Three states – North Carolina, Arkansas, and Texas – held primaries Tuesday. The turnout was massive, but so were the stakes, with the balance of power in Congress being decided this year. Texas held the spotlight with record campaign spending during the lead-up and a notable U.S. Senate primary upset by Texas Democratic State Representative James Talarico over Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. The contentious Senate race between Republican incumbent John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxt...
Mar 05, 2026•22 min
The U.S.-Israeli war in Iran is sowing death and chaos, surely, but with ship traffic avoiding Iran’s shores, the war’s also threatening the global economy through higher oil prices. Miles Taylor explains why all this is happening. Taylor served as the chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security in the first Trump administration, where he made waves for writing an Op-ed in the New York Times headlined, “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration.” And in headlines, the...
Mar 04, 2026•24 min
Today, Trump officials brief all of Congress on what, exactly, the administration’s objectives are in Iran. Until now, the Trump administration has given conflicting accounts as to why the U.S. attacked Iran on Saturday, and there are many questions members of Congress need to ask. But will they ask them, and will the answers even matter? Nicholas Wu , a congressional reporter for Semafor, explains what Congress is likely to do – and not do. And in headlines, First Lady Melania Trump presides ov...
Mar 03, 2026•19 min
Over the weekend, the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes that reportedly hit more than 2,000 targets across Iran. In response, Iran struck sites across the Middle East. What, exactly, is the United States doing in Iran, especially now that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed? Nahal Toosi, senior foreign affairs correspondent and columnist at POLITICO, lays out what’s likely to happen next and why it matters. And in headlines, Senator Lindsey Graham insists regime change is not...
Mar 02, 2026•24 min
On Thursday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified in front of the House Oversight Committee to answer questions during their investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Secretary Clinton said, “I do not recall ever encountering Mr. Epstein,” and referred to the GOP-led committee’s handling of the Epstein files as “partisan political theater.” Following her deposition, she told reporters that Republicans asked her about UFOs and the Pizzagate conspiracy theory. Bart ...
Feb 27, 2026•21 min
The Texas Senate primary is already setting records for both Republicans and Democrats, with more than $110 million spent on advertising and reserved ad time. And on the Republican side, where Senator John Cornyn is facing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Representative Wesley Hunt, things have gotten incredibly messy. But there's at least one thing those three candidates can agree on: Islamophobic rhetoric. So, why is the Texas GOP laser-focused on Islam? To find out, we spoke with Fo...
Feb 26, 2026•22 min
Trump’s State of the Union address had everything — if by “everything,” you mean easily fact-checkable lies . We also got fearmongering and racism about Somali immigrants … Trump’s frequently used claim that Democrats can only win elections if they cheat… and a lot of awards for members of the armed services. But his overall message was the same we get every single day on Truth Social in between rants about cable television hosts and misused punctuation: we are the hottest country in the world a...
Feb 25, 2026•21 min
President Trump will deliver the State of the Union address tonight. And spoiler… the state of his particular union isn't great. According to new polling from CNN , Trump's approval rating with Americans is 36%. But – despite everything – Democrats are still not winning over the American people . So how should they respond to tonight's two-hour adventure of non sequiturs, rants, and excessive bronzer? To find out, we spoke to New Jersey Democratic Representative LaMonica McIver. She's delivering...
Feb 24, 2026•22 min
The Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 on Friday that President Donald Trump overstepped his authority when he invoked sweeping tariffs using a 1970s emergency statute. The decision was a major blow to Trump's tariff policy, which is basically his entire economic agenda. But for Trump, it means just one thing: more tariffs! So to learn what's next for our terrible tariff trajectory, we spoke with David J. Lynch. He's the global economics correspondent at The Washington Post and the author of The World's...
Feb 23, 2026•21 min
It’s been about a week since the Department of Homeland Security entered a partial shutdown, with Democrats refusing to fund the agency until changes are made to federal immigration enforcement. According to the White House, we are still no closer to a deal. But Democrats are reluctant to budge, and polling shows that most Americans think ICE has gone too far with its enforcement operations. Recent reporting from The Wall Street Journal paints a chaotic picture of DHS under Secretary Kristi Noem...
