Inside the Hive  - podcast cover

Inside the Hive

Vanity Fairwww.vanityfair.com

What won’t people do for power? On Inside the Hive, Vanity Fair’s editor in chief, Radhika Jones, along with executive editor Claire Howorth and Hive editor Michael Calderone, spotlight the players jockeying for status, the coattail riders, and the ones truly calling the shots. How far will these power seekers go? What rules will they break? And what happens to those who stand in their way? Each week Inside the Hive brings you tales of the rich and fickle. Power brokers eventually fall. Betrayals happen. And plots get twisted. 

Episodes

HBO’s Succession Is Ending. The Murdoch Family Drama Plays On.

As the Succession finale nears, host Brian Stelter catches up with Vanity Fair executive editor Claire Howorth about the stunning plot twists in the fictional drama—and within the real-life media dynasty. And when it comes to politics, do powerful TV networks or the president—whether Jeryd Mencken or Donald Trump—really run the show? Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

May 25, 202339 min

Fox News Is Losing Its Grip on the Base

On this week’s episode, host Brian Stelter talks to Vanity Fair staff writer Caleb Ecarma and Bulwark political columnist Amanda Carpenter about the expanding right-wing media ecosystem, from Newsmax to The Daily Wire, “The War Room” to “InfoWars.” (Not to mention Tucker Carlson taking his talents to Twitter.) Can Fox News stave off the insurgents and keep its audience glued to the channel? Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices...

May 18, 202336 min

Tucker and Twitter and Trump, Oh My!

On this episode, host Brian Stelter checks in with Vanity Fair senior media correspondent Joe Pompeo and Washington Post national enterprise reporter Sarah Ellison about Tucker Carlson’s Twitter gamble before diving into Donald Trump and Fox News’s dysfunctional relationship, and whether the Murdochs’ network will be in his corner in 2024. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

May 11, 202333 min

The Tucker Carlson Implosion Continues

On this week’s episode, host Brian Stelter talks to Vanity Fair ’s Charlotte Klein and New York Times Magazine contributor Jason Zengerle, who is writing a book about Tucker Carlson, about the latest revelations surrounding the now-former Fox News star, and whether a newly surfaced text is really a smoking gun. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

May 04, 202342 min

Inside The Hive: Fox vs. Tucker Carlson

On this week’s episode, host Brian Stelter talks to Gabriel Sherman and Bess Levin about the bombshell Fox dropped before the Dominion dust had even settled: the ouster of prime-time star Tucker Carlson. The Vanity Fair writers discuss what it means for the company, the viewers, and the host who seemed to have no boundaries. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Apr 27, 202338 min

Fox on Trial: Fox News Won’t Apologize—Or Change

Dominion won an eye-popping $787.5 million settlement this week, but Fox also notched a major victory in keeping the Murdochs, its top executives, and stars like Tucker Carlson off the witness stand. On the latest episode of Inside the Hive , host Brian Stelter talks to Vanity Fair special correspondent Molly Jong-Fast and Hive editor Michael Calderone about the fallout from the payout, the future of the network, and how the public is losing out in the trial's abrupt end. Learn about your ad cho...

Apr 20, 202334 min

Fox on Trial: Rupert Murdoch’s Date With Destiny

Will the 92-year-old media mogul be able to steer his empire through an incoming legal maelstrom? On the latest episode of Inside the Hive, Brian Stelter and Gabriel Sherman, who have been following Murdochland for decades, spill the tea on what Monday’s trial could mean for the dynasty—and democracy at large. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Apr 13, 202336 min

Who Actually Still Wants to be An Influencer?

As the creator economy reaches a saturation point—even Barbie’s an influencer now!—growing concerns about children’s rights and parasocial celebrity relationships paint an increasingly grim picture. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Apr 03, 202328 min

Can the news media ever learn to resist Trump’s psychodrama?

On this, the last episode of Inside the Hive featuring cohosts Emily Jane Fox and Joe Hagan, the Vanity Fair Correspondents reflect on 3 years of covering and discussing Trump and ask whether indictments will finally chasten Trump—and whether the media will remain hopelessly addicted to his noise. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Mar 29, 202323 min

Gen Z Takes the Dems

Maxwell Frost represents a generational shift in the Democratic Party—one where activism is at the fore. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Mar 17, 202329 min

(Rerun) Lis Smith Says the Path to Trounce Ron DeSantis Is Straight Through Right-Wing Media

This week, Inside the Hive cohost Joe Hagan talks to Lis Smith, Democratic campaign veteran and author of the new memoir Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story , which details her journey, the public one and the private one, through Democratic campaigns over the past 17 years, for candidates as varied as Jon Corzine, Barack Obama, Pete Buttigieg, and, most infamously, former governor Andrew Cuomo, whose lurid political demise she details down to the last moments of his time in office. A savvy...

Mar 15, 202342 min

Let’s Just Say It: The GOP Is Obsessed With Penises

From Trump’s “Tiny D” moniker to Tucker Carlson’s ball-tanning, Republicans can’t seem to stop talking about that body part. Is somebody feeling insecure? Hive politics correspondent Bess Levin and senior Vanities editor Maggie Coughlan take a look at the uniquely toxic world of Republican men and their obsession. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Mar 10, 202320 min

(Rerun) Inside Ozempic’s Rise as Hollywood’s Latest ‘Miracle’ Diet Drug

On this week’s episode of Inside the Hive, dietician Kim Shapira joins Emily Jane Fox to talk about the new weight loss drug taking Hollywood and TikTok by storm—how it works, why everyone seems to be talking about it, and what kind of message the “quick-fix” trend is sending. Plus: Fox and Joe Hagan break down Michael Avenatti’s sentence and what it could mean for other wayward political figures. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices...

