Hell & High Water with John Heilemann

John is joined by combative California union boss Dave Regan to discuss Proposition 40, his state's controversial ballot measure to levy a one-time, 5 percent wealth tax on its resident billionaires. Regan, Prop 40's principal architect and advocate, explains its economic benefits, political challenges, and prospects for passage. He also disses the initiative's opponents—from Silicon Valley billionaires such as Sergey Brin to Governor Gavin Newsom and his likely successor, Xavier Becerra—arguing that “they think the rest of us are stupid.”

John is joined by two first-time Democratic office-seekers — Adam Hamilton, the party's Senate candidate in Kansas, and Denise Powell, its House candidate in NE-02 — to discuss their upstart campaigns. Hamilton, a Methodist minister who runs his state's largest mega-church, debunks charges from the right that he's “too woke for Kansas,” and explains why GOP incumbent Roger Marshall resembles the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion from “The Wizard of Oz” all rolled into one. Powell, a self-styled “pissed-off baseball mom,” describes the fury of Omaha voters at Trump's mockery of "affordability" and her plan to win one of only a handful of congressional districts that voted for Kamala Harris and a Republican House member in 2024.

John is joined by Democracy Forward CEO Skye Perryman to discuss Donald Trump, Todd Blanche, and the threats they pose to America's elections and the rule of law. Perryman explains why, for all Trump's talk about federalizing or even canceling the midterms, he has no legal authority to do anything of the kind; why Blanche is such a dangerous deviation from past Attorneys General; and the lasting damage being done to the Justice Department by Trump 2.0. She also talks about her new book, “Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times: How to Reclaim Your Power, Fight for Freedom, and Reimagine Democracy,” which lays out practical steps citizens can take to beat back the authoritarian tide.

In the second installment of a two-part episode with best-selling author Kurt Andersen, John and Kurt continue their discussion of Andersen's new novel, “The Breakup." Kurt assesses how the book—set in 2045, following a second American Civil War—fits into his formidable body of work, from acclaimed novels such as “Heyday” and non-fiction hits including “Fantasyland” to the editorial voice he helped fashioned at Spy magazine and the satirical sci-fi web video series he created with Steven Soderbergh. Kurt also explains the challenges AI poses to writing about the future, and how "The Breakup" handles the (fictional) death of the president he famously co-christened a “short-fingered vulgarian."

John welcomes bestselling author, Spy magazine co-founder, and Peabody Award-winning radio host Kurt Andersen for the first installment of a two-part episode focused on his extraordinary new novel, “The Breakup.” After laying out the premise of his first work of speculative fiction—in 2045, two Americans edge towards ending their marriage just as their country, in the wake of a second Civil War, prepares to end its own, much longer union—Andersen discusses how such a national divorce could come to pass, what America might look like in its aftermath, and whether that outcome would actually be so terrible, after all.Bayer is empowering American farms with the smart tools and accurate data needed to confidently advance regenerative agriculture, improving soil health for a sustainable future.

John welcomes New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez to discuss his landmark litigation against Meta and his new crusade against the Justice Department over the Epstein files. Torrez explains his recently filed lawsuit against Todd Blanche and the DOJ for obstructing his investigation of sex trafficking at Epstein's Santa Fe outpost, Zorro Ranch; his office's role in drafting a new piece of federal legislation, the Epstein Files Transparency II, introduced last week; and his courtroom victory over Mark Zuckerberg's company, which yielded a nearly $1 billion judgment and may serve as a blueprint for similar cases across the country aimed at holding tech firms liable for harms from their platforms.

John welcomes David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, to discuss his recent viral podcast interview with DSA co-chair Megan Romer and his latest magnum opus on Israel. Remnick confesses to being "startled" by Romer's glaring “lack of fluency” with DSA's official positions. (He also confesses to having worn a Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee button in college.) And he offers a vivid account of his fifth reporting trip to Israel since October 7, 2023; a portrait of Bibi Netanyahu's main opponent, Gadi Eisenkot, in the forthcoming Israeli election; and an analysis of the campaign's stakes for the Jewish state and the Palestinians.Bayer is empowering American farms with the smart tools and accurate data needed to confidently advance regenerative agriculture, improving soil health for a sustainable future.

