We have a special episode for you today! In which Nate and Maria join their fellow Pushkin hosts to dive deep into the art of failure.
Tim Harford of Cautionary Tales shares stories of minor mistakes with massive consequences. Jonathan Goldstein of Heavyweight speaks with his friend, the writer Sheila Heti about the cost of mistakes and whether we're really in control of how many we make. And, our very own Nate and Maria give a gambler's take on the strange science of regret.
Kentucky-raised, New York-forged, and newly “A Jewish Star,” Ariel Elias breaks down how outsider status becomes comic superpower. We talk growing up Jewish in the Bluegrass, explaining Kentucky to New Yorkers, the “Earl” name bit, airline misery (farewell, Southwest), and writing cleaner for synagogue gigs without losing edge. She unpacks her viral beer-can moment and how it led to Kimmel, why “hack” is about angle not topic, the art of the long-simmer callback, and learning to say no (and yes) at the right times.
Members of the administration, like Stephen Miller, who spend hours every day kissing Trump’s ass look so pathetic—but since the time of the ancients, courtiers have gone to great lengths to degrade themselves before the vain and vindictive. And one lesson for the ages is to not compromise with an extortionist: it will only lead to more extortion and more pressure because the extortionist wants everything. Meanwhile, Elon’s brain is broken, Peter Thiel spends too much time at dinner parties, Trump’s media diet allows no time for presidential reflection, and authoritarians can be seductive. Plus, Tim sees the redistricting fight looking better for Democrats, and argues that the best way to shut down the talk of a decrepit Trump running in ‘28 is to make sure the Dems win the House in 2026.
Ryan Holiday joins Tim Miller for the weekend pod.
Following a federal court’s approval, the Trump administration is one legal hurdle away from getting the green light to send National Guard troops into Portland, Oregon. And Trump reversed his decision to send troops to San Francisco after a conversation with the city’s mayor.
A conversation about how Donald Trump controls all news in this country morphs unexpectedly into a deep dive into large language models, uncanny valleys, AI, driverless cars, and everything scary about everything. Give a listen!
On this episode of The Federalist Radio Hour, Dr. John Wilsey, professor of church history and philosophy and chair of the Department of Church History and Historical Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, joins Federalist Senior Elections Correspondent Matt Kittle to outline how America's Christian founding and the nation's history of protecting religious freedom should inform the culture wars of today.
You can find Wilsey's book, Religious Freedom: A Conservative Primer, here.
If you care about combating the corrupt media that continue to inflict devastating damage, please give a gift to help The Federalist do the real journalism America needs.
The Trump administration completed its demolition of the East Wing of the White House on Thursday to make way for a new presidential ballroom.
Luke Broadwater, who covers the White House, explains who is paying for President Trump’s latest construction project and why the demolition is striking a nerve.
Guest: Luke Broadwater, who covers the White House for The New York Times.
The “Democratic penalty” should scare the hell out of Democrats.
The Democratic Party brand has become toxic in certain parts of the country, especially with working- class voters. The Center for Working-Class Politics has actually measured this so-called “Democratic penalty,” and found it’s in the double digits in some Rust Belt states.
So what should Democrats do about it?
One theory says that Democrats were once economic populists and just need to be again. Another theory says that the working class feels left behind and looked down on by a Democratic Party that has moved sharply left on culture, on climate, on guns, on immigration.
Jared Abbott is the director of the Center for Working-Class Politics, which has done a lot of research and polling on working- class voters. So I asked him on the show to talk through these theories and what it would take for Democrats to once again be the party of the working class.
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 Aman Sahota and Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser.
President Trump demolishes the White House’s East Wing to make room for his ostentatious 90,000 square foot ballroom. Jon, Dan, and Alex Wagner — host of Crooked Media’s newest podcast “Runaway Country” — react to the the demolition and the latest news, including Trump’s demand that the Justice Department pay him $230 million in taxpayer money, his pardon of a crypto CEO convicted of failing to report terrorist organizations who used his platform to launder money, and the latest from 2025’s most important elections in New York, New Jersey, and Virginia. Then, Tommy is joined by the Pipeline Fund’s Denise Feriozzi to talk about building a deeper Democratic bench and why it’s so important for people to run for local office.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
On this episode of “The Kylee Cast,” Federalist Executive Editor Joy Pullmann joins Managing Editor Kylee Griswold to discuss the feminization of Western society. Plus, Assignment Editor Elle Purnell details the latest defacement (literally) of Confederate statues, and Kylee breaks down why surrogacy should make us sad.
If you care about combating the corrupt media that continue to inflict devastating damage, please give a gift to help The Federalist do the real journalism America needs.