Feb 20, 2026•22 min
The IRS has lost tens of thousands of employees since President Donald Trump took office – the result of DOGE, policy differences, last year’s government shutdown, and layoffs. Now that we're in tax season, the agency is asking thousands of untrained employees from other departments to help with taxpayer services. Those job cuts and changes could, at best, slow down your refund. At worst, the IRS could be far less able to stop scammers. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is insisting that taxpa...
Feb 19, 2026•22 min
U.S. officials met with Iranian envoys in Switzerland Tuesday to negotiate the fate of Iran’s nuclear program — and came away with a “set of guiding principles,” according to Iran’s foreign minister . But trying to figure out what, exactly, each country wants in these talks is confusing at best. Both President Donald Trump and Iran’s Supreme Leader , Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have made not-so-veiled threats of military action toward the other country. So what, exactly, is everyone doing here? Do t...
Feb 18, 2026•23 min
It's been about a year since President Donald Trump signed an executive order, " Establishing the President's Make America Healthy Again Commission ." Since then, MAHA has brought together a lot of strange bedfellows, ranging from people who want Americans to eat less sugar to others who want to ban the polio vaccine . Which begs the question — what, exactly, is the Make America Healthy Again movement… and is any of it actually making America healthier? To find out, we spoke to Rina Raphael. She...
Feb 17, 2026•23 min
Capitol Hill was surprisingly busy this week. Republicans and Democrats yelled at one another , Republicans yelled at other Republicans , and amazingly, some actual business got done – sort of. But it looks like it wasn’t enough to avoid a partial government shutdown. For more on a wild week in Congress, we spoke with Burgess Everett. He’s the Congressional bureau chief for Semafor. And in headlines, President Donald Trump is losing to former President Joe Biden in the polls , a federal judge bl...
Feb 13, 2026•22 min
The Department of Justice fumbled yet another attempt to prosecute President Donald Trump’s enemies on Tuesday night. This time, it failed to get an indictment of the six Democrats who posted a video in November reminding U.S. troops they have an obligation to refuse illegal orders — no matter who they come from. Colorado Democratic Representative Jason Crow is one of those six lawmakers. We spoke about the investigation, Pam Bondi’s Congressional testimony, and how to protect U.S. troops from b...
Feb 12, 2026•21 min
Over the past year, the Trump administration has been eliminating policies aimed at slowing down climate change – and now, it may go even further. This week, the Environmental Protection Agency plans to repeal the “endangerment finding” that has been the scientific basis of rules limiting greenhouse gas emissions since 2009. To talk more about this endangerment finding and where the fight against climate change goes from here, we spoke to Leah Stokes. She’s an associate professor at UC Santa Bar...
Feb 11, 2026•20 min
Getting justice for Epstein survivors seems impossible in the United States. But in the United Kingdom, the Epstein files could bring down the British government . Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing calls to resign after admitting he knew the UK's former Ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, had ties to Epstein when he appointed him in 2024. To unpack how the United Kingdom is reckoning with Epstein, we spoke to Coco Khan, co-host of Crooked Media’s Pod Save the UK . And in headli...
Feb 10, 2026•24 min
Sunday was the Super Bowl, which means betting. A lot of betting . And even if you're not a gambler– and even if you don't particularly care about sports, you've probably noticed that in the last few years, sports betting has gone from obscure to nearly omnipresent. But that's not necessarily for the better. According to a 2025 Pew Research Center survey , "43% of U.S. adults say the fact that sports betting is now legal in much of the country is a bad thing for society." So, we spoke with Hanna...
Feb 09, 2026•25 min
We're just one week into February, and a lot has happened already — from the fallout over the Department of Justice's Epstein file dump, to President Trump's claims the U.S. should "nationalize" elections , to the decision to pull 700 federal immigration agents out of Minnesota on Wednesday. It's been a lot to follow — so we spoke to Tim Miller. He's writer-at-large at The Bulwark and host of The Bulwark Podcast . And in headlines, lawmakers are nowhere near an agreement to fund the Department o...
