Daily Kos' The Brief

President Joe Biden successfully goaded Donald Trump into an early June debate, with Trump even acquiescing to most of the Biden team's terms. Markos and Kerry break down what to expect from Biden and from Trump.This episode was recorded on May 28, 2024.

Kerry speaks with Matt Hildreth, the executive director of Rural Organizing and treasurer of the RuralVote.org super PAC. He explains what Democrats can—and must—do to change the political conversation in rural communities.This episode was recorded on June 7, 2024.

Hopium Chronicles' Simon Rosenberg joins Markos to discuss the “red wave-ification” of the economy and how prepared Democrats are for November. There is still work to do but we have a better candidate—and we have the edge.

Donald Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records on May 30. What are potential voters saying about this historic news? And what is the Biden-Harris campaign doing now that the “teflon Don" is no more?

Every day brings a new prognostication that is making President Joe Biden's campaign operatives worry or freak out. Is Donald Trump running away with the election? No. Not even close.

Like many Republicans, Donald Trump has tried to sidestep the issue of abortion and reproductive rights. But he stumbled during an interview with a CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh this week, promising an “interesting” new policy that would let states restrict contraception.

Ian Bassin is the former associate White House counsel and co-founder and executive director of Protect Democracy. Protect Democracy is a nonprofit, nonpartisan group focused on anti-authoritarianism, how to protect our democracy, and safeguarding our free and fair elections.

Navigator collects, analyzes, and distributes real data on progressive messaging. The Hub Project's Bryan Bennett and Gabriela Parra talk with Kerry about what they are seeing in their research this election cycle, and which messaging can help progressive candidates win elections in 2024—and beyond.

When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. entered the 2024 presidential race as an independent, many feared (and the MAGA faithful cheered) that he would siphon off important swing-state Democrats and independents from President Biden. That doesn't seem to be so true anymore. In fact, the opposite may be true—and Donald Trump is hopping mad about it.

Zachary Mueller is the senior research director for America's Voice and America's Voice Education Fund. He brings his expertise on immigration politics to talk about how much money the GOP is using to promote its racist immigration campaigns.

Trump's lose-lose situation on abortion somehow got worse this week after he released a video attempting to spin a position on the polarizing issue. What does this mean? Bad news for the Republican Party, already in disarray.

Kerry and Markos talk about Florida, its strict abortion ban, and Democratic challengers' chances in the Sunshine State.

President Joe Biden's approval ratings have been improving since his fiery State of the Union speech—as we predicted. At the same time, the Republican Party cannot stop the infighting, even as Donald Trump's takeover seems to be complete. Markos and Kerry get into Biden's improving fundamentals as the race to save America heats up.

The President and CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Patrick Gaspard, joins us to give his thoughts on what the Republican Party's actual message is.

The Bulwark's Sarah Longwell joins Kerry to discuss the State of the Union and what President Biden needs to do to soundly defeat Donald Trump in November.

We are joined by our friend Christina Reynolds, who is senior VP of communications and content at EMILY's List. Christina talks with Kerry and Markos about how small a box the Republican Party is locked into on reproductive rights.

Simon Rosenberg from the Hopium Chronicles Substack is back to talk about the facts of the 2024 election cycle. The facts are: Things look bad for Donald Trump—and even worse for the Republican Party.

Democratic voters know Joe Biden is old and MAGA voters like to pretend that Trump isn't just as long in the tooth. Both men were old the last time we did this and the only thing that's changed is Biden is now a successful incumbent, while Trump is busy juggling trials and indictments.

Republicans demanded border security, worked on a compromise deal with Democrats, and now want to blow the whole thing up. Biden is promising to remind Americans every day that the Republican Party is at fault for the lack of solutions to the problems they claim are most important.

It is primary season, and Donald Trump seems pretty low energy these days. Kerry and Markos talk about the chances of Trump stumbling through the election season and the need to press our advantage and make gains in the House and Senate. Meanwhile, the right-wing media world is losing its collective minds about Taylor Swift registering younger Americans to vote!

Tim Miller from “The Next Level” podcast comes on to discuss Iowa, New Hampshire, and the cracks they expose in Donald Trump's MAGA movement.

The Iowa primary took place Monday, and while traditional media outlets would like you to believe Trump won big the reality was anything but. Kerry and Markos talk about what the numbers really show and the possible ramifications for the rest of the primary season as well as the national election.

Trump is going to win Iowa, but what does that mean for Haley and DeSantis—and for whomever else is still (barely) in the running? Kerry and Markos talk about what to expect and what weird and wild stuff could happen this coming Monday.

It's our last episode of the year and we wanted to talk about what we are thankful for. It turns out that Republican disarray and ineptitude topped our list. Join us to count the ways!

Jennifer Fernandez Ancona from Way to Win joins "The Brief" to talk about how bad Republican messaging has been and what Democrats need to say in 2024 to win.

Markos and Kerry give their thoughts on what the country is facing in 2024. The Republican Party is running on losing issues like abortion and repealing the ACA—with no explanation of what they plan on replacing it with. Trump has a lot of criming to atone for, and the Republican platform remains set on destroying democracy.

Republicans are challenging labor leaders to fights and allegedly physically assaulting one another. Donald Trump says he will abolish reproductive rights entirely and is openly calling for the extermination of his detractors, referring to them as “vermin” on Veterans Day. The Republican Party has emerged from its corruption cocoon as a full-blown fascist movement.

The band is back together, and it is a glorious day as Markos and Kerry's hot takes over the past year came true—again! Republicans continue to lose at the ballot box and we are here for it!

