Listen of the Week II

In honor of the World Cup, I'm recommending an encore listen. K'naan, who rewrote his magnificent song Wavin' Flag for this year's tournament, did an interview in February 2009 with the most excellent Studio 360. Enjoy!

Why I (Now) Love the World Cup

This year, I have become a complete convert to what my husband insists is called 'football.' I resisted. I may even have mocked. (Okay, I definitely mocked.) But then I had an epiphany. In a really, really hard world, where so many people struggle with poverty and violence, lacking clean water and education and hope itself, where our differences seem so vast that we will kill and die over them, it is nothing short of a miracle that we can be united by a love and excitement for this game. That we will set aside strife to kick a ball around for 90-some minutes.
Even more heartening is the way in which regular people worldwide unite behind their teams. In poor, remote spots all over the planet folks will gather in front of any available tv screen and cheer their hearts out. They will paint their faces. They will wave their flags. And for 90 minutes, we can all glimpse what this world could be like.