A trio of superb economic analysts—Paul Krugman, Stephanie Ruhle, and Justin Wolfers—join Harry to break down how Trump is reshaping the U.S. economy. They weigh in on how long the shutdown can go on without major economic consequences, where tariffs are beginning to bite, and the future shape of the AI spike. Then, the whole panel joins in a big picture analysis of how Trump’s trademark chaotic, self-serving approach—combined with his attacks on institutions, immigration, and the rule of law—ri...
Oct 27, 2025•52 min
Harry speaks with Congressman Eric Swalwell about the surge of popular resistance to Trump shown in the “No Kings” rallies and what it means for the president’s attempts to remake the country in his image. They tackle Democrats’ progress in the shutdown fight, some hopeful signs from the courts, and Trump’s latest efforts to weaponize the DOJ. Plus, Rep. Swalwell pitches Harry on a new, creative legal strategy Democratic AGs could use to hold federal officials and agents to account. And this epi...
Oct 23, 2025•53 min
Harry talks with a great set of Talking Feds stalwarts—Charlie Sykes, Ali Vitali, and Jacob Weisberg—to get a handle on the fast-changing politics of the shutdown, the worthiness of the case against John Bolton, and the new group chat scandal roiling the GOP. Why is Vice President J.D. Vance calling criticism of leaked racist messages by rising Republicans "pearl-clutching"? Is the indictment against John Bolton just another political prosecution? And are top Republicans gearing up to give into ...
Oct 20, 2025•54 min
Christopher Eisgruber, the long-time president of Princeton University, joins Harry to talk about his new book, Terms of Respect. Eisgruber argues that robust free speech is alive and well on college campuses, and that instances of actual defeat of free speech are far more rare than critics charge. The key to navigating internal strife and external pressure—Eisgruber tells Harry—lies not in an abstract appeal to free speech or equality principles but rather in civil norms of respect that seek to...
Oct 16, 2025•49 min
Three top-notch journalists—Emily Bazelon, Susan Glasser, and Kristen Holmes—join Harry to analyze the stunning news of a ceasefire in Gaza, the indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Trump’s latest attempts to put troops on city streets. Will Trump have the attention span to ensure his deal endures, and why did he lash out at Kristen for asking about it? Are judges finally starting to wake up to the administration’s far-fetched declarations of emergencies? And what revelatio...
Oct 13, 2025•58 min
Supreme Court expert, Strict Scrutiny star, and Obama White House alum Kate Shaw joins Harry to preview the new SCOTUS term. A steady stream of emergency rulings that mostly backed President's Trump power grab has set the tone for a new year at the court. Kate and Harry preview several of the upcoming blockbuster cases, especially those dealing with executive power and gay rights. They then broaden the conversation, discussing whether any precedent is safe from the conservative supermajority; wh...
Oct 09, 2025•35 min
Harry pulls in a trio of political pros—former Senator Barbara Boxer, Jonathan Capehart, and Norm Ornstein—to assess the fight over the shutdown. Who will the public blame? How long will it last? They turn next to the stunning federal raid in Chicago, with agents busting down doors and snipers dropping in from helicopters. Does the action signal not just the abandonment of the 4th Amendment, but the arrival of an American gestapo? Finally, the trio decode Trump's speech to top military leaders, ...
Oct 06, 2025•1 hr 2 min
Harry turns to professor of medicine at Stanford, former Obama public policy official, and practicing primary care physician Dr. Kavita Patel to try to understand the Trump administration’s feverish transformation of federal health policy. Dr. Patel explains Trump’s warnings about tylenol, RFK Jr.’s plans for the CDC, and the costs of politicizing medicine. Dr. Patel offers a raw look at the reality of being a doctor amid these drastic changes, revealing details she’s never before shared publicl...
Oct 02, 2025•35 min
In the wake of the shocking indictment of James Comey, Harry convenes DOJ veterans Paul Fishman and Mimi Rocah, plus political analyst Jonathan Alter, to discuss the seismic implications for the rule of law. The panel then breaks down the stunning details of the bribery scandal that's quickly enveloping immigration czar Tom Homan. The group ends with a turn toward some hopeful news: the return of Jimmy Kimmel to TV screens and the small respite it signals for freedom of speech. Learn more about ...
Sep 29, 2025•58 min
In this month’s “Molly Harry Mashup,” Harry and Molly Jong-Fast break down the whirlwind of political and legal chaos under the current administration. From Trump’s clash with Jimmy Kimmel and his obsession with the Nobel Peace Prize, to the unraveling of DOJ norms and the erosion of the Constitution, to the bizarro Trump vaccine claim, Molly and Harry cut through the noise to explain what’s really happening in the political AND legal worlds—and why it matters. Learn more about your ad choices. ...
