Podcast Commentary Magazine

Rob Long joins the podcast to talk about the career of the late Dianne Feinstein, the end of the WGA strike, and the stunning success of Sound of Freedom. Plus Mailbag! Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

What on earth did we see last night at the Reagan Library? Did it change the race at all? Who, if anyone, benefitted from the shambolic but dull second Republican debate? And is there any utility to the format at this point in our politics? Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

Dan Senor joins the podcast to talk about the upcoming Republican debate and what the strategies of the various debaters should be, what they should talk about, and how to maximize their own gains. Also, the Iran echo chamber turns out to have been created by...Iran? Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

Today's podcast examines Joe Biden's trip to Michigan to stand in solidarity with the United Auto Workers strikers and how it might affect his standing with Americans on the economy. And polls, polls, polls! Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

Today's podcast takes up two important articles in the new issue of Commentary—Christine Rosen's "Criminals and Their Apologists" and Matthew Continetti's "The Left of the Right." Plus: Listener mail! Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

Today's podcast assesses Merrick Garland's appearance on Capitol Hill, the continuing Democratic conviction that someone somewhere needs to shut Donald Trump up, and what's going on between Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

Today's podcast takes up three speeches at the UN this week: there's the one by President Biden, there's the one by Iranian thug Ebrahim Raisi, and the one by Wolodymr Zelensky of Ukraine. Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

Today's podcast points out that while all the talk of a government shutdown centers on Republican infighting in the House of Representatives, the idea that the government must shut down if Republicans are not unanimous is based in the idea that no Democrat will vote to keep the government open. If that's true, won't they get some of the blame? And …

Today's podcast finds commonalities in a congresswoman's disruptive conduct at a Denver theater, a would-be Virginia politician's selling sex acts on a website, and a new Senate code of conduct ending dress requirements for members of the world's oldest deliberative body. Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

The podcast takes up the Hunter Biden indictment and how it's just the latest bad news for a presidency that seems awash in bad news and increasing fears among Democrats that Joe Biden cannot carry the banner to victory next year. Plus: What's going on with the strikes, and with gambling? Give a listen.…

Dan Senor joins the podcast today to give his view of both the domestic and foreign-policy challenges and opportunities facing the state of Israel over the next few months. We also talk about the U.S. courts and the executive branch's overreach and more Trump-friendly polling. Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

Today's podcast tries to suss out the political motivations behind House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's "authorization" of an impeachment inquiry and what they say about his power and the upcoming budget battle. Also, did Biden really have a good trip to India and Vietnam? Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

The podcast takes up the president's latest whopper, about being in New York on September 12, 2001 and seeing the wreckage of the Twin Towers. We all know Trump lies like he breathes, but Biden's lies have a different quality—they're not denials of things he did but efforts to aggrandize and mythologize himself. Give a listen.…

Today's podcast notes the remarkable confluence of two events. First, an appeals court finding that the Biden administration staged what a lower court judge called the worst assault by our government on First Amendment rights in this nation's history. And second, the decision by a Democratic governor to declare an emergency power suspending the Sec…

Mark Halperin joins us to figure out why Democrats are scared to step up and challenge Joe Biden even as Democratic voters beg for an alternative. And why are Republican candidates, except for Donald Trump, scared of traditional media? Plus the second installment of the Commentary Magazine Podcast Mailbag. Give a listen.…

Eli Lake joins the podcast to discuss the news that Hunter Biden will be indicted...on a gun charge, and not on anything that has to do with influence-peddling and his father the then-Vice President. Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

Yuval Levin joins the podcast to discuss an extraordinary piece in the New York Times alleging that the cost of Medicare has fallen radically to such an extent that it is no longer the budgetary monster looming on the horizon. Is that true? Or is it just a way of denying a danger and pushing it forward? Give a listen.…

Today's podcast takes up the stunning WSJ poll that has Trump up 46 points over DeSantis and asks whether, five months before the first electoral contest in the GOP and 14 months before the 2024 election, the Republican race is all over but the shouting. Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

