FiveThirtyEight Politics - podcast cover

FiveThirtyEight Politics

ABC News, 538, FiveThirtyEight, Galen Drukefivethirtyeight.com
The 538 team covers the latest in politics, tracking the issues and "game-changers" every week.

Episodes

What Americans Think Of Kamala Harris

The contours of the Harris-Trump race are coming further into focus. Vice President Kamala Harris just wrapped up a weeklong tour of the battleground states with her newly minted running mate and former President Donald Trump has been weighing in on all matter of topics on social media and in a lengthy press conference. In this installment of the 538 Politics podcast, Galen speaks with senior elections analyst Nathaniel Rakich and New York Times polling editor Ruth Igielnik about the latest poll...

Aug 12, 202440 min

Reaction Podcast: Tim Walz Is Harris’ Running Mate

Vice President Kamala Harris has picked a running mate. On this installment of the 538 Politics podcast, the crew reacts to Harris’ selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Will the gun-owning, football-coaching Midwesterner help Democrats’ chances in November? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aug 06, 202431 min

Harris Gains In The Polls

On Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris secured enough delegate votes in the DNC virtual roll call to become the nominee and the announcement of her running mate is imminent. In this installment of the 538 Politics podcast, the crew looks at how the contours of the presidential race have changed in the two weeks since Harris became the expected nominee. In our newly relaunched polling averages, Harris has a slim lead nationally and across the northern battleground states. Learn more about your a...

Aug 05, 202437 min

American Politics Has A Respect Crisis

How much do you respect people who hold different political views from you? On today’s podcast, Galen speaks with Jeff Spinner-Halev and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse, political scientists and authors of the book “Respect and Loathing in American Democracy.” They conducted one of the first empirical studies of respect in American politics, exploring how modern partisans overwhelmingly struggle to respect their political enemies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aug 01, 202430 min

Who Will Harris Pick For VP?

In this installment of the 538 Politics podcast, the crew drafts potential running mates for expected Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Who will the veep choose for veep? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 29, 202441 min

The Harris Campaign Begins

In the span of just two days, Vice President Kamala Harris consolidated support within the Democratic Party and is well on her way to securing the Democratic nomination for president. In this installment of the 538 Politics podcast, Galen speaks with Mary Radcliffe and Geoffrey Skelley about what has and hasn’t changed in the newly reshaped 2024 presidential race. Harris won’t have the same challenges President Joe Biden faced when it came to perceptions of his age, and already it appears some y...

Jul 25, 202443 min

Biden Drops Out

In this weekend installment of the 538 Politics podcast, the crew reacts to President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 race. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 21, 202434 min

Trump Breaks With RNC Message On Night 4

On the final night of the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination and spoke publicly for the first time since his attempted assassination. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 19, 202426 min

JD Vance Aims To Reframe The GOP On Night 3 Of The RNC

In this late-night installment of the 538 Politics podcast, senior elections analyst Nathaniel Rakich and New York Times polling editor Ruth Igielnik join Galen to help make sense of the third night of the Republican National Convention. Plus: How should we interpret polls that show a majority of Democrats want President Joe Biden to step aside? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 18, 202435 min

The GOP Projects Unity On Night 2 Of The RNC

In this late-night installment of the 538 Politics podcast, the crew reacts to the first two days of the Republican National Convention. They also discuss the latest developments in President Joe Biden’s efforts to stay atop the Democratic ticket. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 17, 202436 min

Reaction Podcast: Vance Is Trump’s Running Mate

In this bonus installment of the 538 Politics podcast, the crew discusses former president Donald Trump’s choice of running mate: Ohio senator J.D. Vance. The “Hillbilly Elegy” author is unique among past running mates for his lack of political experience — and for his beard. What kind of running mate might he be? And will it matter? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 15, 202421 min

Making Sense Of Political Violence In America

In this installment of the 538 Politics podcast, the crew reacts to the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump. They discuss the impact on the country and community and also look at public opinion data on political violence. They also look at historical examples of such violence and track how lawmakers are reacting today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 15, 202437 min

The Biden Stalemate Continues

The purgatory continues. The number of lawmakers saying President Joe Biden should not run for reelection continues to tick up, while Biden’s answer — that he is staying in the race — remains the same. In this installment of the 538 Politics podcast, we look at data on which lawmakers are calling on Biden to step aside and who is continuing to support him. The RNC also released its proposed platform this week and we use a good or bad use of polling example to better understand whether former Pre...