Feb 06, 2026•23 min
The economy is in pretty much the same weird place it’s been for the past few months. Hiring is down , the cost of living is up , and no one really knows what's coming next. That uncertainty is partially thanks to AI, which is supposed to change work as we know it . It’s making everyone – from stock traders to white-collar workers – very, very nervous. On this episode, we talk to Stacey Vanek Smith. She’s a reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek and co-host of the Bloomberg podcast, Everybody's Bus...
Feb 05, 2026•22 min
If you haven't been following conservative media for a long time, you might not know that there have actually been many eras of Tucker Carlson. He launched his career in print journalism before landing under the bright lights of Fox News in 2009. That's where he developed his super power – giving his audience exactly what they want, and feeding some of their worst impulses again and again under the glossy veneer of respectability. New Yorker staff writer Jason Zengerle first met Carlson back in ...
Feb 04, 2026•29 min
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Monday that all federal officers in Minneapolis will now wear body cameras. She also said the program would expand nationwide "as funding is available." The push for body cameras is a key Democratic demand to end the partial government shutdown . It also comes on the heels of major concerns over DHS immigration tactics. In January alone, two U.S. citizens were shot and killed by federal immigration agents in Minnesota. Radley Balko ...
Feb 03, 2026•23 min
President Trump is still not over the fact that he lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, which might be why last Wednesday, the FBI executed a search warrant on an election facility in Fulton County, Georgia. Agents seized hundreds of boxes containing ballots and other documents related to the 2020 election . But this raid is just one of many ways the President has challenged the American election system since taking office a year ago. With the midterms just months away, we spoke wit...
Feb 02, 2026•27 min•Ep. 1540
Senate Democrats were ready to shut down the government Friday night in order to get much-needed reforms to ICE and Border Patrol — but they didn’t need to. On Thursday, they made a deal with Republicans and the White House to fund most of the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year. The Department of Homeland Security, however, will only be funded for two weeks while Senators negotiate some guardrails for ICE. So what happens now? To find out, we spoke with Virginia Democratic Senato...
Jan 30, 2026•24 min
Minneapolis is still under ICE’s thumb — and contrary to the Trump Administration and some media reports, ICE has not “ de-escalated ” in the Twin Cities . Multiple media outlets have reported no real change in Department of Homeland Security activity — but the communities in Minneapolis are still standing up to the Trump Administration, using every peaceful tool at their disposal to do so. For more, we spoke to Alex Wagner, host of Crooked’s Runaway Country podcast, who is reporting from Minnea...
Jan 29, 2026•26 min
U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio is expected to publicly testify Wednesday about what exactly the U.S. has planned for Venezuela . But the next potential target of the Trump administration’s imperialist adventuring might be even closer to home. Ending Cuba’s communist regime — which has controlled the island since 1959 — is the dream of thousands of Cuban-Americans. And now, thanks in part to Rubio , it’s a serious goal of the White House. So, to talk more about ...
Jan 28, 2026•28 min
There’s a massive funding package making its way through Congress this week. It includes funding for the Department of Homeland Security, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, and must pass by Friday for the government to remain fully open. But that’s looking less and less likely. After the killing of Alex Pretti, Senate Democrats and their allies are saying that they are willing to risk a government shutdown to get policy changes. To talk more about Homeland Security,...
Jan 27, 2026•29 min
On Saturday, Alex Pretti – a 37-year-old registered nurse at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Minneapolis – was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents . It’s the third shooting in three weeks by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis. And as violence from federal law enforcement becomes increasingly more common, it begs the question – who is joining these agencies? A few months ago, freelance journalist Laura Jedeed applied for a job with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And she got a ...
Jan 26, 2026•26 min
Former special counsel Jack Smith testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday about the steps President Donald Trump and his allies took to overturn the 2020 election and to foment the January 6th insurrection. Smith did this knowing that he is already at the top of Trump’s enemies list — which the President is increasingly using the Department of Justice to prosecute. For more on the Trump administration’s latest investigations, we spoke with Ken White. He’s a former federal pros...
Jan 23, 2026•24 min
After meeting with NATO allies in Davos, Switzerland, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to announce “the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region.” He also said he would not be imposing the tariffs he threatened against eight European countries less than a week ago — which is probably good, because Americans did not want him to mess with Greenland . But that’s not the President’s only unpopular stance. We're one year into Trump’s secon...
Jan 22, 2026•23 min
