Let’s talk about polling! A bunch of new polls have us feeling a whole lot of feelings right now. 'Pod Save America' co-host Jon Lovett joins us for a vibe check on the state of the presidential race, and shares what he thinks we should all take away from the latest polls. Later in the show, New York magazine reporter Kevin Dugan explains former President Donald Trump's latest foray into the world of cryptocurrency. And in headlines: Israeli airstrikes hit 1,300 targets in Lebanon, Nebraska Repu...
Sep 24, 2024•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast A slew of new polls shows Vice President Kamala Harris with a slim lead over former President Trump in the must-win swing state of Pennsylvania. With just about a month until Election Day, both presidential running mates spent the weekend campaigning in the state to shore up support for their respective tickets. One person who definitely knows how to connect with voters in Pennsylvania, though, is Democratic Rep. Summer Lee, whose district includes parts of Pittsburgh and its surrounding area. S...
Sep 23, 2024•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Kamala has offered very few details on her climate and energy plans while openly promoting American fossil fuel production. Yet a lot of climate and environmental groups seem to adore her. What’s going on here?! Max and Erin explain how, even though Harris might sound pretty moderate on the campaign trail, Biden has actually tilted the energy economy so heavily that she’s set up for success. What’s Harris’ strategy in showcasing fracking? How can she weild the Supreme Court in her favor? And, at...
Sep 21, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast In a bombshell story Thursday, CNN reported that the Republican candidate for governor in North Carolina, Mark Robinson, made crazy statements on a porn website’s messaging board more than a decade ago. Robinson, who’s also the state’s sitting lieutenant governor, reportedly referred to himself as “a black NAZI” and a “perv.” He wrote about wanting to reinstate slavery, and he admitted to enjoying porn featuring people who are transgender, despite a record of deeply anti-trans comments. Robinson...
Sep 20, 2024•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the week since the presidential debate, former President Donald Trump’s lies about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, have sown chaos in the small city. Members of the Proud Boys, a right-wing extremist group, started showing up. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said more than 30 fake bomb threats have been called in, forcing schools, government buildings and stores to close temporarily. Dr. Robert Baker, a political science professor at Springfield’s Wittenberg University, talks about how T...
Sep 19, 2024•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions continue to mount around the Secret Service two days after a second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. On Monday, the interim director of the service admitted that agents did not search the perimeter of Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course, where the alleged gunman waited for 12 hours before he was spotted. Former Secret Service agent Michael Matranga talks about the work the agency does to protect people like Trump. Later in the show, Florida Democratic Rep. Jared ...
Sep 18, 2024•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Voters in more than 30 states will get to weigh in on elections for their state supreme courts this November, with 82 seats up for grabs. While state judicial races often get overshadowed in a presidential election year, the outcomes of these races have massive consequences on people's lives. It's often state supreme courts that get the final say on local abortion restrictions, redistricting and gerrymandering cases, laws that target the LGBTQ community, and tons of other important issues. Danie...
Sep 17, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast We're officially fewer than 50 days out from Election Day. While most of the attention has been on the five states that decided the 2020 race for President Joe Biden – Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, and Arizona — there's another state that went for former President Donald Trump that Democrats are putting back in play this year: North Carolina. Trump won the state by a little more than a point four years ago, but polls now show Harris has a chance of becoming the first Democrat since...
Sep 16, 2024•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast 2024 is on track to be the biggest year for public stadium subsidies we’ve ever seen. Billionaire team owners keep asking for—and receiving—more exorbitant arenas and upgrades from local governments. But who’s footing the bill? The taxpayers! Even though most economists say the returns from these facilities never live up to the hype, city officials continue to court teams and kowtow to their demands. Why do teams like the Raiders, Orioles and Penguins have local governments in such an expensive ...
Sep 14, 2024•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Thursday night kicked off the start of week two of the NFL season. And after years of ceding the proverbial playing field to Republicans, Democrats are trying to take back football! Drew Magary, columnist for Defector and SF Gate, explains how adopting the language of football became a winning strategy for Dems heading into November. And in headlines: Former President Donald Trump insisted he won Tuesday night's debate during his first rally since his chaotic performance, a state judge in North ...
Sep 13, 2024•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s been about a week since federal agents seized the phones of New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban and other top NYPD officials. Caban is one of a few top deputies in Mayor Eric Adams’ administration who are currently under investigation by federal authorities, though details are so far scant. But it’s yet another potential stain on the oldest, largest, and arguably most scandal-prone police department in the country. Chenjerai Kumanyika, host of Crooked and Wondery’s new podcast ‘Empire...
Sep 12, 2024•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast On Tuesday night, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump faced off in their first and currently only scheduled presidential debate. The candidates went back and forth on the biggest issues in the election, including reproductive rights, the economy, immigration, and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. But while VP Harris largely stayed on message, Trump often descended into conspiracy theories and lies. Tommy Vietor, host of Pod Save America and Pod Save the World, joins to giv...
Sep 11, 2024•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are set to square off tonight in their first — and so far only — scheduled debate before the election. The stakes are immense, especially for Harris, who entered the race less than two months ago. Many voters still say they need to know more about her before they cast their ballots. Errin Haines, editor-at-large for The 19th, explains what Harris needs to say tonight to win the debate and win over voters still on the fence. And in he...