Sep 25, 2025•25 min
A week in which America suddenly came to look like classic autocratic regimes with the removal from TV of late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel, and more enforced exiles to come, for the simple sin of displeasing Trump. A trenchant panel of Bill Kristol and Juliette Kayyem take stock of this nightmarish development, as well as Trump’s effort to destroy the independence of the Fed, and the increasingly checkered and controversial on-the-job performance of FBI director Kash Patel. Learn more about your...
Sep 22, 2025•58 min
In the latest conversation in the Talking San Diego series, Harry sits down with Harvard historian and New Yorker writer Jill Lepore in front of a live San Diego audience to discuss Lepore’s important new book, “We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution.” The book contains revelations about the importance to the Framers of the Amendment process, which Lepore argues has become a dead letter since the failure of the proposed Equal RIghts Amendment. In its stead various generations of Ameri...
Sep 18, 2025•1 hr 19 min
As the country reels from the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Harry welcomes a special all-Contrarian panel of George Conway, Norm Eisen, and Jen Rubin to grapple with the attack's aftershocks. Has the country taken a yet darker turn, with political violence now in the mix? Will Trump seek to institute a crackdown on his critics? And has Kash Patel’s leadership weakened the FBI’s ability to respond effectively and impartially to a rising tide of politically motivated attacks? Lear...
Sep 15, 2025•56 min
Harry talks to Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat who’s got a hand in a wide array of headline-grabbing initiatives on Capitol Hill. Representative Krishnamoorthi fills Harry in on what Trump has planned for Chicago, what Democrats are saying about a possible government shutdown, whether further Epstein disclosures are on the way, and why he thinks it’s past time to ban members of Congress from trading stocks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Sep 11, 2025•21 min
Senator Heidi Heitkamp and CNN's Aaron Blake join Harry to break down a week that saw a series of sharp legal setbacks for the Trump administration and the return of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Trump is working Congress to keep Epstein materials from the public eye, but the hydraulic push from victims may prove too much to ignore. Meanwhile Trump is making noises about his next targets for a military incursion despite a serious legal rebuff. And as a dismal new jobs report suggests, the economy...
Sep 08, 2025•1 hr
Senator Richard Blumenthal takes Harry through his bombshell report exposing the colossal waste generated by the ironically-named Department of Government Efficiency during its rampage through the federal government. Illegal firings, spoiled food aid, and the installation of Elon Musk's overpaid minions all came with a price—both in billions of dollars and in quality of government. Plus, the two former federal prosecutors talk about Trump's efforts to push unqualified loyalists into top law enfo...
Sep 04, 2025•35 min
Guest host Jonathan Alter convenes Peter Baker, Molly Jong-Fast, and Charlie Sykes to talk through Trump’s latest lunge for unchecked power. The quartet dig into the week’s flurry of controversial firings and the prospects for a long-promised, now long-overdue peace deal in Ukraine. They then put Trump’s mafioso tactics under a microscope, investigating why they’ve worked so well, and what everyone can do to resist them. Mentioned in this episode: Jonathan’s Substack: https://oldgoats.substack.c...
Sep 01, 2025•54 min
Veteran journalist Ruth Marcus takes Harry on a tour of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Justice Department. Drawing on months of reporting including candid interviews with top officials, Marcus reveals the department’s frightening new view of itself and the costs of Bondi’s revolutionary tactics. The pair end with a look at another American institution undergoing seismic change: the Washington Post, which Marcus left this year after a four decade tenure. Mentioned in this episode: Marcus’ story abo...
Aug 28, 2025•40 min
A jam-packed discussion following hot on the dramatic news of the raid of John Bolton’s home, the stunning scenes in a militarized D.C., and the latest escalation in the gerrymandering arms race. Talking Feds regulars Jason Kander, Norm Ornstein, and Tara Setmayer join Harry to break down how long Trump can sustain his flagrant campaign of weaponizing law enforcement and politicizing the military—as well as how long the country can endure it. Mentioned in this episode: Jason’s podcast: https://p...
Aug 25, 2025•1 hr 7 min
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has a message for Donald Trump: if you want to mess with my state, “you have to come through me.” In this wide-ranging sit-down, Pritzker reveals to Harry why he thinks the gerrymandering fight, ICE arrests, and troops in D.C. are all a blaring signal to Democrats that they need to finally fight the president on his own terms, no-holds-barred. They also discuss Pritzker's very personal reasons for going into public service, Trump's direct attacks on the governor, ...
