Zack, Jenn, and returning guest Alex Ward talk about the possibilities — and perils — of President Trump’s upcoming nuclear summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12. On Elsewhere, they discuss the wild story of how Iceland’s soccer team went from being one of the world’s worst to qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. Zack shares memories of his 5-year-old self playing soccer, Jenn does her best Viking war chant, and Alex makes a bold World Cup prediction. Alex will have a piece out early next week at Vox with lots more details about the summit setup. Keep your eyes peeled. In the meantime, here’s his recent piece about the latest rescheduling of the summit. Zack mentioned that the Washington Post’s John Hudson was kicked out of the Capella hotel. Jenn talked about the complicated dance the US and North Korea have been doing around paying for hotel accommodations. Here’s more on that. Alex mentioned that Kim might be worried about a coup back at home during the summit. Jenn talked about Trump’s language after his meeting with Kim Yong Chol, and how he shifted to managing expectations about the summit. You can listen to the announcement he made here. As Alex mentioned, Yochi wrote a great piece about what war with North Korea might look like … just in case you wanted to read up on the worst-case scenario.   Alex also mentioned that National Security Adviser John Bolton has yet to convene a principals committee meeting of the National Security Council. If you want a textual deep dive into the Iceland World Cup underdog story, Alex recommends this Sports Illustrated piece. Alex was not making up Iceland’s meteoric rise in the football rankings. For the full visual effect of the Icelandic announcer freaking out and the Icelandic chant, please enjoy these videos. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices