Podcast Episodes

This Conversation About the 'Reading Mind' Is a Gift

Every day, we consume a mind-boggling amount of information. We scan online news articles, sift through text messages and emails, scroll through our …

3 years, 5 months ago

Bill McKibben on the Power That Could Save the Planet

The fight against climate change is at a crossroads.

This past year, the climate movement in the United States achieved significant success. The recen…

3 years, 6 months ago

I Don’t Quite Buy the DeSantis Narrative, and Other Midterm Thoughts

The results of Tuesday’s midterm elections are still trickling in, but the broader story is clear: The red wave that many anticipated never materiali…

3 years, 6 months ago

George Saunders on the ‘Braindead Megaphone’ That Makes Our Politics So Awful

George Saunders is regarded as one of our greatest living fiction writers. He won the Booker Prize in 2017 for his novel “Lincoln in the Bardo” and h…

3 years, 6 months ago

Inflation Does More Than Raise Prices. It Destroys Governments.

“One can usually pretend that there is a logic to the distribution of wealth — that behind a person’s prosperity lies some rational basis, whether it…

3 years, 6 months ago

A Powerful Theory of Why the Far Right Is Thriving Across the Globe

As we approach the 2022 midterms, the outlook for American democracy doesn’t appear promising. An increasingly Trumpist, anti-democratic Republican P…

3 years, 6 months ago

These Political Scientists Surveyed 500,000 Voters. Here Are Their Unnerving Conclusions.

How does the popularity of a president’s policies impact his or her party’s electoral chances? Why have Latinos — and other voters of color — swung t…

3 years, 6 months ago

A Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming a Trump Enabler

​​“What would you do for your relevance?” the political journalist Mark Leibovich asks in his new book, “Thank You for Your Servitude: Donald Trump’s…

3 years, 6 months ago

There’s Been a ‘Regime Change’ in How Democrats Think About Elections

According to the conventional rules of politics, Democrats should be on track for electoral disaster this November. Joe Biden’s approval rating is st…

3 years, 6 months ago

A Legendary World-Builder on Multiverses, Revolution and the ‘Souls’ of Cities

N.K. Jemisin is a fantasy and science-fiction writer who won three consecutive Hugo Awards — considered the highest honor in science-fiction writing …

3 years, 6 months ago