In which John Heilemann talks with Cecile Richards, co-chair of the Democratic super PAC American Bridge 21st Century, co-founder of the women’s rights advocacy group Supermajority, and, from 2006 to 2018, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Heilemann and Richards discuss Roe v Wade's uncertain future in the wake of the recent Supreme Court arguments around restrictive abortion laws in Mississippi and Texas, and the effects that Roe's potential demise might have on women and p...
Dec 14, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 64
In which John Heilemann talks with Karen Bass, the six-term California Democratic congresswoman, former speaker of the State Assembly, and current frontrunner in next year’s mayoral election in her home town of Los Angeles. Heilemann and Bass discuss the Omicron variant and the politics behind vaccine resistance in the US; Los Angeles’s homelessness crisis and why it’s the single most important issue motivating Bass to run for mayor; why her party’s messaging isn’t always resonating with voters;...
Dec 07, 2021•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 63
In which John Heilemann talks with Gary Ginsberg, the author of First Friends: The Powerful, Unsung (And Unelected) People Who Shaped Our Presidents. Heilemann and Ginsberg discuss the bestselling book, Ginsberg’s innovative approach to writing about the presidency (via the presidents’ relationships with their best friends), and how his role as corporate consiglieri to powerful men, such as JFK Jr., Rupert Murdoch, and former Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, helped him find this new angle. Ginsberg ...
Nov 30, 2021•1 hr 21 min•Season 2Ep. 62
In which John Heilemann talks with Chris Krebs, founding director of the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the last Donald Trump appointee to be fired by tweet (after he declared that the 2020 election was the “most secure in American history”). Heilemann and Krebs discuss his work as a co-chair of the Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder and its recently released final report, which focuses on the root causes of America’s mis- and disinformation crisis...
Nov 23, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Season 2Ep. 61
In which John Heilemann talks with Danny Strong, the creator, showrunner, and writer of Dopesick, the eight-part Hulu miniseries chronicling the Oxycontin epidemic and the broader opioid crisis it unleashed on America. Heilemann and Strong explore the human costs of that crisis, along with the corporate malfeasance of Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, who relentlessly, deceptively, and indeed criminally marketed Oxycontin as non-addictive; Strong's early work as an actor on popul...
Nov 16, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Season 2Ep. 60
In which John Heilemann talks with John Doerr, the billionaire Silicon Valley venture capitalist who financed Google, Amazon, and other household names of the digital age, about his transformation into a greentech pioneer and environmental policy advocate. Heilemann and Doerr discuss the sweeping agenda laid out in Doerr's new book Speed & Scale: An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now and his takeaways from the UN climate summit COP26 taking place in Glasgow, Scotland; the evolution o...
Nov 09, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Season 2Ep. 59
The intersection of sports, culture, and politics is at the heart of the new weekly podcast from The Recount, "The Long Game with LZ & Leitch", premiering Wednesday, November 3rd. Hosted by LZ Granderson, formerly of ESPN, now an op-ed columnist for the L.A. Times and a political contributor to ABC News, and Will Leitch, founder of the late website Deadspin, a contributing editor at New York Magazine and the author of "How Lucky", "The Long Game" dives into the most relevant sports topics of the...
Nov 03, 2021•4 min
In which John Heilemann talks with Paul Begala and James Carville, the fabled Democratic strategists who famously led Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. Heilemann, Begala, and Carville discuss the travails of Joe Biden’s ambitious domestic legislative initiatives as they hit repeated roadblocks in Congress; this week's bellwether Virginia gubernatorial election and what its outcome might foreshadow for both parties in next year's midterm elections; the implications of the fierce infighti...
Nov 02, 2021•1 hr 26 min•Season 2Ep. 58
In which John Heilemann talks with Fiona Hill, the former national security official in Donald Trump's White House who made headlines with her testimony in the hearings over the Ukraine scandal that led to his first impeachment. Heilemann and Hill discuss her new memoir, There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century, including her reluctant decision to join the Trump administration, what she learned about his character, and his envious admiration for authoritaria...
Oct 26, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Season 2Ep. 57
In which John Heilemann talks with Maya Wiley, the longtime progressive activist and civil rights lawyer who waged a spirited campaign for mayor of New York City earlier this year. Heilemann and Wiley discuss her entry in the race, the highs, lows, and surprises of the campaign, and what the victory of centrist Eric Adams means for NYC and the future of the Democratic Party; the fragile state of American democracy and the threat posed by Trump, the Republican Party, and their perpetuation of the...
