Good morning. It's Saturday, June 13. Welcome to this week's Society & Culture newsletter. First time reading? Sign up here or click here to share with friends. |
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Up first today is an explainer on the World Cup, which officially began Thursday. Then we dive into the life and career of Steven Spielberg, whose latest film, "Disclosure Day," opened yesterday. Finally, we explore the work of John Steinbeck, whose final completed book, "America and Americans," was released 60 years ago.
Something we missed? Something we should cover? Feel free to let me know. Getting in touch is as simple as hitting "reply." I respond to every email, even if you're just saying "hello."
—Kevin Kearney, 1440 Society & Culture Section Editor |
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A beginner's guide to the World Cup
The FIFA World Cup is the world's most prestigious international soccer tournament. The global phenomenon has both men's and women's competitions, each held every four years on staggered schedules, and features the world's best soccer players suiting up for their countries for a month of elite competition.
The 2026 World Cup will be the first time the men's tournament features 48 teams, up from 32 in 2022. This year's teams earned their spots by qualifying within their respective continental confederations. The number of spots each confederation sends depends on its size, and qualifying can take 12 months or more. (See how each team qualified.)
This year's tournament is in North America, with 16 host cities across the continent; the national teams of host nations Canada, Mexico, and the US have received automatic bids. Matches began June 11 and will conclude July 19, with a championship match in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (See a preview of the tournament.)
... Explore everything else we learned about the World Cup.
Also, check out ...
> How a 2010 World Cup announcement led to the resignation of FIFA's president. (Watch)
> A guide to all 1,248 players in this year's games. (Read)
> The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, in a tournament that's gone down in soccer infamy. (Watch)
> How the most iconic photo in women's soccer was almost never taken. (Read) |
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The King of the Box Office |
Steven Spielberg, 101
Steven Spielberg is an American filmmaker who has directed some of the most influential blockbusters in movie history. Audiences have adored his films for generations, making him the highest-grossing filmmaker and an example of an American auteur.
Spielberg began experimenting with his father's 8 mm camera and attended the movie theater as often as possible, entranced by a wide range of films by visionaries like Alfred Hitchcock and Walt Disney. His theatrical breakthrough came with the 1975 adaptation of Peter Benchley's novel "Jaws," a thriller that defined the modern blockbuster and helped usher in a new era of Hollywood.
For over five decades, Spielberg has produced critically acclaimed box-office hits, including "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," and "Jurassic Park." His latest film, "Disclosure Day," is a return to his science fiction classics of the late '70s and early '80s, with many critics calling it his best work in years. (Read a profile of Spielberg and the movie.)
... Explore everything else we learned about Steven Spielberg.
Also, check out ...
> Hear a career-spanning interview with Spielberg from earlier this year. (Listen)
> The animatronic shark from "Jaws" that was affectionately called "Bruce." (Read)
> Why director Claude Lanzmann criticized Spielberg for "Schindler's List." (Read)
> Spielberg recut "Close Encounters" in 1980 and later regretted it. (Read) |
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'Ad Astra Per Alia Porci' |
An introduction to John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck is a 20th-century American writer primarily known for his realist novels, though he also published travelogues, wrote cultural criticism, and more. (See a guide to his major works.)
Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California, and attended Stanford University for six years, though he never graduated. He began publishing novels in 1929, but did not find significant success until he began working with editor Pascal Covici, who became a lifelong confidant and friend. "The Grapes of Wrath," a novel about migrant workers based on his experiences reporting on the population for a newspaper, was a critical and commercial success, winning the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize, and inspiring a film adaptation starring Henry Fonda. (Watch it here.)
Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1962, making him one of a handful of Americans to do so. (Watch his acceptance speech here.) His novels "Of Mice and Men" and "The Grapes of Wrath" are now widely considered classics of American literature.
... Explore everything else we learned about John Steinbeck.
Also, check out ...
> Why the FBI investigated Steinbeck. (Read)
> How a book series for soldiers contributed to the popularity of "Of Mice and Men." (Read)
> Despite his popularity, Steinbeck was considered a controversial Nobel Prize winner. (Read)
> The scientists who use a Steinbeck book as a dataset. (Read) |
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Beyond our weekly deep dives, we love finding great takes on the culture currently shaping our lives. Here are some of the best reactions, profiles, and think pieces we encountered this week.
> A Whale of a Deal
Reuters | Various. Entertainment conglomerate Paramount is poised to acquire Warner Bros. later this year, further consolidating Hollywood's studio system. This narrative infographic explains how past deals led to the current situation and what the merging of Paramount and Warner Bros. will mean for the larger industry. (Read)
> The 50 Best Albums of 2026 So Far
Stereogum | Staff. If you're looking for new music, this is a great place to start, breaking down some of the most exciting releases from the first half of the year. Yes, there are notable omissions (hello, Thomas Dollbaum!), but this is a great guide to finding some records that might've slipped through the cracks. (Read)
> In Praise of the Typewriter
Literary Hub | Ruth Ozeki. The novelist details her recent obsession with vintage typewriters, which allow her to focus on the words at hand by avoiding the many distractions a laptop offers. In the process, she begins to see writing as a physical act, one that forces her to write more deliberately. (Read)
> No, Artificial Intelligence Is Not Conscious
The Atlantic | Ted Chiang. The acclaimed science fiction writer of works like "Exhalation" and "Story of Your Life" argues that debates about the consciousness of large language models like Anthropic's Claude often neglect how the humanlike language used by chatbots manipulates users for commercial reasons. (Read)
> The Summer Movies You Need to Know About
WSJ | Esther Zuckerman. "Disclosure Day" isn't the only highly anticipated summer blockbuster. This guide breaks down other movies on the horizon, from the big-budget, like "Toy Story 5" and "The Odyssey," to the buzzy, like "Maddie's Secret" and "Tony." (Read) |
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