Walter Shaub, former director of the United States Office of Government Ethics under the Obama and Trump administration shares “the most horrifying ethical lapse” of the Trump admin that he witnessed—and why he’s annoyed at Biden. Plus, Esquire’s politics blog editor Charles P. Pierce joins to discuss the Ronald Reagan administration’s economic ignorance and how the “the conservative media octopus” made people so anti-vax that they’re actually unAmerican. If you haven't heard, every single week ...
Oct 22, 2021•49 min•Season 1Ep. 160
Army veteran Marcus Flowers is running against Marjorie Taylor Greene as a Democrat in Georgia’s 14th district and tells Molly Jong-Fast why he chose to run against the MAGA maniac and the reason death threats from QAnoners don’t scare him. Plus, David Drucker, senior political correspondent at Vanity Fair and author of the forthcoming book In Trump's Shadow , reveals dirt on Tom Cotton (that makes him look good?) and the author of The Cruelty is the Point , Adam Serwer, answers an important que...
Oct 19, 2021•56 min•Season 1Ep. 159
This week on The New Abnormal, our bonus episode takes you inside the fight against two men producer Jesse Cannon calls “the GOP’s worst congressmen.” Cannon and host Molly Jong-Fast interview Charles Graham, who is running as a Democratic challenger in North Carolina’s ninth congressional district against Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC), and Matthew Diemer, who is running against Max Miller in Ohio’s sixteenth district. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your a...
Oct 17, 2021•28 min
On the latest episode of The New Abnormal , Molly sits down with Adam Jentleson to talk about the wayward Arizona senator . Jentleson, former deputy chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and author of Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy , says Sinema gallivanting off to Europe for fundraising and Boston for the marathon instead of legislating isn’t just her “pissing off the left.” Also on the episode, Ryan Busse, a former firearms exec...
Oct 15, 2021•58 min•Season 1Ep. 158
James Carville talks with Molly Jong-Fast about how to stop the GOP before they “come back in power in 2024 (and) you can kiss this democracy’s ass goodbye.” Plus Alec Ross talks about the Raging 2020s and Ryan Hampton rips apart the Sackler’s great deal in the Purdue settlement: “this whole thing was a set up from day one” in which “victims were sidelined every step of the way.” If you haven't heard, every single week The New Abnormal does a special bonus episode for Beast Inside, the Daily Bea...
Oct 12, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 157
Fiona Hill, former U.S. national security council specializing in Russia and U.S. relations and author of There's Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century , has examples that show the way Putin could have manipulated Trump in front of the world. Plus, she talks about poisoned Russian lawyer Alexei Navalny, the aftermath of her Trump impeachment testimony and who she says is flushing American values ““down the toilet.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more i...
Oct 10, 2021•20 min
Over at Fox News, they’re marking a very important milestone. “It’s a big day for them,” says Angelo Carusone, president and CEO of Media Matters for America. “They’re very very proud of themselves. They’re very excited.” Yes, it’s been 25 years since Fox News came on the air—25 years of “refracting the absolute most absurd and destructive and deadly disinformation and misinformation from the right wing fever swamps,” Carusone tells co-hosts Molly Jong-Fast and Jesse Cannon on the latest episode...
Oct 08, 2021•59 min•Season 1Ep. 156
Author Max Chavkin, whose latest book Contrarian is all about Peter Thiel, tells Molly Jong-Fast alleged details from the 2019 meeting that the billionaire had with Mark Zuckerberg, the Trumps and the Kushners that people don’t know. Plus, Congressman Mondaire Jones has some words for Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin and historian Dr. Timothy Snyder explains how we’re “slow-rolling” into a civil war. Come to The New Abnormal Election Eve Party https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-new-abnormal...
Oct 05, 2021•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 155
Keith Boykin, author of Race Against Time: The Politics of a Darkening America and one of the journalists thrown in jail by the NYPD during the 2020 George Floyd protests, argues that the biggest boogeyman to Americans is race, and how that fear of Black people is driving the right, and lots of white people, to do everything in their power to, keep the status quo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Oct 03, 2021•19 min
J.D. Durkin tells talks to Molly Jong-Fast about how Democrats brought a stuffed animal to a knife fight, Dr. Peter Hotez joins to break down why MRNA vaccines won’t say save the world, and what might, and Leonid Volkov, chief of staff to imprisoned Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, explains why Russia was never a democracy. If you haven't heard, every single week The New Abnormal does a special bonus episode for Beast Inside, the Daily Beast’s membership program. where Sometimes we inte...
