Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Add Good to your Google News feed.
Google News Button

The Equalizers

A secret history of the fight for social justice among Brazil’s greatest soccer stars of the past century

Kurt Shaw
By Kurt ShawJul 11, 2014
Kurt Shaw
After working with homeless teenagers in New York City, Kurt Shaw created Shine a Light, a network of more than 300 nonprofits serving marginalized youths around Latin America. He lives in Brazil.
See Full Bio

Brazil has won more World Cup titles than any other country, but the nearly 200-year old South American host nation has a legacy of competitors as valiant off the field as on it—so much so that it is possible to imagine a player at every position on the soccer field whose life displayed an abiding commitment to rallying against social inequality.

Illustrations by Filip Peraić and David Schwen

social impactsocial inequalitybrazilsports and fitness

The Latest

The Traveling Wilburys 're-formed,' people say these five modern-day rock stars make the cut
Past Events

The Traveling Wilburys 're-formed,' people say these five modern-day rock stars make the cut

John Lennon, Steve Tilston, The Beatles, letter, Danny Collins, Al Pacino, lost letter, ZigZag, Yoko Ono, folk music
Past Events

John Lennon wrote a wonder letter to an aspiring folk artist. It went undelivered for decades.

third spaces, community building, social tips, mental health, community
Culture

Atheist calls church the 'ultimate money saving hack' and learned a lesson about community

Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, The Carpet Crawlers 1999, Trevor Horn, progressive rock, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, reunion, Tony Banks, classic rock
Past Events

In 1999, Genesis quietly revamped a '70s classic with Peter Gabriel. It remains sadly overlooked.

More For You

cd player, cds, music players, nostalgia, discman

My portable CD player became an extra appendage—and a way of preserving youthful memories.

Photo credit: Canva, pixelshot (left, cropped) / Ryan McVay from Photo Images (right, cropped)

Hello, Discman, my old friend: a Millennial love letter to portable music's black-sheep king

I have a pretty terrible memory for important things—for example, even though I tried to savor every second of proposing to my wife, most of that nuance has faded into the ether. (What was she wearing? No clue.) But music is some kind of portal into the minutiae of my past—the kind of charming, everyday details I probably could have accessed through journaling.

For whatever reason, I can vividly recall listening to specific albums on particular road trips or walks around town: One Saturday afternoon during college, I strolled from my childhood home over to a nearby neighborhood while playing Gentle Giant’s Medieval-tinged 1972 prog masterpiece, Octopus, for the first time. New sights, strange new sounds. Around that same time, I ambled around a local park while cranking The New Pornographers’ 2007 indie-rock classic Challengers—it was late August, and I felt that particularly bittersweet "back to school in the fall" feeling. When I listen to those songs today, I still feel it.

Keep ReadingShow less
Dr. Arthur Brooks, Harvard professor, happiness expert, morning ritual, 6-steps, well-being, morning routine

Morning meditation and Dr. Arthur Brooks

Photo credit Canva and Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons

Harvard happiness expert shares his 6-step morning ritual for the 'best possible' day

The most successful people incorporate a morning ritual into their daily routine. Most people wake up and rush into their day, but those who are really on top of things have a simple morning plan to prepare for whatever the day may bring.

Harvard professor and happiness expert Arthur Brooks recently shared his own set of practices to start his day. He describes his "morning protocol" as essential to his well-being and suggests it's something we can all do to "to start your day in the best possible way."

Keep ReadingShow less
Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker, Star Wars, LGBTQ+ fans, William Shatner, Luke sexuality, headcanon, inclusivity, Jedi code, fandom debate, Out Magazine, Mara Jade, asexuality, interpretation, clickbait, online discourse, sci-fi icons, Hamill quote, misquote, Luke debate

Mark Hamill gives a forceful response when asked about Luke Skywalker's sexuality

Mark Hamill (Wikicommons) Luke Skywalker (The Empire Strikes Back)

Mark Hamill was asked if Luke Skywalker is gay and had the perfect response

A debate among Star Wars fans has resurfaced online after a recent tweet from William Shatner, star of the original Star Trek TV series and films. It revolves around Mark Hamill, the actor who played Luke Skywalker in the storied sci-fi fantasy. In a 2016 interview, Hamill shared that he had a simple question that was asked of him by many fans: Is Luke Skywalker gay? Hamill gave an amazing response.