John welcomes author Jim Windolf to discuss his new book, “Where the Music Had to Go: How Bob Dylan and The Beatles Changed Each Other—and the World.” Windolf details the revelations and insights unearthed during the five years he spent researching and writing the first full-scale dual biography of two musical acts whose artistic and cultural impact is unparalleled in pop music history—and the surprising degree to which they motivated, inspired, and transformed each other in the process.Bayer is empowering American farms with the smart tools and accurate data needed to confidently advance regenerative agriculture, improving soil health for a sustainable future.

John welcomes back former Wisconsin Democratic Party chairman Ben Wikler to discuss this week's headline-making Senate primary in Michigan, next week's gubernatorial primary in Wikler's home state, and his new book, “This Is The Plan: How to End America's Meltdown and Save Democracy.” Wikler examines Abdul El-Sayed's narrower-than-expected win over Haley Stevens; the startling rise of 37-year-old state representative and Democratic Socialists of America stalwart Francesca Hong to frontrunner status in the Badger State's governor's race; and just how freaked out mainstream Democrats should feel about their party's ongoing wet, hot, DSA summer.Bayer is empowering American farms with the smart tools and accurate data needed to confidently advance regenerative agriculture, improving soil health for a sustainable future.

John welcomes Rolling Stone writer Jonathan Bernstein to discuss the life, music, and legacy of Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard, who died tragically last week in a motorcycle crash at 56. Bernstein, who published a moving tribute to Hansard in the wake of his death, traces Glen's rise from Dublin busker to Oscar-winning star of the movie “Once” — and wrestles with why the death of this particular artist unleashed an unexpectedly large and intense outpouring of grief and appreciation across generations and around the world. Bayer is empowering American farms with the smart tools and accurate data needed to confidently advance regenerative agriculture, improving soil health for a sustainable future.

John welcomes back Democratic strategist Lis Smith to discuss the intra-party factional civil war playing out in the Michigan Senate primary. Best known as the communications guru who helped turn Pete Buttigieg into a national figure, Smith served as a key adviser in the primary to state senator Mallory McMorrow, who left the race a month ago, giving Lis a prime, up-close perspective on the two remaining candidates—former public health official Abdul El-Sayed and congresswoman Haley Stevens—and why their heated, bitter, lavishly funded fight has turned into a microcosm of the burgeoning ideological battle among Democrats from coast to coast.

There's a lot of dopey financial advice out there. Jill Schlesinger is here to call it out, answer your questions, break down the financial news that actually matters, and help you manage your money without losing your mind. No jargon. No judgment. Just clear, actionable financial guidance about saving, investing, buying a home, managing your career, and deciding how to spend your hard-earned dollars. When it's time to panic, Jill will tell you. When everyone else is panicking and you shouldn't be, Jill will tell you that too. Your money. Your move. Let's go.

John welcomes New York York Times White House reporter Jonathan Swan to discuss his runaway No. 1 bestseller, “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump,” co-authored with Maggie Haberman, and how the reporting in the book illuminates Trump's inability to bring a tidy end to the war in Iran, fixation on election-related conspiracy theories, and pronounced disinterest in the economic struggles of ordinary voters. Swan also reveals the strategy behind his Emmy-winning TV interview with Trump in 2020—and how a fringe Australian politician with a yen for kangaroo feces fueled his meteoric rise in journalism.

John welcomes Senate savant and Searchlight Institute president Adam Jentleson to discuss the Democrats' fraught path to retaking control of the upper chamber. A former speechwriter for John Kerry and John Edwards, comms director for Harry Reid, and chief of staff to John Fetterman, Jentleson explains Searchlight's mission of breaking the hold of entrenched interest groups on his party; that rejecting litmus tests and embracing ideological heterodoxy are key to building a stable Democratic governing majority; his confidence that, despite Graham Platner's implosion, Susan Collins is going down in Maine; his worries that the blue team will fumble the ball in Michigan; and why “nobody is doing it better now” than Zohran Mamdani.

