thing is the human thing. Polish kids buying comics about Norwegian strikers, half the planet buying the Odyssey to argue about it, that's culture doing the one thing culture is for, which is staying open to anyone who shows up.
The monster's whole project is to close it.
Really interesting and made me think, thank you.
Johan 🐌
yes - the World Cup is absolutely meritocratic, you can't buy your way in. Which is also why people so hated Trump's attempt to cheat on behalf of the US team (something I will write about later on) and get one of the players unbanned was so extraordinarily unpopular....
And that tells us so much about the man that Trump is!
Thank you, Ms. Applebaum.
A lovely essay and welcome visit to today's vibrant Poland. Thank you!
Happy summer to you. Sounds like you are making it enjoyable. Good lesson for the rest of us.
Some of these items in your kleptocracy tracker seem so clearly out of the ballpark of presidential duties that Trump can be prosecuted or held accountable in some way.
Your description of the cyclops made me, and I imagine many others, think of Trump and those around him. But, to me, the thing that is different is that, while Trump seems casual and thoughtless, he is vengeful and sadistic and his grievances are often sourced by his imagination. It’s been a longtime since I read the book (while traveling in Greece in my 20’s!) but I recall that the Cyclops was just doing what cyclops’s do, without reason, real or imagined. In other words, Trump is the cyclops of our time, only worse.
And as always, thank you for sharing your travelogues. Due to health issues, my travels have been limited. I’ve adjusted by noticing the differences within my location, such as the day to day changing wildlife and vegetation while hiking along the nearby Mississippi River. It’s an interesting form of appreciating life and one that I relish. Even so, I’m grateful for the opportunity to see what you visit. I very much enjoy visiting other places and simply being there, so I don’t rule out the possibility that I’ll figure out a way to so. Ultimately, I may have to do it come what may, and muddle on through. That may be what any of us do for most of our lives, whether we realize it or not. 🤣
thanks for those comments! I have a walk that I regularly do near my house in Poland and I always notice the seasonal changes, and always enjoy them
Anne applebaum standing up with the truth for democracy, thanks
Thank you, Ms. Applebaum. Your articles are always an informative experience that leaves me better informed about the world we live in. Today's article left me better informed as always, but the humanistic journey getting there was a nice departure.
Say Anne, I’m not sure if you’d include this in the kleptocracy tracker, but according to Heather Cox Richardson, the administration is getting around restrictions on drilling and the like near national monuments by changing Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. (Along with all of his ridiculous changes to DC within the zone that requires additional scrutiny.) She wrote about it on 7/25. https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-25-2026?r=5k9s3t&utm_medium=ios
Heather Cox Richardson standing up with the facts for democracy, thanks
Lucky you Anne! I looked at getting a ticket to the Odyssey at IMAX in Warsaw and couldn't get anything other than the front row for 10 days. Still haven't secured a spot yet. But for all the reasons you have recommended we watch the Odyssey and World Cup, for their citizen of the world leaning, I would also high recommend Spielberg's "Disclosure Day" American centric but highly focused on the idea of a globalised world that focuses on empathy as the key that is missing within the human race and which beings from another world use to "disarm" humans and avoid conflict as they make contact. Quite a unique view on the current problems we are experiencing in the world today.
thank, will find it
Nolan is no David Lean, in fact he isn’t even up to being Cecil B DeMille
His Odyssey has more to with film stock and DEI than any real connection to Homer
Pity you saw it
I disagree! It was thoroughly enjoyable and had deeply small-c conservative values
I respect you a great deal.
In respect of this Nolan film, we disagree, respectfully.