Today's podcast considers the weak job numbers and the persistence both of inflation and higher interest rates and asks whether Joe Biden is making a mistake touting "Bidenomics." And...oh boy, the NYT story about the DeSantis consultant and the $50 million ask from donors. Plus the first installment of the Commentary Magazine Podcast Mailbag! Give…

Today's podcast asks what political benefits or liabilities a politician can accrue from their behavior in the wake of a natural disaster, with specific reference to Ron DeSantis, Joe Biden...and Chris Christie. And Mitch McConnell's second moment freezing before a camera in five weeks raises the question of how much longer our gerontocracy can go …

James Kirchick joins today's podcast to discuss the overdue outrage about our botched withdrawal from Afghanistan and a new book that's surprisingly critical of Joe Biden. We also get into the border crisis, its connection to terrorism, the pressure it's putting on blue and red states, and what it portends for our politics. Give a listen.…

The podcast today worries over the fact that the judge in the January 6 case set Donald Trump's trial date for the day before Super Tuesday next year, and what this portends about the politics of 2024 and the very real possibility that we are going to face a constitutional, or a political, or even a revolutionary crisis. Give a listen.…

Today Eli Lake joins the gang to consider what some of us got wrong about last week's Republican primary debate. According to polls, Ron DeSantis did himself a bit of good. What did we miss? And why did DeSantis's performance work as well as it did? Then we talk about Eli's new COMMENTARY article "Profiles in Malarkey" and why Democrats are unable …

On the last day of listener-questions week, we take up the war on drugs. Was it doomed? Have we surrendered? What are the consequences? Then we respond to a listener who challenges Tip O'Neill's famous observation about all politics being local. Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

We interrupt this week's listener-questions podcasts with our analysis of last night's Republican debate. The talk centers on Vivek Ramaswamy, and as such, what does that mean for the race going forward? What effect will Nikki Haley's knockout performance have on her campaign? And whither DeSantis? Give a listen.…

On today's listener-questions podcast, we first discuss efforts on the right over the past 20 years to address issues of concern to working-class Americans and where they went wrong—before we get into a big, heated, passionate argument about the future and AI and the Internet and a lot of juicy stuff. Give a listen.…

Today's listener-question podcast finds us discussing how the COMMENTARY crew gathers the information we gather during the day and how and when we read books. And we talk about the relation between faith and liberalism. Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

Today's podcast marks the first in a week devoted to listener questions. First up: How do we manage to stay friends with people we disagree with so strongly—or do we? Next: What writers and political figures have inspired us? Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

I start today's podcast saying I'm sick of talking about Trump and then...we talk about Trump. Which is suggestive of everything about American politics at this moment. Then: did Maui's emergency management chief do an honorable thing or a cowardly thing quitting his job in the middle of the disaster? Give a listen.…

Yes, the original Commentary podcast band is back together for one night only! Noah Rothman joins Abe and me for a delightfully crushingly morose hour of worries about Ukraine, fears about Biden and Trump, and general gloom about everything. Don't miss it! Give a listen!Bởi Commentary Magazine

Chris Stirewalt joins the podcast today to examine Donald Trump's immediate future in the wake of the latest indictments and whether they make it more likely Trump will participate next week in the first Republican primary debate. And how much time does Ron DeSantis have to save his candidacy? Give a listen.…

Andrew C. McCarthy joins the podcast yet again to help us go through the indictments of Donald Trump and 18 others in Fulton County, Georgia. We ask three questions. How strong is the case legally? How effective is the case politically as a cudgel against Trump? And how just is the case? Give a listen.…

James B. Meigs joins the podcast today to discuss the fire catastrophe in Maui and the fact that, once again, ordinary people are doing the work to help those in need while government just can't get itself organized—and the president of the United States thinks it's all right to say "no comment" when asked about it. Also on the president's mind: Th…

Today we talk about the record spike in American suicides, particularly those of adult men. What cultural, political, and economic forces are merging to create this tragedy? And why are the psychiatric and psychological communities falling down on the job? Then we discuss a new initiative in Louisiana to keep online pornography away from kids. Give…