“Fans are writing and ask all these questions, ‘I’m bullied in school… I’m afraid to come out.’ They say to me, ‘Could Luke be gay?’ I’d say it is meant to be interpreted by the viewer. If you think Luke is gay, of course he is. You should not be ashamed of it. Judge Luke by his character, not by who he loves.”

Keep ReadingShow less
space discovery, second moon, nasa, astronomy, outer space

The Pan-STARRS telescope found another "moon" than the one we know of.

Photo credit: R. Ratkowski/WikimediaCommons/Canva

NASA confirms Earth has an extra 'moon' for the next 58 years. Here's how big it is.

It’s not every day that Earth gets a new running buddy in its orbit. Researchers at the University of Hawaii spotted something that NASA is classifying as a “quasi-moon” that joined Earth's orbit undetected for around 60 years.

Studying its current course and speed, scientists predict that this quasi-moon, dubbed 2025 PN7, is going to hang around us until it leaves our open space in 2083. "Moon" 2025 PN7 is fairly small for a celestial body, with scientists estimating that it is between 18 to 36 meters wide, roughly the size of a small building. Aside from its size, one of the reasons why 2025 PN7 isn’t considered a “true moon” is because it has a more oval-shaped orbit compared to the actual Moon we know, love, and assign blame to for werewolves. This oval orbit is because, while 2025 PN7 is currently within our gravitational pull, other planets and the sun are also tugging it towards them.

Keep ReadingShow less
twin peaks, tv quotes, therapy, special agent dale cooper, kyle maclachlan

What do therapists think of this famous bit of life advice from 'Twin Peaks'?

YouTube screenshot via mismattia ('Twin Peaks') / Photo credit: Canva, Koenlon's Images (text box)

These 'Twin Peaks' words of everyday wisdom feel profound. But what do therapists think?

One of the wisest philosophers in TV history is Dale Cooper: a sharp-jawed and somewhat mysterious FBI special agent with a fondness for "damn fine" coffee, a deeply cosmic interest in Tibet, and the uncanny ability to solve mysteries by throwing stones at bottles.

When Twin Peaks premiered back in 1990, there were many reasons to grow obsessed with this surreal, soapy murder-mystery—was any other show taking you into dream worlds filled with noir-jazz and reversed dialogue and eerie red curtains? But you probably kept coming back because Kyle MacLachlan, amid all the strangeness, imbued Agent Cooper with a rich humanity. You didn’t always understand him, but you still felt like he could teach you something.

Keep ReadingShow less
psychology, powerful tools, music, emotional behavior, scientists, brainwave activity, mood, mental fatiguemental fatigue

Listening to good music on the street.

Photo credit Canva (LumineImages)

Feeling burnt out? Scientists discovered the type of music recharges and repairs your mind.

Music has long been appreciated as a powerful tool capable of strongly influencing emotional behavior. Scientists have recently discovered that listening to specific types of music shows measurable changes in brainwave activity. This provides evidence of a biological mechanism by which music can restore a mentally fatigued mind.

The restorative power of music on mental fatigue

A 2025 study on the effects of music on mental fatigue was published in Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback. The study placed 30 university students into two groups—the control group and the music group—and found that those in the music group reported a substantially greater reduction in fatigue than those tested in silence.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ireland, basic income, artist income, universal basic income, culture

Ireland paying artists without any strings paid off with return on investment.

via Canva/Photos

Ireland paid artists a basic income and it was a boost for the economy. Here's what they earn.

Since mankind took form, humans have been making art —from cave wall paintings to today's computer-generated animation. Art has been made to serve the public for commercial purposes and for the illumination of the people. With that in mind, the question is whether the government should pay people to make it.

For the past three years, Ireland has invested in 2,000 artists, paying them around $1,500 per month in basic income. Some may argue that it would be a waste of taxpayer money. However, after the three-year trial ended, the endeavor was a net positive for the Irish economy, so the government made the program permanent.

Keep ReadingShow less
Lauren Chan, Sports Illustrated, SI Swimsuit, body positivity, body diversity, plus-size model, LGBTQ+, lesbian, authenticity, Vogue, Henning

Model Lauren Chan's 2025 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue cover, photographed by Ben Watts

Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated, https://swimsuit.si.com/swimsuit/model/lauren-chan-2025-si-swimsuit-photos

SI's first out lesbian swimsuit cover model shares the powerful photos that didn't the magazine

Lauren Chan made history this past April when she became the first out lesbian to cover Sports Illustrated's famed swimsuit issue.

Chan has been a plus-size model for over a decade, and in that time has been a vocal advocate of body diversity and size inclusivity in the fashion world.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2025