Category: 3-DailySometimeCommentary

There’s a fight brewing between four auto makers and the Trump administration. This fight is largely about environmental regulations -- but it’s also about what kind of governance is required to have a thriving national economy. And the U.S. might be losing its edge. 

Guest: Tim Puko, reporter covering energy policy for the Wall Street Journal.

Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, Danielle Hewitt, and Mara Silvers.

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Vice President Joe Biden still holds a wide lead in Democratic primary polls. Candidates who want to attack him at tonight’s primary debate do so at their own risk.

Guest: Slate’s Jim Newell.

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President Donald Trump and his now former national security adviser, John Bolton, have had their differences. From North Korea to Iran, the two have been at odds with one another on some of the most important foreign policy decisions. That tension boiled over with the president tweeting, "I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration, and therefore I asked John for his resignation, which was given to me this morning." Bolton responded quickly saying, "I offered to resign last night and President Trump said, ‘Let’s talk about it tomorrow.’ "

Whatever the case, again there’s a hole waiting to be filled on Trump’s national security team. What happened that pushed Trump’s fight with Bolton over the edge? And what does it mean that Trump is now 0–3 on national security advisers?

Guest: Shane Harris, intelligence and national security reporter for the Washington Post

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A group of unpaid miners has blockaded a railway in Harlan County, Kentucky. The goal? Stop a train car full of their former employer’s coal from going to market until they get what they’re owed. It’s a straightforward protest that has been going on for more than six weeks now. One thing that isn’t so straightforward, however? How to help coal mining communities, like the ones in Harlan County, confront a future with less and less coal.

Guests: Gary Lewis, Harlan County miner, and Ken Ward Jr., reporter at the Charleston Gazette-Mail.

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Twice in two decades, the Electoral College has created great, big questions about presidential legitimacy. Is it time for a tune-up?

Guest: Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern.

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