Today, Markos talks with Daily Kos writer Joan McCarter about the Republican Party's last three weeks of disarray. There is a new House speaker and what that means going forward remains a mystery.

Kerry talks with Drew Linzer, director of the online polling company Civiqs. Drew tells us what the polls say about voters' feelings toward President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and what the results would be if the two men were to, say … run against each other for president in 2024. Oh yeah, Drew polled to find out who thinks Donald Trump is guilty of the crimes he's been indicted for, and whether or not he should see the inside of a jail cell.

Kerry and Markos talk about what is happening in Ukraine, what needs to be done, and why the fate of Ukraine is tied to democracy's fate in 2024.

Trump's continuing legal problems, the car crash of a Republican debate, and the polling numbers defy the traditional media's narrative that the Republican Party is even above water with voters.

We talk about the upcoming Republican presidential debate and how sad a situation it is. The Republican Party shot itself in the foot with a Trump-sized bullet, and now it's stuck with him for the foreseeable future. We try to game out the possible paths the Republicans might take to rid themselves of The Donald.

Did anything happen while we were all taking a well-deserved break? Something about Donald Trump being indicted not once, but two times! Also in the news: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' campaign collapse. So much is happening!

Conservatives cried about how the “woke” (whatever that means) “Barbie” movie would fail. It didn't. In fact, the film has struck a chord with American and international audiences. Daily Kos writer Laura Clawson joins Markos to talk about the film and the implications of the Republican Party's fixation on mythical culture wars, which is failing them in bigger and bigger ways every day.

Today we have Rural Organizing's Aftyn Behn. Markos and Aftyn talk about what has been happening in rural communities across the country and progressives' efforts to engage those voters. Behn also gives the podcast a breakdown of which issues will make the difference in the coming elections.Since our interview, Behn has recently announced her candidacy for the Tennessee House of Representatives in Nashville's District 51.Interview originally aired May 31, 2023.

Simon Rosenberg comes back to talk with us about how all of the Republican Party's attempts to malign President Biden have failed. This episode was recorded a couple weeks before airing.

Malcolm Nance is a former United States Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer specializing in naval cryptology. He breaks down the nature of the classified materials rescued from Trump's private residence. This interview was recorded on June 22, 2023.

Jennifer Fernandez Ancona from Way to Win joins Markos and Kerry to talk about the new messaging the Democratic Party's national candidates are employing going into 2024. Ancona was right about the messaging needed to win the midterms, and we think she's right about 2024.Interview originally aired May 17, 2023.

Today Kerry is joined by Tim Miller. Miller is a political consultant and writer. A former Republican, Miller left the party after years of disappointment. His book "Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell" is an introspective look at his personal journey through (and out) of the conservative movement.

We are joined by Christina Reynolds of Emily's List. Reynolds is the Senior Vice President of Communications and Content at the progressive organization that works on getting women elected to office. Reynolds talks about what she is seeing up and down the ballot this election cycle on the anniversary of the outrageous Supreme Court Decision to take away the reproductive protections of Roe v. Wade.

Donald Trump is facing even more legal jeopardy and the sharks in the Republican Party seem to sense there is some blood in the water. Chris Christie has made his campaign all about going directly at Trump, and Ron DeSantis seems to be closer and closer to becoming completely isolated from the field.

Today we talk about the field of Republicans willing to go up against the MAGA monster that is Trump. It's a veritable who cares of the Republican Party, but it is also indicative of the rot inside of the conservative world.

Today we have Rural Organizing's Aftyn Behn. Markos and Aftyn talk about what has been happening in rural communities across the country and progressives' efforts to engage those voters. Behn also gives the podcast a breakdown of which issues will make the difference in the coming elections.

We speak with Anderson Clayton, the 25-year-old chair of North Carolina's Democratic Party. Clayton has a big-picture plan for 2024, and explains the granular changes needed to get out the vote on college campuses and in the rural communities of the Tar Heel State.

Jennifer Fernandez Ancona from Way to Win joins Markos and Kerry to talk about the new messaging the Democratic Party's national candidates are employing going into 2024. Ancona was right about the messaging needed to win the midterms, and we think she's right about 2024.

Today, Kerry is joined by Drew Linzer, the director and co-founder of the well-regarded polling company Civiqs. Drew and Kerry do a deep dive into the polling around abortion and reproductive rights and the big problems conservative candidates face in the coming elections.

Dimitri of WarTranslated has been doing the essential work of translating hours of Russian and Ukrainian video and audio during the invasion of Ukraine. He joins Markos and Kerry from London to talk about how he began this work by sifting through various sources. He is one of the only people translating information for English-speaking audiences. Dimitri's followed the war since the beginning and has watched the evolution of the language and dispatches as the war has progressed.

The past week seems to have packed in a month's worth of news. Markos and Kerry tackle it all, from Joe Biden's big announcement to Tucker Carlson's early retirement from Fox News.

Markos and Kerry are joined by Aaron Rupar today to discuss what he is seeing in the right-wing media landscape. Rupar is an independent journalist whose Public Notice Substack is a must-read for those who want to know how truly outrageous the conservative movement is. We are addicted to his Twitter account, with its never-ending stream of Republican lunacy all captured on video.

On today's episode, Markos and Kerry are joined by a friend of the podcast, Democratic political strategist Simon Rosenberg. Rosenberg was one of the few outsiders who, like Daily Kos, kept telling the world that nothing supported the idea of a red wave. Simon and the crew break down his strategy for Democratic candidates to achieve a 55% popular vote in all elections—a number that a few years ago would have seemed unattainable, but now feels within reach.