John welcomes back the John and Yoko (Ike and Tina? Sonny and Cher?) of Beltway journalistic power couples, the New York Times's Peter Baker and The New Yorker's Susan Glasser, to try to make sense of a presidency that increasingly appears to be politically nonsensical. Against the backdrop of Trump's recent actions at home and abroad, Peter and Susan ponder a theory that no one quite believes but for which the evidence—from his mercurial conduct of the war in Iran to his doubling down on ICE's deadly tactics, obsessive focus on election-related conspiracy theories, and more—is at least superficially compelling: that the president is engaged in a concerted campaign to sabotage the Republican Party.

John welcomes former Senate Judiciary Committee senior staffer and deputy assistant attorney general Jeff Blattner to discuss the confirmation hearings of Todd Blanche and Jay Clayton to be America's next attorney general and director of national intelligence, respectively. Blattner also explains how his friend and former Justice Department colleague Phil Weiser unexpectedly defeated Senator Michael Bennett in the recent Democratic gubernatorial primary in Blattner's home state of Colorado—and what his mentor and former boss, Ted Kennedy, would have to say about Donald Trump's America.

John welcomes back two blue-chip friends of the pod—Alex Wagner, host of Crooked Media's “Runaway Country” and MS Now senior political analyst, and New York magazine columnist, MLB.com national correspondent, and Deadspin founder Will Leitch—to discuss, respectively, the spectacular self-immolation of Graham Platner's Senate campaign in Maine and Donald Trump's unwelcome intrusion into an otherwise wondrous World Cup.

John welcomes back New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman to discuss her runaway No. 1 bestseller, “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump,” co-authored with Jonathan Swan; why the story of second-term Trump is less about how he's changed than how he's the same as ever, only more so; the degree to which retribution and self-enrichment are animating impulses of Trump 2.0; and the challenges of getting to the truth about a president for whom deceit and delusion are default settings.

John welcomes longtime Democratic strategist Tad Devine to discuss his new book “How the Democrats Screwed Bernie” and the long shadow cast by the 2016 primary between Sanders and Hillary Clinton. Devine, who served as Bernie's chief strategist in that race, argues that his party has failed to learn its lessons, why it must, and how that failure helps explain the recent primary wins of democratic socialist insurgents against establishment Democrats.

John welcomes Avett Brothers bassist Bob Crawford to discuss his new book, “America's Founding Son: John Quincy Adams, From President to Political Maverick.” Crawford explains how JQA, after a mediocre single term in the Oval Office, blossomed into America's “most extraordinary ex-president” and arguably its greatest all-around public servant; the evolution of his popular history podcast The Road to Now; and the genesis of the recent, seemingly unlikely collab between The Avett Brothers and Faith No More frontman Mike Patton.