Jul 11, 202443 min

Can Biden Hold On?

As the Senate returns to Washington for the first time since President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance, the president appears to be digging in his heels. In a letter to Democratic lawmakers sent Monday morning, Biden was adamant that he is staying in the presidential race. But it does not seem like the interested parties are taking Biden’s insistence as the final word on the issue. With just six weeks until the Democratic National Convention, how does this all end? And following landma...

Jul 08, 202431 min

Exclusive: President Biden Sits Down with ABC News

President Joe Biden, in an exclusive interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos that aired Friday night, acknowledged last week's debate was a "bad episode" but pushed back strongly against broader questions about his age and mental fitness. Biden's sit-down with ABC News was his first television interview since the June 27 debate. Hear the interview now, in its entirety, on ABC News' "Start Here" podcast: Apple Podcasts (http://bit.ly/3VmuAnm), Spotify (http://bit.ly/3j947fm), Amazon ...

Jul 06, 202438 sec

Making Sense Of A Historic British Election

Happy Fourth of July! To celebrate our independence from Great Britain, the 538 Politics podcast is actually turning its attention to the United Kingdom's upcoming election. The U.K. is holding its first national election in four and a half years on July 4 and the polling suggests the Labour Party will make historic gains, booting Conservatives from power for the first time in 14 years. To get a sense of the forces behind the dramatic shift since 2019, two longtime friends of the podcast weigh i...

Jul 04, 202441 min

The Push For A Biden Replacement Becomes Real

The ground has started to shift beneath President Joe Biden's feet. Between Tuesday and Wednesday, multiple Democratic lawmakers raised questions about his viability as a candidate in 2024 and weighed in on who might replace him should he step aside. In this installment of the 538 Politics podcast, Galen Druke speaks with Senior Elections Analyst Geoffrey Skelley about the latest data on how voters are reacting to Biden's debate performance and what could happen next. Learn more about your ad ch...

Jul 03, 202435 min

Presidential Immunity And More Debate Fallout

Since Thursday, the only story in American politics has been President Joe Biden's poor debate performance and what on earth Democrats are going to do about it. That was until today, when the Supreme Court ruled that American presidents have legal immunity for official acts. In this installment of the 538 Politics podcast, Galen Druke speaks with Jessica Roth, a law professor and former federal prosecutor, about the details of the Supreme Court's ruling. Then 538's Nathaniel Rakich and Tia Yang ...

Jul 01, 202447 min

Reaction Podcast: A Rough Debate For Biden

Galen reacts to the first 2024 presidential debate between President Biden and former President Donald Trump with senior elections analyst Nathaniel Rakich and New York Times polling editor Ruth Igielnik. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jun 28, 202430 min

What To Expect From The First Presidential Debate

This Thursday, President Biden and former President Donald Trump will go head-to-head in the earliest presidential debate ever. It is also the first contest between a president and former president in over a century and the first debate not run by the Commission on Presidential Debates since 1988. In this installment of the 538 Politics podcast, the crew discusses whether historical expectations for presidential debates will apply in this unique situation. They also dissect some questionable use...

Jun 24, 202441 min

Voters Around The World Are Mad As Hell

There are more people voting in 2024 than ever before. This year, elections are taking place in at least 64 countries, as well as the European Union, totaling almost half of the world’s population. In this installment of the 538 Politics podcast, Galen sits down with Richard Wike, director of Pew’s Global Attitudes Research, and Matthias Matthijs, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, to talk about whether voters are behaving similarly across the globe. One of the biggest trends the...