Today's podcast connects new inflation numbers to a general feeling of uneasiness in the body politic reflected also in the way certain types of criminal conduct (shoplifting in particular) not only have an effect on rising prices but on the national mood. Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

Today's podcast examines the results of an election in Ohio in which liberals blew past conservatives on an issue related to abortion. Will this encourage them to try to use the techniques with which they won this election on other issues besides abortion—trans matters especially? Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

Today's podcast discusses the politics surrounding a strange special election today (Tuesday the 8th) in Ohio, which is a proxy for how voters feel about abortion rights. Then we discuss Mike Pence's emergence as an open critic of his former boss, and what happens when anti-establishment right-wing males get caught out for their racist and misogyni…

Today's podcast takes up the raging "truths" (tweets) released by Donald Trump this weekend on his social-media site, which seem reckless and possibly threatening to his defense strategy and to his ability to stay out of jail. Is there a strategy here? And foreign policy has taken a backseat for months—but now guess what? The Chinese, the Russians,…

James B. Meigs joins today's podcast to talk about what a D.C. jury might think of the fraud charge against Donald Trump, what's really happening with all this UFO stuff, and what's significant about a new commercial nuclear reactor in Georgia. Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

Today we have Dan Senor on to talk about the state of the GOP primary, the prospects for the general election, the unpredictability of it all, and whether the polls tell us anything useful this far out. We also get into the legal and political crises in both the U.S. and Israel. Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

Andrew C. McCarthy joins us today to discuss the indictment of Donald Trump released on August 1st and how its spate of novel approaches makes it extraordinarily problematic not only as a matter of law but also as a political matter. Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

Eliana Johnson joins us today to talk about the bombshell "interview" behind closed doors of Hunter Biden's partner Devon Archer and his revelation that Hunter's vice-president father got on the phone 20 times with clients. And, um, what exactly is Ron DeSantis doing with his campaign? Give a listen.…

Today we recall the mother of all sweetheart deals—Ted Kennedy's Chappaquiddick wrist slap—and what it says about our unsavory political moment. We get into the new poll showing Donald Trump's dominance of the GOP and discuss Ron DeSantis's standing among voters and Hunter Biden's effect on his father's prospects. Give a listen.…

Today we discuss the new charges leveled against Donald Trump in the classified-documents case and what his legal misfortunes mean to voters. We also consider Mitch McConnell's alarming health episode at the Capitol, American gerontocracy, and the long reign of the Boomers. Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

Andrew C. McCarthy joins today's podcast to try and make sense out of the astonishing events in a Delaware courtroom where the Hunter Biden plea deal with the Justice Department fell apart before the judge's eyes and the eyes of the world. And see if you can spot my blunder at the very end of the podcast. Give a listen.…

Today's podcast takes up the rebooting of the DeSantis campaign and tries to find analogies to such a reset in both successful and unsuccessful election bids in the past. Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

Eli Lake joins the podcast to talk about Hunter and Joe Biden. We have questions: Who is Devon Archer and what does he know? Why has it taken so long for details to emerge? Who are the friends and Democratic donors buying Hunter's paintings? And what's up with Joe Biden's dogs? We also catch up on the latest Covid-origin science. Give a listen.…

Liel Leibovitz joins the podcast today to talk about the unprecedented showdown between the duly elected democratic government of Israel and mass protestors claiming to speak for the true spirit of democracy. Also, the Hunter Biden story gets closer and closer to Joe. Give a listen.Bởi Commentary Magazine

Today's podcast examines the newly released uncorroborated account to the FBI of a supposed payoff to Joe Biden himself in 2015 from the Ukranian energy company Burisma. The company wanted Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin fired, and Biden did later convince the Ukrainian president at the time to fire Shokin. How seriously should we take this? How…

Today's podcast examines the spectacle of angry Democratic representatives yelling at IRS whistleblowers in order to defend Joe Biden on the Hunter matter. Hmmm. Remember when they loved whistleblowers? And how strong does the "target letter" suggesting a Trump indictment on January 6 sound? Give a listen.…