In this episode, Mary Katharine Hamm and Vic Mattis discuss a variety of topics ranging from personal updates and holiday preparations to the competitive landscape of fried chicken chains. They delve into the political implications of Jasmine Crockett's Senate run, the Minnesota fraud case, and the cultural issues surrounding it. The conversation also touches on college football playoff controversies and reflections on the Kennedy Center Honors.
The Supreme Court’s liberal minority has voted, over and over again, to oppose the court’s conservative majority in what might look like a united front of resistance. But behind the scenes, there are growing tensions between those liberal justices over the best way to mitigate the rightward lurch of the court.
Jodi Kantor, who uncovered the story, explains what she found.
Guest: Jodi Kantor, a New York Times reporter whose job is to carefully uncover secrets and illuminate how power operates.
Background reading:
Read about the debate dividing the Supreme Court’s liberal justices.
Photo: Fred Schilling/Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States, via Associated Press
For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.
Gavin Newsom is the 2028 Democratic front-runner. That’s what many of the polls and the Polymarket betting odds say.
It’s been widely believed that Newsom wants to run for president someday. But belief that he could be a front-runner was less common. A liberal white guy from a state that much of the country considers badly governed just didn’t seem like the profile the Democratic Party was looking for.
But as a Californian who has watched Newsom for a long time, I was surprised by him this year. After President Trump returned to the White House, Newsom started a podcast, interviewing people like Charlie Kirk, Steve Bannon and Michael Savage, which made a lot of Democrats mad. At the same time, Newsom turned himself into the leader of the resistance — trolling Trump on social media and pushing a ballot initiative to end California’s independent redistricting to counter the partisan redistricting effort in Texas.
Newsom has been willing to try things and take risks. He has shown a feel for this moment — in politics and in the way attention works now.
But it’s still true that he runs a state that the country considers badly governed. California tops the rankings of unaffordable states, at a time when affordability has become a central electoral issue.
In this conversation, I ask Newsom about all of this — what he learned this year from talking to figures on the right, how he thinks the Democratic Party can win back voters it lost, why California is so unaffordable and what he’s doing about it.
Mentioned:
Applebee’s America by Ron Fournier, Douglas B. Sosnik and Matthew J. Dowd
This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Rollin Hu. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Isaac Jones. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Marie Cascione, Annie Galvin, Kristin Lin, Emma Kehlbeck, Jack McCordick, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Pat McCusker and Aman Sahota. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser.
Maria finally gets to reveal a project she’s been working on that’s been kept under wraps, and then it’s movie night on Risky Business! Nate and Maria talk about their favorite poker movies and explain why portrayals of poker for a movie audience often don’t get the game quite right. Plus, they share what poker movie they’d like to make and who’d play them in it.
For more from Nate and Maria, subscribe to their newsletters:
The philosopher discusses The Book of Memory: How We Become Who We Are, exploring how recollection constructs identity, coherence, and the personas we inhabit. He explains why memory is less an archive than an act of ongoing authorship, shaped by emotion, imagination, and the stories we rehearse. The conversation traces the boundary between what we remember and what we invent. Also: art-heist incompetence from Brazil to France and in The Spiel a reckoning with how visual framing distorts our understanding of the Venezuelan airstrike scandal.
How is CPS Energy getting ready to respond to the energy needs of the community moving into the future? Massive data centers are moving into the area. Household affordability for energy remains an issue. Tapping into green renewable power is yet another concern. And getting ready for the worst weather of the winter remains a worry. We’re joined by CPS President & CEO, Rudy Garza.array(3) {
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Are our elections more secure today than they were a year ago? Join the Federalist Elections Team, including Elle Purnell, Shawn Fleetwood, Brianna Lyman, Beth Brelje, Maisey Jefferson, and Federalist Radio Hour Host Matt Kittle, as they review the most consequential election integrity news of 2025 and examine the rising threats to the safety and security of the 2026 midterms.
You can find more Federalist election integrity coverage here.
The Federalist is a nonprofit, and we depend entirely on our listeners and readers — not corporations. If you value fearless, independent journalism, please consider a tax-deductible gift today at TheFederalist.com/donate. Your support keeps us going.
Heaping scorn and disdain on Europe, Trump called its countries decaying and its leaders weak, but the U.S. likely needs Europe more than they need us. And while POTUS is whining that Zelensky won't consider his rigged deal with Putin, the corruption of Trump's negotiating team is off the charts, with Witkoff and Kushner trying to work a land deal rather than a peace treaty. Meanwhile, the boat bombings seem to be about performative politics, Hegseth is pushing out another high-ranking black officer—for voicing concerns about the strikes on alleged drug-runners in the Caribbean—and where is the video of that Sept 2 restrike that killed two survivors?
As Texas’ Dec. 8 candidate filing deadlines have now passed, the ballot is set for the March 3 primaries that will shape the 2026 elections. We hear from Quorum Report editor Scott Braddock.array(3) {
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Today's podcast tries to make sense out of the incoherent Trump administration posture toward China, AI chips, tariffs, farmers, and the economy. Also, Christine Rosen recommends Chip Warby Chris Miller and Philip A. Wallach's Why Congress?Give a listen.