John welcomes Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen to discuss the increasingly deep fault line among Democrats over U.S. policy towards Israel. Van Hollen, who published a recent New York Times op-ed about why his party must abandon its “reflexive and unconditional” support for Israel, argues that Joe Biden's handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was a stain on his foreign policy record; that Democratic presidential contenders who voted to fund Bibi Netanyahu's war on Gaza will pay a steep political price; and that Democratic foreign policy hands who “refuse to acknowledge their complicity” in what he sees as a genocidal campaign should have no role in future Democratic administrations. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes Guy Cecil, former chairman of Priorities USA Action and executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, to discuss his party's prospects for taking control of the US Senate -- and the national implications of Zohran Mamdani's endorsement trifecta in the New York Democratic primary. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes Princeton professor Eddie Glaude, Jr. to discuss his new book, "America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries.” Glaude lays out the historical pattern of evasion and erasure that the impending MAGA-soaked Semiquincentennial celebration fits into; the meaning of the book's incendiary opening sentence (”I do not love America, and never have, especially now”); and Juneteenth's place on the commemorative calendar. On the heels of the Obama Presidential Center's opening, Glaude offers another controversial take: that 44's tenure was little more than “Clintonism in blackface.” To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes back Bulwark podcast host Tim Miller to discuss the putative deal to end the war in Iran and the efforts of J.D. Vance to sell it (and himself). Tim dissects the blowback to the deal within the GOP, Donald Trump's senescence, and Vance's weeklong media blitz as he hawks his new book about Catholicism. Meanwhile, John describes his visit to the algae bloom on the Washington Mall, Tim sings Olivia Rodrigo, and both weigh in on the Knicks victory parade and Wemby's turn in the barrel. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes back Maya Wiley, president and CEO of the Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights, to discuss the assault on the nonprofit sector by Donald Trump's Justice Department. Wiley explains why the recent indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center isn't just baseless and transparently political but part of a broader pattern. She also weighs in on Trump's intent to undermine the midterm elections through bogus claims of fraud, his nomination of Todd Blanche to be Attorney General, and why his DOJ is everything the New York Knicks are not — inglorious, ill-motivated, and screamingly inept. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes back Pablo Torre, the Pulitzer Prize-winning host of Pablo Torre Finds Out to discuss the collision between the New York Knicks and Donald Trump—and why the team's electrifying Game 4 comeback was even more meaningful and miraculous than it looked. Pablo also explains why the World Cup has generated scant excitement so far, the long-run threat to the cultural primacy of sports posed by runaway financialization, and yet more evidence of Steve Ballmer's flagrant efforts to skirt the NBA salary cap. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes former Reuters head of West Coast news and global technology coverage Jonathan Weber to discuss his new book “City on the Edge: Technology, Politics, and the Fight for the Soul of San Francisco”—along with last week's California primary, the rivalry between (and presidential ambitions of) Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom, and the rise of San Francisco's popular new mayor, Daniel Lurie. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes back former top Justice Department and FBI official Andrew Weissmann to discuss his recently published New York Times No. 1 best-seller  “Liar's Kingdom: How to Stop Trump's Deceit and Save America.” Weissmann lays out the book's proposals to criminalize election lies or disqualify politicians found guilty of them from seeking office again. He also weighs in on the Trump administration's push for a $1.8 billion slush fund to pay off supposed victims of lawfare, its own pattern of politically motivated prosecutions, and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's central role in both. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes back Democratic Senator Chris Murphy to discuss his new book “Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America.” Murphy lays out his book's argument that America is in the grip of a set of interlocking cults (the Cult of Profit, Cult of Everywhere, Cult of Technology, Cult of Consumerism, Cult of Credentialism, and Cult of Corruption) that have undermined our culture and democracy—and suggests creating a Cult of the Common Good to remedy what ails us. He also weighs in on the diplomatic quagmire in Iran and Donald Trump's wildly prolific, deeply suspicious penchant for day trading. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes back Politico's Jonathan Martin to discuss the Texas Senate race: how scandal-soaked Attorney General Ken Paxton thrashed incumbent Senator John Cornyn in the GOP primary run-off; Democratic nominee James Talarico's “race against time” to define himself before Paxton's effort to cast him as a weak, weird, ultra-woke vegan sinks in with voters; and whether Democrats are once again chasing fool's gold in Texas or the race is a genuine toss-up. JMart also unpacks the latest episode of his “On The Road” YouTube series, featuring Pennsylvania governor and likely 2028 presidential candidate Josh Shapiro. