A Touch More: The Beautiful Game

As part of her special World Cup series, Megan sits down with USWNT head coach Emma Hayes. Emma discusses why she’s inspired by the men’s game, but sees women’s soccer as different, what her hopes are for the 2027 women’s World Cup, and why she thinks soccer is the only truly global sport.

Plus, Megan introduces a new guest at the top of the show who asks some burning questions from the World Cup’s opening week, both on and off the field. The biggest question: is the USA going to win it all?

A Touch More: The Beautiful Game is produced in partnership with VOX MEDIA and TOGETHXR.

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Megan kicks off her World Cup series, A Touch More: The Beautiful Game, with soccer icon Abby Wambach. 

Abby and Megan get into some things they’ve never talked about publicly before, like their relationship over the years and how they influenced each other on and off the field. And Abby gets honest about what success in the World Cup has meant to her, why she delayed coming out, and what matters to her now. 

Plus, Megan breaks down the new format of the World Cup with a historic 48 countries participating, shouts out the players she’s most excited about watching, and gives her hottest takes on who she predicts will win it all.

A Touch More: The Beautiful Game is produced in partnership with VOX MEDIA and TOGETHXR.

 
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In honor of the last regular episode of A Touch More, Megan shares her favorite themes, stories, and interviews from the last 90 episodes. 

From the booming business of women’s sports, to the joys and pains of being a retired athlete, to the intersection of women’s sports with politics, fashion, and culture, join Megan as she looks back on the funniest and most memorable moments from the show.

But this is not goodbye! Next week, Megan is kicking off a special series around the World Cup – we’re calling it A Touch More: The Beautiful Game – that will start in this feed next week. 

And don’t forget to check out Bird’s Eye View every week!

A Touch More: The Podcast is produced in partnership with VOX MEDIA and TOGETHXR.

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Sue Bird hosts her final episode of A Touch More, taking a close look at some of this week’s standout WNBA teams, players, and controversies. She breaks down the strong debut of the Portland Fire and Alex Sarama’s unique approach to coaching, why Caitlin Clark’s injury report is a nothingburger, and the ROY-debate brewing between Olivia Miles and Azzi Fudd. Speaking of which, should older players with professional experience in other leagues be eligible for Rookie of the Year? 

Sue also welcomes Cori Close, who coached UCLA women’s basketball to its first-ever national championship. They talk about how Close is finally enjoying her championship season, how she’s rebuilding her team after six of her star seniors joined the WNBA, and what she learned about coaching from Ted Lasso

You can still catch Sue Bird’s WNBA analysis and interviews on Bird’s Eye View, available on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts.

A Touch More: The Podcast is produced in partnership with VOX MEDIA and TOGETHXR.

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Megan Rapinoe talks to NWSL prodigy Claire Hutton, who joined the league at age 17 and made her debut with the National Team last year. Claire talks about the difficult decision to skip college to go pro, the surprising way she found out she made the national team, and what she did as a younger kid that prepared her to go pro so young.

In other soccer news, Megan makes the case for Gotham FC to move to New York City,  and takes a look at what the Americanization of the World Cup has looked like so far. And Megan explains why she’s not so stoked about the World Cup’s first-ever halftime show, even though it’ll feature Madonna, Shakira and BTS. 

A Touch More: The Podcast is produced in partnership with VOX MEDIA and TOGETHXR.

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