John and Abe talk about what goes into putting together an issue of COMMENTARY, using the July/August issue as an example. From the commissioning of articles to the editorial and production stages to the practical constraints of print and the kind of decisions that shape each issue—it's all covered. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this podcast, we talk about works of science fiction that have meant a lot to us, whether short stories or novels. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today we talk about our favorite memoirs and the effect they've had on us. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today we discuss speeches—historical, modern, American, or otherwise—that have had particular significance for each of us. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today's podcast evaluates the Trump press conference yesterday and whether he met the moment, and considers whether things have taken a potentially startling turn in the Middle East. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Eli Lake joins us to take the temperature of the Tim Walz Era—are the stories about his service dangerous for him or dangerous for Republicans who want to use them? And what about Kamala Harris's engagement at a rally with pro-Hamas protestors—did that go well for her or does it suggest trouble ahead? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mark Halperin joins us today to evaluate the introduction of Veep candidate Tim Walz and the question of the role of Jewishness or his lack thereof in his selection. And what is Donald Trump doing, exactly? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dan Senor joins us to discuss the Democratic VP pick and what it says about the party and its vanguard and what it means to be a Jewish Democrat in 2024. Also, is there a reason to think the impending Iranian response to Israel won't be as horrifying as many fear? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Two guests today, for the first time on the COMMENTARY podcast! Jonathan Schanzer joins to talk about the Middle East and David Bahnsen joins to talk about the bad day in the market and what it portends. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Our old pal Noah Rothman comes back on the podcast today to discuss whether and how to celebrate the release of American prisoners from Russian jails and how this might tie in to the question of Israel's handling of its own prisoner swaps—one of which led directly to October 7. And a fearless prediction is made about the Republican ticket. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In his appearance before a group of black journalists, Donald Trump gave massive offense on the matter of Kamala Harris's racial and ethnic origins. Was this a fatal error—or was he trying to surface a conversation about the elite's use of identity politics that will help his campaign and hurt Harris? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today we dive into Israel's same-day operations to take out Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Lebanon and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. What will Kamala Harris say about the killing of two terrorists enemies of Israel and the U.S.? Oh, and there's the Trump campaign's operation that killed Project 2025! Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today's podcast focuses on Joe Biden's shocking proposals for remaking the Supreme Court, why they're so awful, and what they suggest about whom the American people should hold accountable for the delegitimization of our institutions. Also, which party is the weird party, really? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dan Senor joins the podcast to reckon with the horrible attack on the Druze town in the Golan Heights and what it means for Israel and the region—and, more specifically, what Kamala Harris's silence on the matter in the first 36 hours after it happened portends for her campaign. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In her first major statement as the presumptive Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris announced she would not "be silent" about supposed Israeli depredations in Gaza. Didn't take long! Also didn't take the media long to begin creating a castle in the air for their new queen to live in, and to dig a grave for the Republican vice presidential nominee. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Five minutes after Joe Biden finished speaking we began speaking together about his speech and how...not really good it was and why it wasn't. And then...how good Bibi Netanyahu's speech was and why it was. Donald Trump today said he was going to stop being nice. We're not nice on this podcast, I have to say. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The rhapsodic responses from Democrats, liberals, and the media to the first days of the Harris campaign—what do they mean? Are we on the verge of a new political era or is this just the result of the relief being experienced by people terrified of a Biden run in the fall? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The idea that Joe Biden is secretly dead seems to have taken hold among people on the Right, which doesn't make a lot of sense except when you consider just how conspiratorially Democrats have been behaving over the past couple of weeks—and how their behavior is stimulating conspiracy theories all over the place. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In what is our longest podcast ever, we discuss: How sick is Joe Biden and will the potential cover-up of his condition become an issue for his apparent successor, Kamala Harris; how can Democrats complain about the threat to our democracy when they just engineered an outcome voted on by 17 million people in primaries; will Kamala Harris answer questions about policy or will she hide; and how will Donald Trump handle his new rival? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone...
We try to break down the Trump speech as we groggily convene to discuss the Endless Night that concluded the convention—with side exchanges very much like Trump's on Hulk Hogan, and Israel, and Hamas, and Ukraine, and the Houthis, and the Secret Service, and the Democratic coup against Biden....Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Joe Biden announced that he has Covid. And there's talk he's more receptive to ending his reelection bid. Is this finally happening? Is Kamala Harris his obvious replacement? And who does she pick for VP? Meanwhile, the third day of the RNC featured the powerful appearance of Gold Star families, rousing cheers for Israel, and the unconventional convention debut of J.D. Vance? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What's this? Happy, cheerful, confident Republicans? That's what was on display last night at the convention, an evening that highlighted what might be called the GOP's "diversity." We also recommend, as a reminder of politics past, Andrew Ferguson's 2010 COMMENTARY piece, "Pundit: Declined." Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Before delving into events in Milwaukee, we discuss the dismissal of the Donald Trump documents case, Joe Biden's disturbing interview with Lester Holt, and the status of the investigation into Trump's would-be assassin. And then we get into the significance of VP pick J.D. Vance, the Teamsters, and a Republican National Convention like no other. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
As Donald Trump readies himself for the Republican National Convention, Joe Biden has spoken three times to the American people since the assassination attempt. To what end? What's his point? What's his purpose? And what's all this talk about unity—is unity what we need? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Is what happened to Donald Trump last night in Pennsylvania the beginning of a new period of American instability of the sort that gripped the country and the world in the wake of the JFK assassination—or is it the culmination of two decades of wildly irresponsible rhetoric? Or is it both? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tevi Troy joins us to discuss the Biden press conference, which revealed his determination to stay in the race and what that might mean for suffering Democrats and liberals (more suffering). Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The podcast welcomes back Steve Kornacki, political correspondent for NBC News and all-around wise man, for his take on the latest Biden polling, the question of a "Trump ceiling," the Northeast's voting dynamic, and what an "open convention" might look like. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
As Nancy Pelosi hints at the need for Joe Biden to hang it up, the polling and news stories are just all good for Donald Trump, and his relaxed performance at a rally in Florida suggests he is in a different, weirdly positive place as he heads to the Republican convention. Whom will he pick as Veep? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A Parkinson's doctor visiting the White House multiple times and no explanation for it? A letter from Biden's White House doctor that's basically gobbledygook? Um...not good, Bob. Also not good, but politically very interesting: The Republican Party platform for 2024. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We're back from break to discuss one of the craziest weeks ever in American politics as we try to restrain ourselves from expressing the glee of watching the Bidenites and their camp followers—and sudden enemies—figure their way out of this nightmare they've entered into since the debate. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
