Hi, I'm Grant Wall, and welcome to the Planet Football Podcast, where I go in-depth with the most intriguing people in the world of soccer.

In this episode, I'm joined by Clint Smith, a guest I wanted to have on the show for a long time.

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It helps people find us.

Awford! It helps people find us. Oddward.

Our guest today is Clint Smith.

You might know Clint from any number of places.

He's a regular on the podcast, Pod-Save the People. He's a regular on the podcast, Pod Save the People. He's a

contributor to the New Yorker, among other places. He's a Harvard doctoral

candidate whose research interests include mass incarceration, the sociology of race and racism,

and the history of U.S. inequality. A former National Poetry Slam champion, Clint wrote

a book of poetry counting dissent that was a finalist for an

N double A. C. P image award. He's widely followed on Twitter at Clint Smith

the third, Clint Smith I. I. And for the purposes of this podcast, he's a former Division I soccer player at Davidson and a huge arsenal fan who was written occasionally on soccer, including on the recent World Cup for the New Yorker.

Clint, thanks for joining me.

Appreciate you having me.

That was a long introduction.

You do a lot of different things.

I'm really excited to have you on the show. I appreciate it.

Yeah, got my foot in a couple of different places.

So I want to start saying you're from New Orleans and you're a relatively young guy. How did your soccer story begin?

Yeah, so I'm born and raised in New Orleans and it's fascinating actually so I played soccer

...