Republicans flirt with Trumpcare 2.0, Trump flirts with a government shutdown, and no one knows what the hell is going on with Nunes. Then, David Axelrod joins Jon and Dan to give advice to Democrats and Donald Trump.
The Gist - What is Homeopathy, Exactly?
Our resident debunker of nonsense, Maria Konnikova, returns to take on the billion-dollar homeopathy industry. Why aren’t homeopathic remedies regulated in the United States? And what can their dubious history tell us about their effectiveness? Maria Konnikova is a contributing writer at the New Yorkerand the author of The Confidence Game.
In the Spiel, watching CNN go haywire for a pretty banal accident on Capitol Hill.
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The Gist - How Political Parties Collapse
Two Whig presidents were elected by the American people—Zachary Taylor and William Henry Harrison. They lasted a grand total of one year and five months. The Whigs cracked up in the 1850s over intense policy divisions. Now, many historians are drawing parallels between the Whigs then and the Republicans now. Philip Wallach recently penned an essay for the Brookings Institution about what can be learned by the last major political party death in America.
Plus, a visit to Vexillology Corner with Ted Kaye, who explains why you can’t cheat in your flag design by trimming the ends off. Kaye is the author of the book Good Flag, Bad Flag.
In the Spiel, the greatest presidential broken promise in history.
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The Gist - Step Away From the Screen
How much time did you spend on an anti-boredom gadget today? We watch entire seasons of television in a day, we scroll through infinite streams of social media, and we are transfixed by games designed as deftly as slot machines. Adam Alter says it’s time to consider measures that will help everyone to cut back. His book is called Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked.
For the Spiel, your leggings have become a problem.
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Pod Save America - “Blitzkrieg of blame.”
Repeal and go f*ck yourself fails, Trump blames everyone but himself, and learns how hard it will be to pass the rest of his agenda. Then, Former Obama adviser Yohannes Abraham joins Jon, Jon, and Tommy to talk about the power of just showing up.
Start the Week - Sayeeda Warsi: Muslims in Britain
On Start the Week Amol Rajan talks to Sayeeda Warsi about how far Britain's Muslim community is viewed as 'the enemy within'. As the child of Pakistani immigrants who became Britain's first Muslim Cabinet Minister, Baroness Warsi is in a unique position to explore questions of cultural difference, terrorism, and 'British values', and to explore how society can become more integrated. The economist Paul Collier has spent his career looking for solutions to seemingly intractable problems: in his latest book he focuses on the Syrian refugee crisis and argues for the establishment of special economic zones where displaced Syrians could work and benefit their host countries. The philosopher Roger Scruton develops his ideas of human nature by concentrating on our relations with others, bound together in a shared world. Producer: Katy Hickman.
The Gist - Feet off the Couch, Please
Alyssa Mastromonaco served as White House deputy chief of staff under Barack Obama. Her job was expansive—covering everything from interviewing James Comey to making sure the White House driveway was re-paved[AM1] . Now, she’s written a memoir, Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? And Other Questions You Should Have Answers to When You Work in the White House.
In the Spiel, Republicans weren’t able to come up with a better plan than “Obamacare bad.” Failure was inevitable.
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The Gist - Slobs vs. Snobs
Why does it feel like our political debate was brought to us by the National Lampoon? Sonny Bunch applies his powers of cultural analysis to the changing face of political conservativism. Bunch is executive editor of the Washington Free Beacon, where he also writes film criticism.
In the Spiel, Devin Nunes really messed this thing up, huh?
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Pod Save America - “He’ll run the country from jail like El Chapo.”
The Russia story gets messier, Trump confirms the truth is dead, and Republicans try to take away health care from their voters. Then, new author Alyssa Mastromonaco joins Jon and Dan to reminisce, and Friends Like These host Ana Marie Cox stops by to talk health care.
The Gist - Health Care! It’s Trump’s Problem Now
With hours to go before the official vote on Trumpcare, the bill is being altered to make sure moderates in Buffalo and Freedom Caucus members in South Carolina stay onboard. [MW1] Any chance this Frankenstein bill will fail? Slate columnists Jim Newell and Jordan Weissmann look at the costs and politics of the American Health Care Act ahead of Thursday’s consequential House vote.
For the Spiel, let’s try to be fair to Donald Trump. Just for a moment. It’s going to be hard, but dammit we’ll try.
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