Episodes

  • We Have Lift-Off

    We Have Lift-Off
    Jul 26 2024
    Nick Grossman joins the group to discuss Biden's exit and Harris's rise, her strengths and weaknesses, VP possibilities, GOP blues, and Bibi's speech and protests.

    Highlights / Lowlights

    Nicholas's highlight: Biden's address to the nation.

    Nicholas's lowlight: Netanyahu's address to Congress.

    Mona's highlight: The Olympics You Remember Are Back

    Damon's highlight: The collective meltdown of right wing influencers who invented the "is Biden Dead?" conspiracy.

    Bill's highlight: Harris steps out on Israel as she navigates Biden and Netanyahu (Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN)

    Linda's highlight: Fireside Chat with Condoleezza Rice and Robert M. Gates
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    1 hr and 11 mins
  • The Clock is Ticking

    The Clock is Ticking
    Jul 18 2024
    The New Yorker's Susan Glasser joins the group (with Andrew Egger) to discuss the aftermath of the assassination attempt, JD Vance, and Biden digging in his heels.

    Highlights / Lowlights

    Mona: The Gunman and the Would-Be Dictator by David Frum in The Atlantic.

    Damon: Sohrab Ahmari's reaction to Trump's reaction to getting shot at.
    Ross Douthat's NYT column on Trump and Destiny.

    Andrew: President Biden messed up a key policy detail in Las Vegas speech.

    Linda: Are We Living in ‘Late Soviet America’? Niall Ferguson and Jonah Goldberg Debate.
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • An Open Convention Could be Great for Democracy

    An Open Convention Could be Great for Democracy
    Jul 12 2024
    A.B. Stoddard joins to discuss Biden's intransigence, the Democratic party's next moves, the pros and cons of anointing Harris, and more.

    Highlights / Lowlights

    A.B.:     Trump is Planning for a Landslide Win by Tim Alberta in The Atlantic
    and her 2022 item: Why (and How) Biden Should Decline to Run Again

    Mona: What Lessons Do the Stunning Results of the French Election Offer? (New Yorker)

    Bill: Amid Doubts About Biden’s Mental Sharpness, Trump Leads Presidential Race (Pew)

    Damon: Time to Go, Joe, by Marc Leibovich in The Atlantic

    Linda: A Better Approach to Race in Medicine by Amy F.S. Lutz in Persuasion
    For What It's Worth by Linda Chavez
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    1 hr and 15 mins
  • Courting Disaster

    Courting Disaster
    Jul 4 2024
    Former Rep Adam Kinzinger joins the group (plus Chris Cillizza) to discuss the Court's worst ruling since Korematsu, opening the door to God know what if Trump wins. Also, what would an open convention look like?

    Highlights / Lowlights:

    Mona: Are We in ‘Soviet America’? Not Even Close. By Cathy Young, The Bulwark

    Linda: Her trip to Israel, where she was recording.

    Adam: Cara Mund, a sincere Never Trump candidate who ran (and lost, but got 19%!) in North Dakota. Adam joined her on her radio show to discuss the state of the Republican Party

    Chris: Gabe Fleisher's Wake up to Politics. Gabe has been writing about politics since he was a child and is a politics prodigy. (Substack here)

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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • The Most Consequential Failure of Recent Times

    The Most Consequential Failure of Recent Times
    Jun 29 2024
    The Atlantic's David Frum joins to discuss the debate debacle and what comes next? Can Biden be persuaded to drop out? Also, a look at two Supreme Court cases.

    Highlights / Lowlights

    David: Slain Gazan named as Doctors Without Borders staffer was Islamic Jihad rocket maker (Times of Israel)

    Mona: Gaza Chief’s Brutal Calculation: Civilian Bloodshed Will Help Hamas (WSJ)

    Linda: 4.1 million migrants: Where they’re from, where they live in the U.S. (WaPo)

    Bill: France is facing an election like no other. Here’s how it works and what comes next. (AP)

    Damon: Same-Sex Relations, Marriage Still Supported by Most in U.S. (Gallup)
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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • Attack of the Phones

    Attack of the Phones
    Jun 21 2024
    Will Saletan guest hosts as Tom Edsall joins the panel to discuss rising political polarization, Biden’s latest moves on immigration, and the crackdown on social media and kids using smartphones.

    Highlights / Lowlights

    Tom: The book 'Wolves of K Street' by Brody and Luke Mullins and a story from
    his weekly poker game.

    Linda: Experts Handicap the Trump-Biden Debate (Karl Rove, WSJ)

    Damon: No, I Don't Want to Protest (Pamela Paul, NYT)
    Why Activists Keep Failing the Causes That Fire Them Up (Sarah Isgur, NYT)

    Bill: The Return of Peace Through Strength by Robert C. O'Brien (Foreign Affairs)
    Biden and Trump tied in the Emerson Poll in... Minnesota.

    Will: Louisiana Requires All Public Classrooms to Display Ten Commandments (NYT)
    Bibi's shameful Biden attack video
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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • The 'Absurdly Normal' President

    The 'Absurdly Normal' President
    Jun 14 2024
    Tom Nichols joins the panel to discuss the rise of the right in Europe (and here), the Hunter Biden verdict, and the Israel hostage rescue.

    Mona: The Big Lie's Bad, Very Bad Week by Charlie Sykes.

    Linda: No, You Don’t Have the Power to Stop Climate Change by Quico Toro (Persuasion)

    Bill: American journalist Evan Gershkovich to stand trial on espionage charges in Russia (NPR)

    Damon: John Ganz's new book "When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s"

    Tom: John Bolton going through exhaustive detail about Trump's manifest unfitness and then saying he won't vote for Biden on MSNBC.

    Tom's referenced item "The Jimmy Clean Hands Election" at The Atlantic.
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    1 hr and 18 mins
  • The 'Rally Round the Criminal' Effect

    The 'Rally Round the Criminal' Effect
    Jun 7 2024
    Sasha Havlicek and Philip Bump join the panel to discuss online disinformation, the GOP reaction to Trump guilty verdict, and the Fauci follies in Congress.

    highlights / lowlights

    Sasha-     The 80th Anniversary of D-Day at Normandy American Cemetery.

    Damon-     The Tower and the Sewer by Mark Lilla (NYR)

    Linda-     This Catholic leader shelters migrants. Texas says he runs ‘stash houses.’ (WaPo)

    Philip-     Two years later, Dinesh D'Souza's obvious misinformation is finally taken down

    Mona-     World War II Veterans meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky at Normandy and "The Biggest War on the Small Screen" by Benjamin Parker (Bulwark)
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    1 hr and 16 mins