Mar 08, 202333 min

Is the Party Over for Peak TV?

Natalie Jarvey and Joe Pompeo explain the course correction in Hollywood, as the sun begins to set on streaming’s golden age and TV writers gird for a possible strike. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Mar 03, 202335 min

Who Is the ‘New Right’ Anyway?

Poser fascists? Dilettante preppers? The new elite? James Pogue and Jeff Sharlet join Joe Hagan to discuss and debate the specific contours of America's rising fringe Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Mar 01, 20231 hr 8 min

(Rerun) An Interview with Hunter Biden

On this week’s episode of Inside the Hive, Emily Jane Fox sits down with the First Son to talk about his addiction, his dad, what makes a Biden love story, and why he thinks the GOP, and Don Jr. in particular, are obsessed with him. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Feb 22, 202338 min

The Right's Obsession with Culture Wars

Molly Jong-Fast and Chris Murphy break down the conservative outrage machine, and the right's obsession with using national events like the Super Bowl and the Oscars to push their agenda. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Feb 17, 202322 min

The Dark Scandals and Power Struggles of Sumner Redstone, Les Moonves, and the Companies They Controlled

This week, “New York Times” reporters James Stewart and Rachel Abrams join “Inside the Hive” cohost Joe Hagan to discuss their explosive new book, “ Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy ,” which details the unseemly power struggles around the late Sumner Redstone, who controlled Viacom and CBS, and the downfall of CBS chief Les Moonves, whose attempts to cover up years of alleged sexual misconduct exploded at the height of the #MeToo movement. Learn about...

Feb 15, 202334 min

America’s Grifter Obsession

Joe Pompeo and Maggie Coughlan jump down the rabbit hole of some of the all-time greatest grifter sagas, tracing our obsession back to the 19th century and bringing it forward to Anna Delvey and George Santos. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Feb 10, 202330 min

Inside Biden's SOTU Victory Lap

Our team of Hive all-stars came together post State of the Union Address to break down how President Biden commanded the room, owned the Republicans, and what this could reveal about what a Biden-Trump head-to-head could look like in 2024. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Feb 08, 202335 min

“We’re Going to See Benghazi 2.0”

Hive minds Bess Levin and Abigail Tracy analyze the GOP’s House afire with chaos and investigations, and why a DeSantis presidency is not necessarily better than a Trump one. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Feb 03, 202330 min

“He's Running. There’s Almost No Doubt In My Mind.”

Bestselling author and White House insider Chris Whipple talks Biden 2024, party divisions, the GOP’s “hair on fire” chaos, and what Jill Biden could be thinking. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Feb 01, 202339 min

Is George Santos the End of the GOP? Or the Beginning of a Reboot?

On this week's episode of Inside the Hive, Molly Jong-Fast dishes on George Santos's most egregious lies, what they reveal about the Republican thirst for power above all else, and how Democrats could leverage the shenanigans to their advantage. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Jan 25, 202322 min

How California Plans to Navigate a Future of Apocalyptic Weather

After weeks of torrential rain storms that have flooded communities, toppled trees and brought on huge economic devastations, Yana Garcia joins Inside the Hive to share how environmental justice will play a role in recovery. For weeks, a battery of atmospheric rains has bombarded California, destroying roads, triggering mudslides, and flooding homes and farms — all that following months of drought, and before that, wildfires. This week, Inside the Hive is joined by Yana Garcia , California’s Sec...

Jan 19, 202332 min

Inside the Congressional Shitstorm That (Maybe) Ruined the GOP

On this week’s episode of Inside the Hive, co-hosts Joe Hagan and Emily Jane Fox are joined by their Hive colleague and Capitol Hill all-star Abigail Tracy, who was in the halls of Congress last week as the House speaker debacle played out in real time. She gives a window into the chaos—and the consequences for both parties—as well as what it could mean for the 2024 races. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices...

Jan 11, 202346 min

Kevin McCarthy and the GOP’s Cult of No Personality

Joe Hagan and Molly Jong-Fast analyze the war inside the Republican Party as California congressman Kevin McCarthy is thrice denied his bid for Speaker of the House. In disarray and denial, the GOP appears intent on kicking off the New Year with the same old extremist politics that have depressed its fortunes through the past three election cycles. Then, Jong-Fast discusses her exclusive interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, who has the Sisyphean task of tackling immigration—an issue the ...

Jan 04, 202338 min

(Re-run) Inside the "New Right"

Author James Pogue talks to cohosts Emily Jane Fox and Joe Hagan about the so-called New Right, the intellectual movement congealing around tech billionaire and MAGA mega-donor Peter Thiel and the Trumpist GOP, which he wrote about for this month’s Vanity Fair. After embedding himself with the vanguard of intellectuals whose reactionary politics, antagonism for democracy and visions of retro-patriarchy inform the agendas of people like Tucker Carlson and JD Vance, Pogue demystifies fringe ideas ...

Dec 28, 20221 hr

Trump’s Inner Circle Is “Running the Other Way”

Emily Jane Fox and Joe Hagan discuss the implications of the January 6 committee’s criminal referrals to the Department of Justice over Donald Trump ’s alleged crimes. Jack Smith, the special prosecutor appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, faces a complex calculus: Will prosecuting the former narcissist in chief bring long-awaited justice, or only help reanimate Trump’s political fortunes for 2024? Plus: some of the best in this year’s culture. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx...

Dec 21, 202233 min