The Ezra Klein Show - Has Trump Achieved a Lot Less Than It Seems?

We are one year into Trump’s second term. And it feels like so much has happened – more than the human mind, or the country, can absorb. But how much has Trump really accomplished? What policies have changed the country in a way that will last?

My guest Yuval Levin is one of the smartest thinkers on the right, and his verdict is: not that much. “There’s an important story to tell about the absence of action in the past year, too,” he tells me.

Levin is the director of social, cultural and constitutional studies at the American Enterprise Institute, the founder and editor of National Affairs and the author of several books on policy and political theory, including “American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation – and Could Again.”

Mentioned:

Charts

Buckley by Sam Tanenhaus

Book Recommendations:

Insecure Majorities by Frances E. Lee

Making the Presidency by Lindsay M. Chervinsky

Last Branch Standing by Sarah Isgur

Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.

You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.

This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Rollin Hu. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris, with Kate Sinclair. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Aman Sahota. 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. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser.

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What A Day - How We Got Here: The MAGA New Right

President Trump is declining in popularity with voters, but his rhetoric and that of the Trump Administration is only growing more extreme. But to understand how we got here, in this place, we have to go back to the 1980s — when right-wing academics and thinkers worked together to create a counter-revolution to mainstream conservative institutions. For more, we spoke to writer and political theorist Laura K. Field. She wrote a book on the modern conservative movement titled “Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right.”

And in headlines, the President reveals his “Great Healthcare Plan,” Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado gives her medal to Trump, and billions of dollars for mental health and addiction organizations are restored just 24 hours after the Trump administration initially pulled them.

Show Notes:


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Pod Save America - ICE’s Reign of Terror

Minneapolis residents describe the city as a war zone as 3,000 federal agents terrorize citizens and non-citizens alike. Jon and Dan react to the situation on the ground and discuss the latest, including federal agents shooting another person, six federal prosecutors' decision to resign over the Justice Department's push to investigate Renee Good's widow, and President Trump's threat to invoke the Insurrection Act and send actual troops into Minneapolis. Then, the two discuss some hopeful polling on ICE, the FBI's raid of a Washington Post journalist's home, and the administration's "fundamental disagreement" with Denmark over the future of Greenland. Then, Senator Ruben Gallego talks to Jon about what Congress can do to rein in ICE and Trump's plans for hemispheric domination.


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WSJ Tech News Briefing - TSMC’s Big Bet on America

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the world’s largest fabricator of advanced computing processors, is planning a major US expansion as part of a new trade deal. WSJ’s Amrith Ramkumar joins us to talk about what role geopolitical tensions with China are playing in the shift. Plus, the Wikimedia Foundation’s Chief Product and Technology Officer talks about how Wikipedia is transforming itself for the age of generative AI. Isabelle Bousquette hosts.


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Short Wave - 10 breakthrough technologies to expect in 2026

Wanna know where tech is headed this year? MIT Technology Review has answers. They compile an annual list called "10 Breakthrough Technologies". Today, host Regina G. Barber speaks with executive editor Amy Nordrum about the list, and they get into everything from commercial space stations and base-edited babies to batteries that could make electric vehicles even more green. We also do a lightning round of honorable mentions you won't want to miss out on!


Check out the full list from MIT Technology Review.

Interested in more science? Check out our episode on last year’s top 10 technologies to watch and our episode on building structures in space.

Email us your questions at shortwave@npr.org.

Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.

This episode was produced by Berly McCoy. It was edited and fact-checked by Rebecca Ramirez. The audio engineer was Robert Rodriguez.

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NPR's Book of the Day - ‘Body Beautiful’ and ‘My One-of-a-Kind Body’ aim to cultivate kids’ body positivity

Body image can be a tricky subject to navigate for those of all ages – including kids. In today’s episode, we’re highlighting two kids’ books that encourage body positivity and spark curiosity about our outsides and insides. First, NPR’s Scott Detrow talks to author Susan Verde about her book Body Beautiful, and her quest to stop kids’ negative self-talk before it begins. Then, Here & Now’s Robin Young speaks with author Whitney Casares about her book My One-of-a-Kind-Body, and how teens (and tweens) can cultivate healthy relationships with their own bodies – even during the internet age.   


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The Indicator from Planet Money - ICE influencers, a world-record trade surplus, and the moon goes nuclear

Welcome back to Indicators of the Week! Our weekly look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news. 

On today’s episode: Influencers for ICE, China’s tremendous trade surplus, and America heads back to the moon. 

Related episodes: 

We resolve to watch these 2026 indicators 

China's trade war perspective 

Who owns the moon?


For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Vito Emanuel. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.  

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What Next - How and Why to Vaccinate Now

Where do you turn for vaccination advice for your kids—or yourself—when the government’s own recommendations can’t be trusted anymore?


Guest: Dr. Lauren Hughes, board-certified pediatrician, science communicator, and author of “The Public Hughesletter.”


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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.


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The Best One Yet - 💊 “Dr. Altman” — ChatGPT’s Health launch. Daktronics’ football jumbotrons. Elf CEO Tarang Amin. +Dating Sunday

OpenAI & Anthropic pulled a Grey’s Anatomy and launched health bots… it’s healthcare’s ozempic moment.

Daktronics’ built the biggest jumbotron in college football & its stock rose 1,000%… because CFB is the NFL.

We interviewed Elf Beauty’s CEO on the pod… and our favorite part is “Zero Distance.”

Plus, the biggest hour for dating apps of the year… is this Sunday at 8pm.


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Opening Arguments - Behold My Articles of Impeachment, Three

OA1226 - We begin with a review of the unprecedented lawsuit that Minnesota has filed against ICE with the extreme leftist radical demand that they obey the law and U.S. Constitution. How much power do states have to limit federal operations, and what are the chances a court order might put some guardrails on the largest enforcement operation in ICE history? We then consider the legal and political merits of articles of impeachment filed against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. Finally: we honor the passing of civil rights hero Claudette Colvin, whose bravery as a 15-year-old on a Montgomery, Alabama bus nine months before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat put the final nail into the “separate but equal” justification for racial segregation established by the Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson.

  1. State of Minnesota v. Noem, complaint filed 1/12/2026

  2. “House Resolution 935: Impeaching Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense for the United States for high crimes and misdemeanors,” Rep. Shri Thaneder (12/9/2025)

  3. House Resolution 944: Impeaching Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services  for high crimes and misdemeanors,” Rep. Haley Stevens (12/10/2025)

  4. House Resolution ___: Impeaching Kristi Lynn Arnold Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and misdemeanors,” Rep. Robin Kelly (1/13/2026)

  5. “Firm Tied to Kristin Noem Secretly Got Money from $220 Million DHS Ad Contracts,” ProPublica (11/14/2025)

  6. “Impeachment: The Constitution’s Fiduciary Meaning of ‘High Crimes and Misdemeanors,’” Robert G. Natelson, The Federalist Society (6/19/2018)

  7. Claudette Colvin, who refused to move seats on a bus at start of civil rights movement, dies” (NPR, 1/13/2026) 

  8. Browder v. Gayle, 142 F.Supp. 707 (1956)(aff’d per curiam by U.S. Supreme Court 12/20/1956)

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