World Cup poetry: lines for the beautiful game
6/15/202627 min
Describing the joy (and heartache) of football is the job of commentators at this summer's Fifa World Cup in America, Canada and Mexico. In the Studio hears how the loyalties of California's poet laureate Lee Herrick are divided between the USA and his birth country, Korea, while UK poet Ian McMillan finds inspiration for a new poem in the lines on the pitch.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMark Wilberforce· Host0:00
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. [electronic tone] Today's episode is sponsored by Smart Travel, a podcast from NerdWallet. You know that one friend who always finds the best travel deals, picks the right credit cards, and somehow ends up in first class for the price of coach? Smart Travel is like that friend, but in podcast form. NerdWallet's travel journalists sort out what's worth paying for, from lounge access to travel advisors to hotel loyalty programs. Make your travel dollars work harder. Follow Smart Travel on your favorite podcast app.
Speaker 20:34
At Cox, your internet and mobile price won't change for five years. That's five New Year's celebrations, [cork pops] five Valentine's Days, [laughs] five 4th of Julys, [fireworks explode] five Halloweens, [wolf howls] five Thanksgivings [turkey gobbles] and five summers that go by too fast. [gentle music] Through it all, your price stays the same with our five-year price lock guarantee. Cox, a step ahead. Requires two gig speeds and gig unlimited mobile. Taxes and fees excluded from price lock. Mobile data speeds reduced after 20 gigs.
Lee Herrick· Guest1:04
[electronic tone] [upbeat music] I think it's hard to capture the grandeur of the game and the World Cup in a poem, but that's kind of what poetry is about, the difficulty and complexity and exhilaration of those moments of joy that can occur.
Joyce Anoyeboa· Guest1:21
[singing] The people of Ghana love football. Commentaries not just talking about this player passed the ball