The Realignment - podcast cover

The Realignment

The United States is in the midst of a dramatic political realignment with shifting views on national security, economics, technology, and the role of government in our lives. Saagar Enjeti and Marshall Kosloff explore this with thinkers, policymakers, and more.
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Episodes

The Realignment at WelcomeFest 2026 | The Difference Between Good and Bad Moderation with Steve Teles

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com The Realignment host Marshall Kosloff and Niskanen Center Senior Fellow Steve Teles are set to appear at WelcomeFest 2026 today in Washington, DC. WelcomeFest is known as the biggest annual gathering of the political center. Steve will appear on a panel titled, "Building Centrist Abundance." Marshall will interview Senator Ruben Gall...

Jun 03, 202652 minEp. 682

How the U.S. Can Deter China from Invading Taiwan in 2027 with Eyck Freymann

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com After President Trump's visit to China with his summit with President Xi Jinping, Eyck Freymann, Hoover Fellow at Stanford University and author of Defending Taiwan: A Strategy to Prevent War with China, joins The Realignment. Eyck and Marshall to unpack the Taiwan question, America's interests in the island's fate, the One China pol...

May 28, 202659 minEp. 681

How to Bring Back National Ambition - Inside the Build America Caucus with Rep. Josh Harder

Inclusive Abundance | "Abundance Agenda" Request for Proposals: https://www.inclusiveabundance.org/abundance-in-action/request-for-policy-proposals-the-abundance-agenda?returnUrl=%252Fabundance-in-action Axios | Exclusive: New group plots 2028 "Abundance" agenda: https://www.axios.com/2026/04/30/abundance-group-democrats-agenda WelcomeFest 2026 "Building to Win" Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/welcomefest-2026-registration-1982207415740?aff=040726sub Realignment Newsletter: https://thereal...

May 26, 202659 minEp. 680

Season Finale | Danielle Lee Tomson: Why the Future is Fusion

Danielle Lee Tomson with Oxford University Press | Under the Influence: What's Real When America Feels Fake: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/under-the-influence-9780197847862?cc=us&lang=en& Danielle Lee Tomson Substack | Failure to Communicate: https://failuretocommunicate.substack.com/ Danielle Lee Tomson with the Hewlett Foundation | Weaving a Worldview: https://hewlett.org/library/weaving-a-worldview/ Marshall Kosloff with the States Forum Journal | The Missing Liberal Story: ...

Apr 15, 20261 hr 22 minEp. 679

601 | Noam Scheiber: How the Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class Could Reshape America

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Noam Scheiber, New York Times reporter and author of Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Noam discuss how the rise and fall of the "college-for-all" economic model has left a generation of graduates (and non-graduates) feeling betrayed by the system, how downwardly-mo...

Apr 07, 202656 minEp. 678

600 | Hannah Garden-Monheit: Why Voters Feel Government Doesn't Deliver - Lessons from the Biden Administration

Roosevelt Institute | Building a More Effective, Responsive Government: Lessons Learned from the Biden-Harris Administration: https://rooseveltinstitute.org/publications/building-a-more-effective-responsive-government/ Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Hannah Garden-Monheit, former Director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and co...

Apr 02, 20261 hr 5 minEp. 677

599 | Henry Tonks: The Realignments Comes for the Democrats - Lessons from Liberalism's 1970s-1990s Wilderness Years

American Affairs | Henry Tonks - The Rise and Fall of the New Liberals: How the Democrats Lost Their Majority: https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2025/02/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-new-liberals-how-the-democrats-lost-their-majority/ Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com...

Mar 31, 20261 hr 26 minEp. 676

598 | Madeline Hart: How to Mobilize the American Industrial Base, Embrace Heretics, and Deter WWIII

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Madeline Hart, Co-Founder of Palantir First Breakfast publication and co-author (with Shyam Sankar) of Mobilization: How to Reboot the American Industrial Base and Stop World War III, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Madeline discuss the need for embracing “heretics” in government, the case for “mobilization” as a means of deterri...

Mar 24, 202656 minEp. 675

597 | Michael Laskawy: Why States Are the Real Center of American Politics

The States Forum Journal's Latest Issue: https://www.statesforum.org/journals/issue-2/ The States Forum Substack: https://statesforum.substack.com/ Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Michael Laskawy, Editor-in-Chief of The States Forum Journal, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Michael discuss why Americans are increasingly looking to the states for solutions to the...

Mar 10, 202652 minEp. 675

596 | Saagar Enjeti: What the Iran War Means for MAGA, the New Right, and the America First Movement

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Saagar Enjeti, Co-Host of Breaking Points, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Saagar discuss what the escalating conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran means for an "America First" movement and MAGA Republican Party that campaigned on promises to end the past two decades of American intervention in the Middle East....