Oct 19, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Season 2Ep. 56
In which John Heilemann talks with CBS News chief political analyst and CBS Sunday Morning contributor John Dickerson. The former moderator of Face the Nation, co-host of CBS This Morning, and correspondent for 60 Minutes, Dickerson is also the author of three books, a former writer for Slate and Time, and a co-host of Slate Political Gabfest. Heilemann and Dickerson discuss Republican and Democratic wrangling over the debt ceiling, the controversial Texas abortion law, the Facebook whistleblowe...
Oct 12, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Season 2Ep. 55
In which John Heilemann talks with Brian Koppelman, co-creator, showrunner, and executive producer of the hit Showtime series Billions. Heilemann and Koppelman discuss the genesis of Billions and why Brian was drawn to the world of hedge funds; the fifth season of the show (its finale aired on October 3) and the challenges posed by a months-long, Covid-imposed break in production; the feud between megalomaniacal financial titan Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis) and Machiavellian lawman Chuck Rhoades ...
Oct 06, 2021•57 min•Season 2Ep. 54
In which John Heilemann talks with Brian Koppelman, co-creator, showrunner, and executive producer of the hit Showtime series Billions. Heilemann and Koppelman discuss the genesis of Billions and why Brian was drawn to the world of hedge funds; the fifth season of the show (its finale aired on October 3) and the challenges posed by a months-long, Covid-imposed break in production; the feud between megalomaniacal financial titan Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis) and Machiavellian lawman Chuck Rhoades ...
Oct 05, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Season 2Ep. 54
In which John Heilemann talks with Stevie Van Zandt, a founding member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, co-star of The Sopranos, and author of a new memoir, Unrequited Infatuations. In this special two-part episode, Heilemann and Van Zandt discuss his early musical influences, the foundations of his best friendship with Springsteen, the extraordinary albums they made together in the 1970s—Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, The River—and th...
Sep 29, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Season 2Ep. 53
In which John Heilemann talks with Stevie Van Zandt, a founding member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, co-star of The Sopranos, and author of a new memoir, Unrequited Infatuations. In this special two-part episode, Heilemann and Van Zandt discuss his early musical influences, the foundations of his best friendship with Springsteen, the extraordinary albums they made together in the 1970s—Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, The River—and th...
Sep 28, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Season 2Ep. 53
In which John Heilemann talks with documentarian Ken Burns, whose new four-part series, Muhammad Ali, premiered this week on PBS. Heilemann and Burns discuss Ali's life and legacy as the most important athlete of the 20th century, in particular how his story transcends sports, intersecting with the defining issues of his era (race, religion, politics, protest) and illuminating much about the American experience in the convulsive Sixties and Seventies; Burns's prodigious body of work, which has e...
Sep 21, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 52
In which John Heilemann talks with Frank Figliuzzi, former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence, author of The FBI Way: Inside the Bureau's Code of Excellence, and current MSNBC and NBC News national security contributor. Heilemann and Figliuzzi discuss the upcoming “Justice for J6” protest in Washington by those who consider the January 6 insurrectionists "political prisoners" and why, especially in the wake of President Biden's vaccine mandate, law enforcement and intelligence offici...
Sep 14, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 51
In which John Heilemann talks with George Packer, staff writer for The Atlantic and National Book Award-winning author of The Unwinding, The Assassin's Gate, Our Man, and, Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal. Heilemann and Packer discuss Joe Biden's handling of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and how it spurred the first foreign policy crisis of his presidency; the twentieth anniversaries of 9-11 and the global war on terror, and how they changed America in ways large an...
Sep 07, 2021•1 hr 29 min•Season 1Ep. 50
In which John Heilemann talks with magician and performance artist Derek DelGaudio, best known for his Off-Broadway one-man show turned Hulu special. In & Of Itself. Heilemann and DelGaudio discuss the difficulty of discussing the show, which Derek has described as "a theatrical existential crisis," to anyone who hasn't seen it; his attempts to transcend the stereotypes associated with being identified as a magician; his evolution from a student of sleight-of-hand to a card mechanic (aka, a deal...
Aug 31, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 49
In which John Heilemann talks with renowned epidemiologist Dr Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota and a former member of Joe Biden's Covid-19 presidential transition advisory board. Heilemann and Osterholm discuss the past, present, and future of the pandemic as the Delta variant lays waste to the sense, just weeks ago, that America had gained the upper hand against Covid; the ways politicians have misjudged the viru...