Jun 20, 202440 min

2024 Is Going To Be A Vibes Election

Last week we got significant news in two key issue areas that might shape how voters are thinking this fall: the economy and abortion legality. First, on Wednesday, the latest consumer price index data showed inflation cooling more than expected. Then, on Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously to uphold access to the abortion medication mifepristone by mail. In this installment of the 538 Politics podcast, Galen speaks with Senior Researcher Mary Radcliffe and Senior Elections Analyst Nat...

Jun 17, 202439 min

How Much AI Regulation Is The Right Amount?

Last month, a bipartisan group of senators unveiled a roadmap for artificial intelligence policy, proposing $32 billion in funding to support AI research. The plan has raised numerous questions about whether and how the government intends to regulate the rapidly evolving tech industry, especially in areas related to copyright and privacy. In this installment of the 538 Politics podcast, Galen speaks with Gregory Allen, Director of the Wadhwani Center for AI and Advanced Technologies, about the p...

Jun 13, 202443 min

538’s New Forecast Says The Election Is A Toss-Up

The 2024 presidential election forecast is live. In this installment of the 538 Politics podcast, Galen sits down with director of data analytics G. Elliott Morris to talk about the even odds between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. While Trump leads in the polls nationally and in the battleground states, the fundamentals favor Biden, resulting in an extremely close call between the two. Elliott and Galen discuss the sources of uncertainty in the forecast and what we might ...

Jun 11, 202440 min

Mr. Druke Goes to Washington

This installment of the 538 Politics podcast comes to you from the nation's capital, where Galen is joined in-studio by senior elections analyst Nathaniel Rakich and friend of the podcast, New York Times polling editor Ruth Igielnik. They talk about the latest polling since former president Donald Trump's guilty verdict in his Manhattan hush-money trial and President Joe Biden's decision to issue an executive order restricting asylum at the southern border. They also play a game of historical el...

Jun 06, 202445 min

The First Polls Since Trump’s Guilty Verdict Are In

It's been four days since former President Donald Trump’s guilty verdict in the Manhattan criminal case, and the early indication from the polls is that there has been a small shift away from Trump in head-to-head polling with President Joe Biden. In this installment of the 538 Politics podcast, we talk about the latest data and whether we expect that shift to endure. We are also now officially on Supreme Court decision watch, with cases surrounding Jan. 6, the Second Amendment and abortion medi...

Jun 03, 202446 min

Reaction Podcast: Trump Found Guilty

On Thursday, a Manhattan jury found former President Donald Trump guilty of all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. In this 538 Politics reaction podcast, Galen speaks with former federal prosecutor Jessica Roth about the legal implications of the jury's finding. Then 538's Nathaniel Rakich joins the podcast to discuss the possible political implications of the guilty verdict. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastcho...

May 31, 202433 min

The 3 Questions That Will Decide Trump's First Trial

Closing arguments have wrapped up in former President Donald Trump’s first criminal trial, where he is being accused of falsifying business records in connection to a hush money payment made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign. This marks the beginning of the end of the first criminal prosecution of a former American president, and the verdict could affect his future career in politics. In the latest installment of the 538 Politics podcast, Galen talks with J...

May 28, 202437 min

Elections Everywhere All At Once

It’s been a newsy week for elections here at home and across the pond. On Wednesday, in her first public appearance since dropping out of the Republican primary, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said that she is going to vote for former President Donald Trump this fall. In this installment of the 538 Politics podcast, we ask whether her endorsement actually matters to voters. We also indulge in some British politics, with the announcement that the U.K. will hold general elections on July 4. Th...

May 23, 202437 min

Campaign Throwback: 'The Beer Question'

This is the third installment of the 538 Politics podcast mini-series, “Campaign Throwback.” Across three episodes, we're taking a look back at campaign tropes from past elections such as, “it’s the economy, stupid,” or “soccer moms” or that question about which candidate you’d rather share a beer with. We’ll ask where those tropes came from, whether they were actually true at the time and if they still hold up today. In our third installment: "the beer question." After the 2000 and 2004 electio...

May 22, 202426 min