Podcast Episodes

Strike First, Explain Never

Episode 153

So far, the U.S. has blown up 14 boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, killing at least 57 people. In the two months since the strikes began, the administration has consistently offered the same ex…

Published on 10 hours ago

18 Minutes From Nuclear Annihilation

Episode 152

In Kathryn Bigelow’s new movie, A House of Dynamite, the clock is ticking. The film’s fictional president of the United States has less than 20 minutes and very little information to decide whether o…

Published on 1 week ago

If the Voting Rights Act Falls

Episode 151

This week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments about the last remaining section of the Voting Rights Act, a civil rights law designed to ensure that states could not get in the way of nonwhite cit…

Published on 2 weeks ago

Saudi Arabia Gets the Last Laugh

Episode 150

The Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia concludes this week, but the outrage (from comedians who didn’t go) and self-justification (from comedians who did) continues. The festival is one small pie…

Published on 3 weeks ago

Weaponizing the Justice Department

Episode 149

President Donald Trump is using the Department of Justice to try to punish his political enemies. How much can the president bend the DOJ, an institution built on norms and ethics, to his will before…

Published on 4 weeks ago

An American Education | 2. Testing Teachers for 'Wokeness'

Episode 148

Hanna Rosin sits down with Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters to ask him about a purity test for teachers and a nearly scandalous incident that happened days before the interview. And two Okl…

Published on 1 month ago

Live from The Atlantic Festival: ‘2026 Is the Battlefield’

A live conversation about authoritarian forces in America with Anne Applebaum, an Atlantic staff writer, and Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion and a lifelong democracy activist.

Speakin…

Published on 1 month, 1 week ago

David Letterman on the Threats to Late-Night Hosts

Yesterday, Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show was suspended indefinitely. It’s a shocking moment for free speech, given the order in which events unfolded. Earlier that day, FCC Chair Brendan Carr had su…

Published on 1 month, 1 week ago

An American Education | 1. Is Oklahoma Breaking Public Schools?

Episode 147

American public education is changing. And, in many ways, Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters is at the center of it, trying to push for Bibles in schools, new curriculum standards that includ…

Published on 1 month, 1 week ago

Rupert Murdoch Gets His Succession Finale

Episode 146

He was, after all, the eldest boy. The family drama that inspired HBO’s Succession ended this week with a settlement that ensures Rupert Murdoch’s conservative media conglomerate will pass to his old…

Published on 1 month, 2 weeks ago