Aug 24, 2021•55 min•Season 1Ep. 48
In which John Heilemann talks with Claire McCaskill, former two-term Missouri Democratic senator and current political analyst for MSNBC. Heilemann and McCaskill discuss the Senate passage of Joe Biden's $1 trillion infrastructure bill and its outlook in the House, along with his proposed $3.5 trillion expansion of the social safety net; whether Biden is doing enough to press for voting rights legislation in the face of a slew of GOP efforts to curtail them; an array of gender-tinged topics, fro...
Aug 17, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 47
In which John Heilemann talks with Chris Matthews, the longtime MSNBC commentator and host for more than 20 years of one of the network's flagship programs, Hardball. Matthews, whose career before becoming a cable news fixture included stints as a speechwriter in Jimmy Carter's White House and an aide to former House Speaker Tip O'Neill, is also the author of nine best-selling books, the most recent of which, This Country: My in Politics and History, was published in June. Heilemann and Matthews...
Aug 11, 2021•49 min•Season 1Ep. 46
In which John Heilemann talks with Chris Matthews, the longtime MSNBC commentator and host for more than 20 years of one of the network's flagship programs, Hardball. Matthews, whose career before becoming a cable news fixture included stints as a speechwriter in Jimmy Carter's White House and an aide to former House Speaker Tip O'Neill, is also the author of nine best-selling books, the most recent of which, This Country: My in Politics and History, was published in June. Heilemann and Matthews...
Aug 10, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 46
In which John Heilemann talks with Roger Bennett, cohost of Men in Blazers on NBC Sports, and Jon Wertheim, executive editor of Sports Illustrated. Heilemann, Bennet, and Wertheim discuss the Tokyo Summer Olympics, how the games have been affected by our deeply polarized politics (with conservatives trashing Team USA for excessive wokeness), and the controversy around Simone Biles's decision to prioritize her mental health over winning at all costs. They go deep on recently published books by th...
Aug 03, 2021•2 hr 34 min•Season 1Ep. 45
In which John Heilemann talks with the visual artists and graphic designers Cey Adams and Shepard Fairey. Heilemann, Adams, and Fairey discuss the artists' common roots in the graffiti and street art scenes of the 1980s; Cey's seminal role as founding creative director at Def Jam Recordings—where his collaborations with the Beastie Boys, Run DMC, LL Cool J, and Jay-Z defined the look and feel of hip hop in its formative stages—and his more recent work with the Smithsonian National Museum of Afri...
Jul 27, 2021•1 hr 26 min•Season 1Ep. 44
In which John Heilemann talks with Kurt Andersen, the host, writer, and co-producer of the podcast series "Nixon at War," a seven-part exploration of Richard Nixon's downfall through the less of Vietnam. Heilemann and Andersen discuss Andersen's thesis that the war in Southeast Asia and the Watergate scandal, the twin disasters of Nixon's time in office, are not separate stories but deeply entwined; the astonishing archival audio, much of it from Nixon's White House taping system, that makes the...
Jul 20, 2021•2 hr 39 min•Season 1Ep. 43
In which John Heilemann talks with Mike Bender, senior White House reporter for The Wall Street Journal and author of Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost, for a special two-part episode of the podcast. Heilemann and Bender discuss the latter's new book and its news-making account of Trump's cataclysmic final year in office and doomstruck reelection campaign; how the president mishandled the series of crises that beset the country in 2020, from Covid to the prote...
Jul 14, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 42
In which John Heilemann talks with Mike Bender, senior White House reporter for The Wall Street Journal and author of Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost, for a special two-part episode of the podcast. Heilemann and Bender discuss the latter's new book and its news-making account of Trump's cataclysmic final year in office and doomstruck reelection campaign; how the president mishandled the series of crises that beset the country in 2020, from Covid to the prote...
Jul 13, 2021•58 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Every morning on The Recount Daily Pod, host journalist Reena Ninan will break down the most important news of the day, both domestically and abroad. In 5 minutes or less, you’ll walk away feeling smarter and more in sync with the world. Then, tune in for an interview with journalists who are on the forefront of the stories that affect us all. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about ...
Jul 06, 2021•3 min
On a special episode of Hell & High Water, John Heilemann revisits some his favorite interviews with guests from the entertainment industry, whose work was honored during this past awards season. Aaron Sorkin discusses the pandemic-related challenges of wrapping and releasing The Trial of the Chicago 7, for which he was nominated for an Oscar and won the Golden Globe for best original screenplay. Daveed Diggs, Ethan Hawke, and James McBride recount their collaboration on The Good Lord Bird, the ...
Jun 22, 2021•1 hr 23 min•Season 1Ep. 41