Oct 01, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 154
New York Times tech columnist Kevin Roose explains why Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook just can’t seem to let its high-performing conservative talking heads go, NBC News Reporter John Allen breaks down President Biden’s infrastructure plan for normal people, and USC law professor Franita Tolson retells how she avoided a Ted Cruz “gotcha” moment. If you haven't heard, every single week The New Abnormal does a special bonus episode for Beast Inside, the Daily Beast’s membership program. where Sometim...
Sep 28, 2021•53 min•Season 1Ep. 153
Comedian, author, and “2 Dope Queens” actress Phoebe Robinson tells white people how they can step away from the “white savior” mentality (and the Instagram posts that come with it) and do things that will actually help Black people. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sep 26, 2021•20 min
Mary Trump explains to Molly Jong-Fast why she just might send Donald flowers to thank him for suing her. Crooked Media’s Brian Beutler looks at what Dems can do to deal with the Trumpy Supreme Court. And linguist George Lakoff breaks down how the party’s “false theory of reason and communication” holds it back. If you haven't heard, every single week The New Abnormal does a special bonus episode for Beast Inside, the Daily Beast’s membership program. where Sometimes we interview Senators like C...
Sep 24, 2021•49 min•Season 1Ep. 152
Jeet Heer tells Molly Jong-Fast about a candidate from the Canadian presidential race whose big issue was dairy control management. Will Sommer and Swin Suebsaeng, Daily Beast reporters and hosts of the Fever Dreams podcast, discuss the ways that outlets like Fox News and Breitbart are approaching vaccinations with their stubborn audiences. And Congressman Ro Khanna from California joins to discuss the state’s recall results and gets cornered by Molly about Dianne Feinstein. If you haven't heard...
Sep 21, 2021•57 min•Season 1Ep. 151
Washington Post columnist Karen Atiah came on this bonus episode of The New Abnormal to fill Molly Jong-Fast in on what’s going on in her home state since the public learned the bill was passed. And it’s not good, for women or for men. Plus, she shares her thoughts on her late colleague Jamal Khashoggi. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Sep 19, 2021•18 min
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, author of ‘Uncontrolled Spread’ and a member of Pfizer’s Board of Directors, updates Molly Jong-Fast on the status of “COVID pills” and child-approved vaccinations in the works, Eric Boehlert, founder and editor of press run.media, calls out the media’s obsession with Trump's voters and not Biden’s, and The 19th editor Emily Ramshaw paints a grim picture of the “abortion tourism” set to ramp up in states around Texas. If you haven't heard, every single week The New Abnormal d...
Sep 17, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 150
Lee Papa, author of The Rude Pundit, discusses with Molly Jong-Fast the chances of Kellyanne Conway joining George W. Bush as a resistance hero, Washington Post’s national health reporter Dan Diamond sheds light on the big COVID booster debate happening amongst top health leaders, and Mike Duncan, host of The Revolutions podcast, tells us why our current state of U.S. politics looks a lot like Ancient Rome, minus a Newt-icus Gingri-ticus. If you haven't heard, every single week The New Abnormal ...
Sep 14, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 149
In this bonus episode of The New Abnormal, documentarian Ken Burns talks about his new film on Muhammad Ali: how making it has taught him so much more about the late boxer and why one of the greatest athletes of all time is more relevant than ever in “a post-Trumpian, COVID world that has Black Lives Matter.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Sep 12, 2021•28 min
What the hell is Joe Manchin doing?! Max Rose, who served in Afghanistan and won a term in Congress as a Democrat representing a red district in Staten Island and Brooklyn, explains where Manchin is coming from given that “there’s not another Democrat who could win that seat”—and without it Mitch McConnell is running the Senate. Then Molly has a great talk with American Crime Story: Impeachment producer Sarah Burgess about “a really profound story about power dynamics and what emotions can lead ...
Sep 10, 2021•57 min•Season 1Ep. 148
Elie Mystal, Editor-at-Large at The Nation, has a wild, but potentially effective idea to help women impacted by the new Texas abortion law—if President Biden can make it happen. And Congressman Ruben Gallego defends Biden’s decision to pull out of Afghanistan (and the idea that Madison Cawthorne is too dumb to lead a GOP revolution.) And then Elizabeth Shackleford talks her own experience pulling out of a war-torn country. If you haven't heard, every single week The New Abnormal does a special ...