Mar 09, 20261 hr 5 minEp. 674

States Forum Journal | Audio Essay: Marshall Kosloff on "The Missing Liberal Story"

The States Forum Journal | The Missing Liberal Story: https://www.statesforum.org/the-missing-liberal-story/ The States Forum Journal Substack | The Missing Liberal Story: https://statesforum.substack.com/p/the-missing-liberal-story NYT Article on The States Forum | https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/us/politics/democrats-states-forum.html Today's episode is an audio essay adapted from Marshall's States Forum Journal piece: The Missing Liberal Story. In the essay, Marshall lays out his case for ...

Feb 24, 202620 minEp. 674

595 | Ned Resnikoff: One Year In - Taking Abundance Back to Its Fundamentals

Roosevelt Institute | Lessons from YIMBYism: Taking “Abundance” Back to Its Fundamentals: https://rooseveltinstitute.org/publications/lessons-from-yimbyism/ Niskanen Summer Institute: https://www.niskanencenter.org/niskanen-summer-institute-democracy-that-works/ Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Ned Resnikoff, Roosevelt Institute and author of Lessons from YIMBYism: ...

Feb 19, 202658 minEp. 673

594 | Steve Teles: Hard Lessons for Centrists Trying to Overcome the Mediocrity Challenge + Last Call for Niskanen Summer Institute Applications

Niskanen Summer Institute: https://www.niskanencenter.org/niskanen-summer-institute-democracy-that-works/ Steve Teles | Varieties of Abundance: https://www.niskanencenter.org/abundance-varieties/ Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Steve Teles, Niskanen Center Senior Fellow, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Steve discuss how moderates, centrists, and the Abunda...

Feb 17, 20261 hr 1 minEp. 670

593 | Austin Ahlman and Ben Winsor: Seven Hard Lessons on Economic Populism

Liberty and Power: 7 Hard Lessons Democrats Must Learn in 2026 Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com The Open Market Institute's Austin Ahlman and Ben Winsor join The Realignment. Marshall, Austin, and Ben discuss their recommendations on how to effectively wield economic populism in an anti-status quo moment, when polling is and isn't useful, the complicated realities b...

Feb 12, 20261 hr 43 minEp. 669

592 | Laura Field: How the MAGA New Right Took Power - From the Flight 93 Essay to Trump 2024

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Laura Field, author of Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Laura discuss the intellectual movement behind Trumpism and the rise of the MAGA New Right, the intellectual branches of the movement: the Claremont Institute, Postliberals, and the National Conservatives, how cultural conflict...

Feb 05, 20261 hr 23 minEp. 667

591 | Saikat Chakrabarti: Building a New Consensus - How to Move America from "Failure Mode" to "Mission Mode"

New Consensus | Mission for America: https://www.newconsensus.com/mfa New Consensus | Reading List: https://www.newconsensus.com/library Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Saikat Chakrabarti, President and co-founder of New Consensus, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Saikat discuss why an anti-status-quo moment requires more from government and politics than "makin...

Jan 29, 202656 minEp. 665

590 | Brink Lindsey: How the 21st Century Mugged a Libertarian

*Gallup, not Axios as cited in episode, reporting on higher liberal identification: https://news.gallup.com/poll/700499/new-high-identify-political-independents.aspx Niskanen Center Hypertext Substack: Brink Lindsey | Abundance of What - The Permanent Problem Excerpt: https://hypertext.niskanencenter.org/p/abundance-of-what-abundance-for-what Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@...

Jan 22, 20261 hr 3 minEp. 663

589 | Danielle Lee Tomson: When the Story Breaks: MAGA, Liberalism, and the Battle to Define Reality

Failure to Communicate Substack: https://failuretocommunicate.substack.com/ Danielle Lee Tomson: https://failuretocommunicate.substack.com/p/the-authenticity-gap Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Dr. Danielle Lee Tomson, author of the Failure to Communicate Substack and the forthcoming Under the Influence: What's Real When America Feels Fake, returns to The Realignme...

Jan 08, 20261 hr 15 minEp. 662

588 | George M. Dougherty: Beyond "Unmanned": How Drones Are (and Aren't) Rewriting Warfare

Niskanen Summer Institute: https://www.niskanencenter.org/niskanen-summer-institute-democracy-that-works/ Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com George M. Dougherty, author of Beast in the Machine: How Robotics and AI Will Transform Warfare and the Future of Human Conflict, joins The Realignment. Marshall and George discuss how robotics and AI are triggering a military re...

