Heath Pearce and Mark McKenzie welcome Rand Getlin, executive producer and director of the five-part HBO Max docuseries "US Against the World," which follows the U.S. Men's National Team from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar through the road to the 2026 World Cup on home soil. Rand breaks down how a chance meeting with Tyler Adams in 2019 sparked a four-year filmmaking journey, how the production earned unprecedented locker room access, and why one camera operator (Luke Korver) shot nearly 90% of the footage across 300 production days and 600 hours of material.

Before the interview, Mark tells one of the wildest travel stories in podcast history -- ultras storming the pitch during Toulouse's final match at relegated Nantes, the team plane never showing up from Italy, backup flights getting canceled, and a five-and-a-half-hour Tesla taxi ride with four charging stops just to make a morning flight to Philadelphia with his wife and seven-month-old son.

The conversation goes deep on the vulnerability captured in the series, from Tyler Adams opening up about family struggles to Tim Weah's Copa America red card against Panama and how the filmmakers made sure those difficult moments were properly contextualized. Rand discusses Greg Berhalter's openness and work ethic, the unique structure of having both the Players Association and U.S. Soccer as partners, and why the team had full creative autonomy with zero editorial control from the federation. Mark shares what it was like navigating the emotional swings of being in and out of the starting lineup while cameras rolled, and how he channeled that energy into being a connector across the locker room -- from speaking Dutch with Sergino Dest to mentoring younger players like Malik Tillman.

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