Sep 07, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Tom Nichols, author of Our Own Worst Enemy, says Americans should stop blaming each other and making excuses for democracy crumbling when it’s their own damn fault—before James Madison rolls over in his grave (if the Founding Father hasn’t already). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sep 05, 2021•20 min
But the lawyer doesn’t regret his role in the Clinton impeachment saga. Also on the latest New Abnormal, whether Texas spells the end of Roe, where Georgia is headed, and more. Later in the episode, Washington Post reporter Craig Whitlock, author of The Afghanistan Papers , talks about American officials’ doublespeak on Afghanistan over 20 years. He also shares with Molly his take on how Michael Flynn went from respected, level-headed three-star general to QAnon crank. Finally, Georgia state Sen...
Sep 03, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 146
MSNBC political analyst Tim Miller joins Molly Jong-Fast on this episode of The New Abnormal to discuss Biden’s weird, new callousness with Afghanistan and Matt Gaetz’ troll-y brother-in-law. Plus, Dr. Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont and former head of the DNC, has some strong words for the judge who is making people take horse medicine. If you haven't heard, every single week The New Abnormal does a special bonus episode for Beast Inside, the Daily Beast’s membership program. where Some...
Aug 31, 2021•50 min•Season 1Ep. 145
This week on a bonus episode of The New Abnormal, Soledad O’Brien joins Molly Jong-Fast to discuss trust in the media, Fox News, coronavirus vaccines, and Afghanistan coverage. “Misinformation is an amazing tool to get people to not trust in their leadership or in the government. And I think the government and the media, too, have done a very poor job in making people trust them.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices....
Aug 29, 2021•29 min
“What is your Afghanistan hot take? Go.”“My number one hot take is that I don’t like occupation. I don’t feel like we should be permanently defending ‘democracy’ in any given country. If they are not ready for democracy or to be run in the way that we want them to, we cannot use military power to force them to have a democracy,” said Touré, one of this week’s guests on The New Abnormal, former MSNBC host, current host of an eponymous podcast, Toure Show and author of I Would Die 4 U: Why Prince ...
Aug 27, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 144
“The fact that everything collapsed so quickly to me vindicates Biden’s decision,” Jeet Heer says on this week’s second episode of The New Abnormal. “If you read the Afghanistan Papers , none of what’s happening is shocking. One of the big things that comes out of [the story] is the weakness of the Afghan government, which is really a pumpkin government,” he tells Molly Jong-Fast and Jesse Cannon. “Like it’s like a bunch of guys with a phony-baloney jobs and offices and big sacks of money.” Then...
Aug 24, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 143
Daily Beast reporter Diana Falzone reached out to a few different female reporters in Afghanistan to get their perspective on what is happening and what she heard from them is terrifying—from the Taliban beating people in the streets, including children, to allegedly going into homes in the middle of the night to shoot others. She relays their stories to Molly Jong-Fast on this bonus episode of The New Abnormal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your a...
Aug 22, 2021•16 min
The coronavirus pandemic, a fraught election, an attempted insurrection, more of the coronavirus pandemic...the United States is suffering from the mental version of long COVID, says Mary Trump. The psychologist and niece of former president Donald Trump joins The New Abnormal this week. Margaret Sullivan, media critic for The Washington Post , joins to discuss shortcomings in coverage of U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and the ensuing Taliban takeover. Jong-Fast also interviews Jaso...
Aug 20, 2021•53 min•Season 1Ep. 142
In this episode of The New Abnormal, former war correspondent, staff writer at the New Yorker and CNN global affairs analyst Susan Glasser explains how the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan is everyone’s damn fault, even Biden’s. Plus, Texas Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia rips into Gov. Greg Abbot and then Adam Harris, author of The State Must Provide, breaks down “racism hush money” that some states with HBCUs are getting from the federal government. If you haven't heard, every single week The New A...
Aug 17, 2021•59 min•Season 1Ep. 141
We’re enduring our current crush of COVID-19 cases in large part thanks to Republican governors like Texas’ Greg Abbott and Florida’s Ron DeSantis, who has instituted statewide bans on vaccine and mask mandates as the state’s healthcare system is being crushed under a new surge of cases, according to Andy Slavitt , the former head of coronavirus response in Joe Biden’s White House. Slavitt said of DeSantis, “He’s saying, ‘Hey, I’m going to throw you in the water. I’m going to tell you, Hey, feel...
Aug 16, 2021•22 min