Jan 06, 20261 hr 8 minEp. 661

587 | Mike Konczal: What’s Actually Driving the Affordability Crisis + Announcing the Niskanen Summer Institute for Undergrads

Niskanen Summer Institute: https://www.niskanencenter.org/niskanen-summer-institute-democracy-that-works/ The Affordability Framework: https://economicsecurityproject.org/news/introducing-the-affordability-framework-a-tool-for-understanding-americas-affordability-crisis/ Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com...

Dec 19, 202543 minEp. 660

586 | Oliver Libby: Strong Floor, No Ceiling - A Radical Moderate's Case for Reigniting the American Dream

Oliver Libby Forbes Profile: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nelldebevoise/2025/11/11/why-americas-next-big-idea-isnt-about-doing-more--its-about-building-smarter/ Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Oliver Libby, civic investor and author of Strong Floor, No Ceiling: Building a New Foundation for the American Dream, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Oliver discuss his ...

Dec 16, 202559 minEp. 659

585 | Chris Matthews: The Politics of Authenticity and Why Robert F. Kennedy Still Matters

Hardball Substack: https://thechrismatthews.substack.com/ Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Chris Matthews, former host of MSNBC's Hardball (now on Substack) and author of Lessons from Bobby: Ten Reasons Robert F. Kennedy Still Matters, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Chris discuss Robert F. Kennedy's legacy after last month's 100-year centenary of his birth, wha...

Dec 09, 202556 minEp. 658

584 | Shadi Hamid: A Skeptic's Case for American Power

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Shadi Hamid, Washington Post Columnist and author of The Case for American Power, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Shadi discuss his case for American power despite one's opposition to the country's past and present misuse of power, his intellectual journey from Iraq War protestor to power advocate, why polls find that Democr...

Dec 02, 20251 hr 3 minEp. 657

583 | William D. Hartung & Ben Freeman: The Pentagon's Trillion Dollar War Machine and the Debate Over America's Role in the World

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com The Quincy Institute's William D. Hartung and Ben Freeman, authors of Trillion Dollar War Machine: How Runaway Military Spending Drives America into Foreign Wars and Bankrupts Us at Home, join The Realignment. Marshall, William, and Ben debate and discuss the origins of America's proposed record trillion-dollar Pentagon budget, why t...

Nov 13, 20251 hr 7 minEp. 656

582 | George Packer: The Emergency - The Post-Literate Age and the Unwinding of American Liberalism

The Atlantic | A Post-Literate Age: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/10/journalism-literature-media-trump/684752/ Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com George Packer, Staff Writer at The Atlantic and author of The Emergency, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and George discuss his new work of Fiction: The Emergency, his transition back to fiction after w...

Nov 11, 202556 minEp. 655

581 | Jeffrey Rosen: Hamilton vs. Jefferson and the Battle Over Government Power in 21st Century America

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Jeffrey Rosen, President of the National Constitution Center and author of The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Jeffrey discuss how debates over Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson's ideas about the power of government has sha...

Nov 07, 202554 minEp. 654

580 | Jake Tapper: How to Fight and Prosecute Forever Wars from Al Qaeda to Venezuelan Strikes and Mexican Drug Cartels

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Jake Tapper, CNN host and author of Race Against Terror: Chasing an Al Qaeda Killer at the Dawn of the Forever War, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Jake discuss the saga of the first and only successful prosecution of an Al Qaeda fighter in American courts, why the Obama administration failed to shut down Guantanamo Bay, whether ...

Nov 04, 202537 minEp. 653

579 | Liam Kerr: Deciding to Win: A Centrist Autopsy of the Post-2024 Democratic Party and the Center's Missing Story

Deciding to Win Report: Deciding To Win – Toward A Common Sense Renewal of the Democratic Party Semafor: Left-wing ideas have wrecked Democrats’ brand, new report warns GOP Autopsy Report: RNCreport03182013.pdf Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com...

Oct 30, 20251 hr 24 minEp. 652

The Realignment Live from the Aspen Ideas Festival | Reihan Salam: How Did We Get Here? NYC Working Class Immigrants, the Right's H1B Debate, and the New Cultural Politics of Immigration

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Last week, Marshall interviewed Reihan Salam, President of the Manhattan Institute, at Newark's Aspen Ideas Festival: Economy. Marshall and Reihan discussed culture's impact on the economy and politics through the lens of immigration. They cover the struggles of multigenerational working-class immigrants facing a new cultural and eco...

Oct 28, 202527 minEp. 651

578 | Frank DiStefano: The Realignment and America's 21st Century "Crisis of Legitimacy"

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Frank DiStefano, author of The Next Realignment: Why America's Parties Are Crumbling and What Happens Next and the Renew the Republic Substack, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Frank discuss why they were attracted to the idea of a "realignment" before it was cool and obvious, why the breakdown of parties and institutions is ...

Oct 14, 20251 hr 11 minEp. 650
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