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes author James Traub to discuss his latest book, “The Cradle of Citizenship: How Schools Can Help Save Our Democracy.” Traub describes the year he spent reporting in K-12 classrooms across the country; the fierce culture wars after the Covid-19 pandemic in many school systems around race, gender, curricula, and library collections; the debate over the 1619 Project and 1776 Report; and other signs of politicized rot in primary and secondary education. He also points to signs of hope, including the rise of so-called "classical" charter schools—and explains why the reflexive liberal opposition to them is misguided. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes former Bloomberg Businessweek editor and current Atlantic staff writer Josh Tyrangiel to discuss his new book, “AI for Good: How Real People Are Using Artificial Intelligence to Fix Things That Matter.” Tyrangiel, who until recently wrote a column on AI for The Washington Post, weighs in on the verdict against Elon Musk in his $150 billion lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI; why the wannabe kings of the AI industry are less interesting than the question of what—today and in the future—AI is actually good for; and why, despite enraging both the left and parts of the military establishment, Palantir isn't so bad, after all. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes Brookings Institution fellow and erstwhile neocon luminary Robert Kagan to discuss his buzzy recent piece in The Atlantic about the inevitability of American defeat in Iran. Kagan argues that the U.S. is not only losing the war now but has no plausible path to victory; that simply throwing in the towel is the least bad option available to Donald Trump, though its implications are beyond grim; and that the Trump-Xi Jinping summit in Beijing was a “ratification of the new reality” as to the relative power and prestige of their countries in the world today. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes back Pod Save America cohost and Obama White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer to discuss the forbidding political climate facing Republicans six months out from the midterm elections. Pfeiffer weighs in on Donald Trump's avowal this week that he doesn't think about how the Iran war is affecting Americans (“not even a little bit”); the shifting fortunes of Ds and Rs in the redistricting wars; the slew of key primaries, from California to Iowa to Louisiana, in the weeks ahead; the prospects of Graham Platner, Dan Osborne, and James Talarico; and the brewing battle between J.D. Vance and Marco Rubio for the 2028 GOP presidential nomination. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes Council on Foreign Relations president Michael Froman to discuss the three central topics in American foreign policy today: the war in Iran, U.S.-China relations, and the war in Ukraine. Froman offers his interpretation of the Trump administration's mixed messages, glib metaphors, and ever-shifting strategy in its military campaign against Tehran; previews this week's summit in Beijing between President Trump and Xi Jinping; and tries to make sense of why Trump has effectively sided with Vladimir Putin over Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the very moment when Ukraine seems better-positioned than ever to prevail in combat over Russia. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the second installment of this week's special two-part episode featuring Wu-Tang Clan's sonic Svengali and de facto leader, RZA discusses the seminal hip-hop collective's recent, first-ballot inclusion in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; the group's ongoing farewell tour and lasting cultural legacy; how RZA's self-described dictatorial tendencies were key to making it all happen; and why it's still so important to “diversify your bonds.” To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes acclaimed rapper, producer, composer, actor, filmmaker, and Wu-Tang Clan prime mover RZA to discuss his new movie “One Spoon of Chocolate,” which opened in theaters across the country last week. In Part One of this special, two-part episode, RZA describes the decade-plus odyssey of the film, which he wrote and directed, from idea to premiere; how the shifting state of race relations in America affected both it and him; and the transition of his career as an artist away from music and towards film. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes Pennsylvania Democratic congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan to discuss Pete Hegseth's testimony before the House and King Charles's address on Capitol Hill this week. Houlahan, a former active duty Air Force officer and member of the House Armed Services and Intelligence committees, also weighs in on the state of the war in Iran as it passes the 60-day mark—and Donald Trump's increasingly incomprehensible strategy and tactics in waging it. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes The Economist's editor-in-chief, Zanny Minton Beddoes, to discuss the economic fallout from the war in Iran, her magazine's midterm election special issue, and more. Zanny outlines the scale of the coming global oil supply shock due to the two-month closure of the Strait of Hormuz; why the U.S. stock market has remained buoyant regardless; whether Kevin Warsh will be an independent Fed chair or a toady to Donald Trump; and the prospects that Trump will succeed in interfering with the midterms. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes back U.S. Naval War College professor emeritus and Atlantic staff writer Tom Nichols to discuss the Iran war at the eight-week mark—where things stand, what comes next, and whether there's any end in sight. Tom weighs in on Donald Trump's strategic incoherence and tactical flailing; the embarrassing spectacle of Iran jerking J.D. Vance around; Pete Hegseth's holy roller cosplay and ongoing purge of the military's senior ranks; and Tucker Carlson's public apology for his role in Trump's reelection. