Category: 3-SometimeCommentary

Ravi kicks off the episode with a sharp take on the latest headlines, from FEMA’s alarming lack of hurricane preparedness and the fragility of U.S. supply chains to the growing indicators that the country is headed towards stagflation. He also reflects on new reports about Elon Musk’s drug use, the rising political influence of tech elites, and what the new film Mountainhead suggests about this current moment in time.

Jamie Hodari, founder of Industrious and now a senior executive at CBRE, then returns to the pod for a wide-ranging conversation on the future of work and community. Ravi and Jamie discuss the acquisition of Industrious, the growing tension between autonomy, connection, and fulfillment, and the risks and possibilities of an AI-disrupted labor force.

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Learn more about Ravi's novel: GARBAGE TOWN

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Notes from this episode are available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/

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On this episode of "The Federalist Radio Hour," Uri Kaufman, renowned historian and author, joins Federalist Senior Elections Correspondent Matt Kittle to discuss the recent string of antisemitic violence in the U.S. and examine the connection between the "American Intifada" and anti-Israel presidents.

You can find Kaufman's book American Intifada: Israel, the Gaza War and the New Antisemitism 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.

Rachel Abrams and Natalie Kitroeff officially join Michael Barbaro as co-hosts of the show. Welcome to the next chapter.

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

If you've been following the news lately — including with 1A — it can be a lot to take in.

We've heard from many of you about how the news makes you feel. But what can we do in chaotic moments of history to build a sense of control in our lives? Maybe it's organizing in your community, starting a new hobby, or picking up that TV show from 10 years ago that you promised you'd get around to watching.

We talk about what finding agency in the chaos can look like, and why we should actively focus on something rather than simply react to what's happening.

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It’s conventional wisdom that President Trump has transformed American politics. But a new county-by-county voting analysis from The New York Times of the last four presidential races shows just how drastically Mr. Trump has changed the electoral map.

Shane Goldmacher, a national political correspondent for The Times, explains why the trends are a five-alarm fire for the Democrats and discusses the debate within the party over what to do about it.

Guest: Shane Goldmacher, a national political correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• How Donald Trump has remade America’s political landscape.
• Six months after the election, Democrats are still searching for a path forward.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Photo: Emily Elconin for The New York Times

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

In the past few weeks, Qatar has been all over the news with flashy headlines of a $400 million luxury jet that the country gifted to President Donald Trump. It symbolized their opulence and eagerness to please the U.S.

But 40 years ago, Qatar was a country with a gross domestic product (GDP) of a few billion dollars. Since the 19th century, it has been run by the Al Thani family, which can trace its roots in the region back thousands of years.

Qatar was long considered a backwater. The main industries were fishing and pearls. It was impoverished for the vast majority of its history. Its royal family was dwarfed by rivals in Saudi Arabia.

Then everything changed. It turned out that the largest liquified natural gas field was sitting just off the coast of Qatar. And with the help of American energy giants like ExxonMobil, Qatar began exporting LNG in 1997.

In a few decades, Qatar’s GDP grew exponentially. Today it’s over $200 billion. Qatar hosts the main air base for American forces in the Middle East. It hosted the World Cup in 2022. And it’s embarking on a series of business and military deals with the U.S.—earmarked at $1.2 trillion.

There are a lot of petro-states in the region. Some, like Saudi Arabia, exceed Qatar’s wealth by hundreds of billions. But what Qatar has chosen to do with its money—morality aside—is farsighted. Qatar has chosen to focus a huge amount of money and resources on influence.

In the past 15 years, Qatar has developed a sophisticated apparatus to embed itself into American society in a way that would shock most Americans. They’ve done it by investing in our politicians, universities, newsrooms, think tanks, lobbying firms, and corporations—all on an unprecedented scale.

In all, the tiny Gulf nation has spent almost $100 billion to establish this influence.

So what’s the problem? Well, Qatar’s push to buy influence has made their connection to the Muslim Brotherhood ever more alarming and apparent.

Frannie Block and Jay Solomon published a massive investigative report on Qatar’s seismic influence strategy for The Free Press. It’s called “How Qatar Bought America.”

Today on Honestly, I ask Jay and Frannie how Qatar built this ecosystem, what they want in return, and what it has already gotten them.

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