U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe to host HBO talk show

July 28 (UPI) — Women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe will host Seeing America With Megan Rapinoe Saturday on HBO, where she will talk with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., among others about cultural challenges in the United States.

“It is an honor to host a show with a critical conversation between some of America’s most innovative thought leaders,” Rapinoe said. “I am so thankful to HBO for providing such a powerful platform for this important dialogue.”

Netflix’s Patriot Act host Hasan Minhaj and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones will join Rapinoe and Ocasio-Cortez in the conversation at 10 p.m. EDT Saturday.

HBO said Rapinoe and her guests will aim to “help shape the ongoing cultural conversation that has been taking place during this significant time in our country’s history.”

Ocasio-Cortez she took the House floor Thursday and delivered a strong response to Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., after he allegedly confronted her in an aggressive fashion last week outside the Capitol. She criticized “violence and violent language against women” in her speech.

A reporter from The Hill online news site said he overheard Yoho directing obscenities at Ocasio-Cortez during the incident.

Yoho said Thursday he did not accost, bully or attack Ocasio-Cortez, but apologized for the “abrupt manner of the conversation.”

Minhaj has hosted Patriot Act since 2018, a Netflix show that analyzes recent global news, politics and cultural events. Hannah-Jones covers racial injustice for The New York Times Magazine.

“We have an opportunity to reimagine society and ourselves,” Rapinoe wrote Monday on social media.

Rapinoe, 35, has been an outspoken activist throughout her soccer career. She has voiced support for Colin Kaepernick and also has knelt to protest police brutality and racial inequality during the national anthem before her soccer games.

She also has been involved as an activist for the LGBTQ community in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people and people or groups identifying themselves as queer or questioning.

The Golden Boot and Golden Ball winner at the 2019 Women’s World Cup also won the 2019 Ballon d’Or Feminin — the top honor for an individual women’s player.

“We are grateful Megan Rapinoe would choose HBO as home for this conversation and look forward to more opportunities with her to continue this dialogue,” HBO Sports executive vice president Peter Nelson said.