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes author Sebastian Mallaby to discuss his new bestselling book, “The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for Superintelligence.” Mallaby explains why Hassabis, the leader of Google's efforts in artificial intelligence, remains an obscure and under-covered figure compared with Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, and Elon Musk, the poster boys of the A.I. revolution; why, despite his relative public obscurity, Hassabis may prove more important in shaping our future than any of them; and whether he is, at bottom, the kind of person we should comfortable entrusting with such power. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes his partner and Puck Superfriend Peter Hamby to discuss former California congressman and gubernatorial candidate Eric Swalwell's ignominious implosion and its implications for the race to succeed Gavin Newsom. Hamby also weighs in on Donald Trump and J.D. Vance's ongoing battle with Pope Leo XIV and whether it might cause lasting damage to MAGA with Catholic voters—and Hamby's highlights (Geese!) from his latest sojourn to Coachella. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes longtime Silicon Valley chronicler, bestselling author, and host of two hit podcasts—“On with Kara Swisher” and “Pivot” with Scott Galloway—to discuss her new, six-part CNN docu-series “Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever” on the science, culture, and business of longevity. Swisher weighs in on what's real and what isn't in the wellness industry, the narcissism driving the tech bro fascination with immortality, and why Steve Jobs was right that accepting the inevitability of death is essential to living a good life. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes former NeverTrump Republican gadfly and current New York Democratic congressional primary candidate George Conway to discuss Donald Trump's behavior this past week viz a viz the war in Iran and its implications for his presidency, the world, and the future of the MAGA movement. Conway also lays out the single-issue thrust of his campaign: removing Trump from office asap. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes NYU law professor, co-host of the Strict Scrutiny podcast, and MS Now legal analyst Melissa Murray to discuss Donald Trump's firing of Pam Bondi as attorney general and the future of the Justice Department. Murray weighs in on Bondi's tenure, legacy, and potential replacements as AG—as well as the oral arguments before the Supreme Court last week in the birthright citizenship case. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to discuss his city's harrowing battle this winter with ICE, CBP, and Donald Trump. Frey explains what it was like living under violent federal occupation; the combination of fierce resistance and neighborly love that enabled Minneapolis not just to emerge triumphant but set an example for other cities around the country; and why the embrace of Bruce Springsteen—who kicked off his spring No Kings tour in the Twin Cities this week—was so vital and important. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal to discuss the ongoing impasse on Capitol Hill over funding D.H.S. (and the resulting T.S.A-related chaos at America's airports) and reforming ICE, as well as the fierce debates over the SAVE Act and the war in Iran. Regarding the war, Blumenthal argues that “Donald Trump is boxing himself into putting troops on the ground”—and that the only winners in the conflict so far are Russia and Vladimir Putin. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes John Ellis, founder and editor of the newsletters News Items and Political News Items, to discuss the military, economic, and political dynamics at play in the war in Iran; how Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's political stature has been enhanced by playing David to Donald Trump's Goliath and its influence on America's allies in Europe; and why the question of Trump's mental fitness is the most important story in the world that journalists aren't covering. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes Jason Zengerle, author of the new book “Hated by All the Right People: Tucker Carlson and the Unraveling of the Conservative Mind,” to discuss Carlson's opposition to Donald Trump's war in Iran. Zengerle explains Tucker's evolution from conventional (if contrarian) Republican to a leader of the nationalist, nativist, America First faction of the MAGA movement; how his embrace of racist and anti-Semitic tropes have only increased his influence in forging the post-Trump future of the G.O.P.; and why the prospect of him running for president in 2028 seems more plausible every day. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes erstwhile neocon stalwart and current Bulwark seditor-at-large Bill Kristol to discuss the war in Iran, amid mounting signs that it is spiraling out of control. Kristol weighs in on the economic and military dynamics propelling the conflict; whether the U.S. is in danger of being ensnared in an escalation trap; the resignation of Trump's top counterterrorism adviser, Joe Kent; Israel's role in the war's inception; and the rapid unraveling of Donald Trump's rationales for why he started it in the first place. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes acclaimed documentarian Ken Burns to discuss his latest PBS magnum opus, “The American Revolution.” Burns recounts the 10-year gestation of the six-part, 12-hour series, culminating with its fortuitous (but entirely coincidental) debut on the eve of the U.S. Semiquincentennial; how he assembled the remarkable array of Hollywood stars—Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, and dozens more—who voice the story's key historical figures; and the case for George Washington as the revolution's indispensable man, without whom America would not exist. Burns also reveals the five (yes, five) embryonic series on which he's currently at work. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices