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Ishaan Tharoor joins MAGA World Cup podcast
Weekly Substack show examines the FIFA World Cup through politics, culture and global affairs.
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Ankita Baidya - Fri, 26, Jun 2026
- 05:00 EDT
- 31
Journalists Tony Karon, Sean Jacobs, Imran Garda and Indian-origin columnist Ishaan Tharoor have launched a weekly Substack podcast examining the 2026 FIFA World Cup. / X/@TonyKaron
A new weekly podcast examining the 2026 FIFA World Cup through the lens of politics, culture, and international affairs will go live on June 27, featuring Indian-origin journalist Ishaan Tharoor alongside veteran journalists Tony Karon, Sean Jacobs, and Imran Garda.
The podcast, that will be streamed live every Friday on Substack, explores the tournament beyond football, examining how the World Cup intersects with global politics, identity, and international relations during a competition jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Also Read: My FIFA World Cup Diary – 5
Tharoor announced on X that he would be joining the programme for the duration of the tournament. Earlier this year, he joined The New Yorker as a global affairs writer after nearly 12 years at The Washington Post, where he authored the Today's WorldView international affairs newsletter before leaving the newspaper during newsroom layoffs in February 2026.
He joins South African journalists Tony Karon and Imran Garda, along with Sean Jacobs, professor of international affairs at The New School and founder of Africa Is a Country, a publication covering African politics and diaspora issues.
Karon, a South African-born journalist and former anti-apartheid activist, previously spent nearly two decades as a senior editor at Time before serving as senior online executive producer at Al Jazeera America. Announcing the podcast, he described it as offering "deep meditations and educated banter on the meanings of the MAGA World Cup."
Garda, a South African journalist of Indian descent, has worked with Al Jazeera English, Al Jazeera America and TRT World, where he hosted the interview programme The Newsmakers. He is also the author of the award-winning novel The Thunder That Roars, which received the Olive Schreiner Prize for prose in 2015.
Really excited about this weekly World Cup pod that I'll be joining for the rest of the tournament with some excellent gents. https://t.co/OcFcz5Bq6k
— Ishaan Tharoor (@ishaantharoor) June 25, 2026
Born in Singapore to former Indian diplomat and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, Ishaan Tharoor spent his early years in Geneva before settling in Washington, D.C. He has established himself as one of the leading voices on international affairs in American journalism.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is the largest in the tournament's history, featuring 48 national teams. Throughout the competition, the panel plans to discuss the broader political and cultural issues surrounding the event, including its staging in North America during President Donald Trump's second administration, a context reflected in the show's description of the tournament as the "MAGA World Cup."
Discover more at New India Abroad.
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