Continuing with our series of subject-specific episodes to gear up for Trump 2.0, a great panel of healthcare policy experts—Dan Diamond, Ezekiel Emanuel, and Kavita Patel—sizes up the critical series of issues about to confront the country. RFK Jr’s potential confirmation to head HHS is an issue in itself, given the huge challenges of the $2 trill…

Harry sits down with Greg Casar, the youngest member of the Texas delegation in Congress and an unapologetic progressive in the some-time hostile landscape of Texas (albeit the famous enclave of Austin). A charismatic campaigner, Casar made his mark in Congress by leading a nine-hour thirst strike in 2023 to advocate for workers’ protections from e…

Continuing with our series of subject-specific episodes to gear up for Trump 2.0, we take up a wild-card element in the upcoming battles: the prospective pushback from blue states advancing their own sovereign interests and those of their residents. A great roundtable of former state AG’s and senior federal officials—Rich Cordray, Heidi Heitkamp, a…

The latest entry in the Harry-Molly mix-it-up—the first since the election—with Molly peppering Harry with legal questions while Harry parries with political ones for her. Molly picks Harry’s brain on executive orders, Kash Patel's enemies list, and Harry's exit from the LA Times. Harry returns fire with questions about sounding the alarm on Trump’…

No area represents a more stark and violent shift in U.S. policy in Trump 2.0 then immigration, where the country is bracing for the possibility of wholesale roundups of illegal aliens. Three experts in immigration policy and governmental oversight—Doris Meissner, Kristie De Pena, and Leon Rodriguez—join Harry for a preview of what’s coming and the…

Harry talks with law professor and former prosecutor, Kim Wehle, one of the country’s foremost experts on the pardon power. They begin with some historical precedent to situate the pardon power and its contours within the American justice system. From there, they move onto the controversy involving Hunter Biden’s pardon, which Professor Wehle and H…

The next in our series of subject-specific episodes to prepare for Trump’s return. Our regular economics panel–the fantastic trio of Dean Baker, Paul Kruman, and Stephanie Ruhle–assesses the latest reports & the disconnect between people’s views of the economy & its actual robust state. The panel talks at length about Trump’s economic centerpiece o…

In a special 1-on-1 taped before a live audience as part of the Talking San Diego series (www.talkingsandiego.net) , Harry sits down with Congressman Jamie Raskin to discuss a theory of Second Amendment rights that has proliferated in recent years, including support by elected officials such as Matt Gaetz. That is an insurrectionary theory accordin…

Continuing in our series of subject-specific topics leading up to Trump 2.0, we convene a great set of experts—Frank Figliuzzi, Juliette Kayyem, and Asha Rangappa—to assess the landscape in national security, beginning with the selection of Kash Patel to head the FBI. Patel has it all--inexperience, arch loyalty to Trump, and deep hostility to the …

Harry talks with Professor Tim Snyder, Levin Professor of History at Yale, who is both one of our leading political scientists and one of the most trenchant critics of Trump’s moves in the everyday. Snyder first discusses some of the organizing ideas in his scholarly work, especially the recent “On Freedom.” He explains his particular notion of fre…

The early indications from the first weeks since the election are gloomy. A roundtable of three of the podcast's all stars–Susan Glasser, Jen Rubin, and Charlie Sykes–joins Harry to break down the embryonic warnings of democratic backsliding ahead. Trump and his circle are flouting ethical requirements and trying to run an opaque shop, though repor…

Harry talks with Michael Tomasky, Editor of the New Republic, about his article, “Why Does No One Understand the Real Reason Trump Won?” Tomasky digs beneath the demographic information about increased Hispanic voters or concerns about immigration to explain the pivotal fact that vast fractions of the electorate – roughly those who voted for Trump …

Harry talks again w/ Marcy Wheeler, as tenacious a follower of the Trump cases as there is, about what Jack Smith might include in a report to Merrick Garland pursuant to the Special Counsel regulations that would supplement the historical record. The short answer is “plenty.” Marcy and Harry march through intriguing but incomplete details in the p…

We are doing a series of special episodes leading up to Trump 2.0 in the areas that are most in the crosshairs of Trump and Project 2025, including immigration, health care, and foreign policy. This is the first one, and it focuses on the Department of Justice, with our regular great expert roundtable of Katie Benner, Paul Fishman, and Amy Jeffress…

Harry talks with Sen. Chris Murphy about a range of subjects, including his recent reelection, his favorite book, and his annual walks across Connecticut. They focus mainly however on Murphy’s thoughts about the reasons for the Democrats 2024 defeat. Murphy had argued that the Democratic Party was ignoring a crisis staring it in the face, born of t…

Harry speaks with Constitutional scholar and Supreme Court expert Steve Vladeck about the seeds of a fundamental crisis in American political life. The Supreme Court rebuffed Trump at least some in his first term. But now Trump is a lame duck and a lawless cynic, and it’s not hard to envision as ignoring even a mandate from the Supreme Court. Moreo…

An excellent roundtable of commentators—Heather Cox Richardson, Bill Kristol, and Mara Liasson—explains why based on the early evidence, Trump 2.0 poses grave risks to the rule of law & the national security. He has advanced a series of gonzo nominations for key administration positions that as much as dare the Senate to cross him. And he is making…