Aug 21, 2025•48 min
With a totally false picture of crime in D.C. as his pretense, Trump sought to turn the capital into a federal law enforcement enclave over local objections. Michael Podhorzer, Stuart Stevens, & Jacob Weisberg analyze Trump’s move and what it means for the rest of the country. The panel then takes up the gerrymandering wars coming to a rolling boil in Texas & California, before ending with an in-depth discussion of whether some Democrats' new combative style is the right tonic for the pa...
Aug 18, 2025•54 min
Harry talks with E. Jean Carroll about her harrowing but high-spirited new book—”Not My Type”—which is a tour of her exceptional legal victories over Donald Trump. The pair go inside Carroll’s triumphant legal strategy and talk through details from the trials—all brightly illustrated by Carroll’s inspired and colorful turns of phrase. The conversation closes with a dive into a shared fascination with boxing, of all things, and Carroll’s urgent advice for what the rest of us can do to take on Tru...
Aug 14, 2025•30 min
It was the week when the Department of Justice fully embraced its new status as the corrupt, ruthless agent for Trump's endless retribution agenda. The president’s lieutenants in the department launched a legal barrage against Trump foes like Barack Obama, Adam Schiff, and New York AG Letitia James. We chronicle the steep descent with 3 DOJ experts: Kristy Greenberg, Perry Stein, and Glenn Thrush. Rough but essential listening. Plus: a special sidebar on the beleaguered Voting Rights Act. Courts...
Aug 11, 2025•57 min
Harry talks with top election law expert Marc Elias about the efforts by Trump and Republicans across the country to stack the deck in their favor for the 2026 midterms. They delve into the effort in Texas to gerrymander five new seats for Republicans. They then turn to the Department of Justice's extraordinary effort to acquire information from state and local officials, and the specific dangers it poses. They close with some thoughts about what all of us can do to fight back. It's always timel...
Aug 07, 2025•36 min
It was another week dominated by the Epstein scandal, which grew ever more murky. A stellar only-on-Talking-Feds roundtable of Alisyn Camerota, Josh Marshall, and Asha Rangappa joins Harry to work through both the law and politics of Trump’s efforts to disentangle himself. The panel then moves on to apparent capitulation to Trump’s shakedown by a series of universities including Harvard, the former poster child for resistance. We close with a quick look at the Alina Habba mess in New Jersey. Lea...
Aug 04, 2025•54 min
Harry and Molly team up once again to swap burning questions about law and politics. The standout topic: Trump’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Harry gives Molly the lowdown about the Justice Department’s bizarre and deeply suspect dealings with Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Molly reads Harry the tea leaves on whether masses of young men — and even Fox News mastermind Rupert Murdoch — might be ready to ditch Trump. Lots more besides! Molly's piece in the Times: https://www.nytim...
Jul 31, 2025•28 min
It was the week when the Epstein scandal showed up in earnest and looked as if it would be staying for a while. Susan Glasser, Adam Klasfeld, and Bill Kristol join Harry to break down what is powering it and assess Trump’s various efforts to shake himself free, including dispatching the Deputy AG to Florida to interview Epstein’s co-conspirator, Ghislane Maxwell. But the week also brought key advances in Trump’s totalitarian agenda, with successful shakedowns of prominent civic institutions. Lea...
Jul 28, 2025•58 min
With just 5% of the world’s population, the United States holds nearly 25% of its prisoners. In this one-on-one, NYU Law Professor Rachel Barkow joins Harry to discuss her new book Justice Abandoned, which reveals how a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions helped enable the rise of mass incarceration. From pretrial detention to stop-and-frisk, Barkow explains how the Court’s embrace of “law and order” politics quietly gutted constitutional protections—and how today’s conservative majority coul...
Jul 24, 2025•1 hr 3 min
Another scandal erupted for Trump this week, but this time it was MAGA up in arms over the Administration’s doublespeak & failure to release the promised files involving Jeffrey Epstein. He also notched successes elsewhere, notably when Judiciary Committee Republicans unanimously approved his atrocious nomination of Emil Bove, and Congressional R's eliminated public funding for NPR & CPB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Jul 21, 2025•1 hr 1 min
Harry speaks with Representative Ro Khanna, who’s spending the summer fighting Trump on a range of fronts, from the Big Beautiful Bill to the unauthorized bombing of Iran. Lately Rep. Khanna has flashed a maverick streak to go with his progressive bonafides. Can his "Benefits Over Billionaires" tour bring political punishment to Republicans who backed Medicaid cuts? Why is he standing up for professional gamblers? And how come a CA congressman is so excited about an NYC mayoral race? As always w...
Jul 17, 2025•28 min
