Lefty content creators Grace Blakeley & James Li have done terrific coverage on the newly released Epstein files, and this is ostensibly a discussion about that. But we ended up having a larger conversation about the obligation of content creators to define and broaden the terms of debate, to push left, to co-opt mainstream spaces (or create our own), to use "woke" language or avoid putting off a mainstream audience by correcting others, how to protest, and whether to own our moral judgments instead of debating about procedure.
James Kirchick joins the podcast to discuss his new COMMENTARY article, "Neither American nor Conservative," about the isolationists of the American Conservative throwing a tantrum over Donald Trump's muscular support for Israel. And what does it mean that the Heritage Foundation board member Robert P. George just resigned? Give a listen.
When President Trump proposed the introduction of a 50-year mortgage, he challenged a bedrock of the American housing market and financial system. He also revealed how desperate the administration is to lower prices for consumers.
Conor Dougherty, who covers housing and development, explains what’s attractive about the idea and its potential drawbacks — and why housing affordability is such an intractable problem.
Guest: Conor Dougherty, a reporter for The New York Times covering housing and development for more than a decade.
How can we reclaim the internet? Tom Sutcliffe and guests discuss the digital age - its supporters and discontents.
Tech critic Cory Doctorow introduces his new book Enshittification, a blistering diagnosis of how online platforms have decayed — from innovation to exploitation — and what we can do to make it better for ordinary users.
Novelist and broadcaster Naomi Alderman draws on history in Don’t Burn Anyone at the Stake Today, arguing that we’ve lived through information crises before, and that lessons from the invention of writing and the printing press can help us navigate today’s digital turbulence.
Journalist Oliver Moody, the author of Baltic: The Future of Europe, discusses Estonia’s radical embrace of digital governance, and what it reveals about the possibilities — and limits — of a truly connected state.
When the No Kings protests recently took place on streets across the nation, Trump administration officials said these were quote "hate America" rallies. But in fact, these were patriots using their constitutional right to dissent and voice their opposition to government policies — a practice that has been part of America since the founding.
There was once a time when documentaries could be found only on public television or in art-house cinemas. But today, documentaries are more popular and accessible than ever, with streaming services serving up true crime, celebrity documentaries, music documentaries and so much more.
On today’s Sunday Special, Gilbert is joined by The New York Times’s chief television critic, James Poniewozik, and Alissa Wilkinson, a Times film critic, to talk about the documentaries that are worth your viewing time.
Live from Crooked Con, Dan Pfeiffer talks with Sarah Longwell, David Shor, Terrance Woodbury, and Carlos Odio about what the voters are telling us about what they’re looking for in this unprecedented moment, how we can recapture the groups that moved away from Democrats last year, and how much should we pay attention to polling. Then, Governor Andy Beshear sits down with Alex Wagner to explain how he broke the rules, and how other Democrats can follow suit.
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Mike Pesca revisits his conversation with Washington Post columnist and novelist David Ignatius, recorded before the recent passing of Ignatius's father, former Navy Secretary Paul Ignatius. They discuss the future of warfare in space, why the U.S. Space Force deserves more credit than it gets, and how a century of Pentagon experience shaped a lifelong skepticism toward military overconfidence. Plus, a Spiel on a government shutdown that achieved very little beyond irritating everyone involved.
Humanity’s attempts to achieve artificial superintelligence will be our downfall, according to If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies. That’s the new book out by AI experts Nates Soares and Eliezer Yudkowsky. And while their provocation may feel extreme in this moment when AI slop abounds and the media is hyping a bubble on the verge of bursting, Soares is so convinced of his argument that he’s calling for a complete stop to AI development.
Today on the show, Nate and Maria ask Soares how he came to this conclusion and what everyone else is missing.
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