Sep 10, 2024•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Arizona is one of 10 states where voters will get to weigh in directly on abortion access in November in the form of a ballot measure that would enshrine the right to the procedure in the state's constitution. On today's show, we're welcoming our new host of 'What A Day," Jane Coaston. Jane tells us more about her recent trip to Arizona with the 'Pod Save America' guys and speaks with Chris Love, a reproductive rights activist and a spokesperson for Arizonans for Abortion Access. And in headline...
Sep 09, 2024•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Brazil’s power struggle with Elon Musk over censorship on X (formerly Twitter) escalated this week, with the country’s Supreme Court upholding a ban on the platform. 40 million Brazilians lost access to the site, which had come under fire for allowing election deniers to incite an insurrection—sound familiar? Erin and Max take a look at other countries that have enacted similar social media bans, including Sri Lanka, Turkey and India. Does it stop the violence? Do tech companies actually care ab...
Sep 07, 2024•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign kicked off a weeks-long reproductive freedom bus tour this week, with a 50-stop route that runs through some of the biggest swing states in the upcoming election. It's an issue that plays to Harris' strengths — and former President Donald Trump's biggest weaknesses. While Trump loves to take credit for appointing the Supreme Court justices that ultimately helped overturn Roe v. Wade, he's spent the years since trying to moderate his stance on abortion and ...
Sep 06, 2024•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Georgia police on Wednesday said four people were killed, and nine others were taken to the hospital with injuries after a shooting at Apalachee High School outside of Atlanta. Police identified the alleged shooter as a 14-year-old student at the school. Natalie Fall, the executive director of March For Our Lives, talks about how gun safety advocates are responding to the latest school tragedy. A new poll from CNN/SSRS shows Vice President Kamala Harris with a lead in the vital swing states of M...
Sep 05, 2024•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast A new poll from ABC News/Ipsos adds more evidence to reports of a growing gender divide among voters heading into the November election. It shows Vice President Kamala Harris has a 13-point advantage among women voters, while former President Donald Trump is leading by 5 points with men. The poll also showed white women have made one of the biggest political shifts in the last few weeks, with Trump dropping from a 13-point advantage before the Democratic National Convention to a 2-point advantag...
Sep 04, 2024•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Israel spent the last few days engulfed in mass protests and paralyzed by a national strike after the bodies of six hostages, including an American Israeli, were recovered from a tunnel in southern Gaza this weekend. But despite national outcry for a ceasefire, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to double down on his terms for a deal with Hamas during a press conference Monday night. While the war in Gaza captured most of the headlines this weekend, Russia's war in Ukraine is showing no si...
Sep 03, 2024•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast 2024 is on track to be the hottest year on record, beating out the current #1…2023. In a world where extreme heat is becoming the norm and more and more people are living in cities, are urban areas literally and figuratively cooked? To get a sense of the unique climate threats facing cities and what mayors are doing about it, Max and Erin take a closer look at Boston, Phoenix, and Hoboken. Can soapy roads address the urban heat island effect? Where’s the best place to hide a stormwater cistern? ...
Aug 31, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast As we've been covering on the show for a while now, Republican-led states across the country are attacking trans communities by banning or attempting to ban everything from life-saving healthcare to sports participation for school-aged youth. In South Carolina Thursday, a trans man, families of trans youth, and the ACLU sued the state to overturn a ban on gender-affirming healthcare signed by Republican Gov. Henry McMaster in May. And in Florida this week, a federal appeals court ruled that a st...
Aug 30, 2024•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Special Counsel Jack Smith is on a roll this week. On Monday, he asked an Atlanta-based appeals court to revive his federal classified documents case against former President Donald Trump. A day later, he filed a revised indictment against Trump over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The revisions were in response to the Supreme Court's decision earlier this year giving Trump and all future presidents broad immunity from prosecution for their official acts as president. But much of the ...
Aug 29, 2024•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast In a letter to Republican Rep. Jim Jordan released on Tuesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed the Biden Administration "repeatedly pressured" the company to crack down on COVID-19 disinformation on its platforms and that he regrets not being more outspoken about it. Zuckerberg also said Meta was wrong to temporarily suppress a 2020 New York Post story about a laptop belonging to then-candidate Joe Biden's son, Hunter. Zuckerberg said Meta would no longer downgrade potentially false stories whi...
Aug 28, 2024•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are campaigning this week in Georgia, one of the most crucial swing states in this year's presidential election. Before Harris replaced President Biden on the ticket, the state was looking like a lost cause for Democrats. But recent polls show it's now back in play. Democrats aren't dealing with a level playing field, though. Most recently, the state's Republican-controlled election board approved a new rule requiring counties to delay cer...
Aug 27, 2024•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast At last week’s Democratic National Convention, organizers tried to put unity on display by featuring speakers with a range of ideological viewpoints who support Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for president. But one major voice was missing. DNC leaders denied the request of the Uncommitted Movement, the Pro-Palestinian anti-war in Gaza coalition, to have a Palestinian American speak on stage at the convention. One of the people who the group suggested was Georgia State Rep. Ruwa Romman, the st...
Aug 26, 2024•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast The balloons are deflated. The halls have gone quiet. And the entire city of Chicago is, once more, nursing a hangover. But did the DNC really change anything for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz? Max and Erin take a look at the conventions of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, John McCain and others to understand why some candidates get a leg up while others fizzle. How will VP Harris’ boost compare to Trump’s? Is having a clear policy agenda a pro or con for a convention? Has Bill Clinton always been so lo...
Aug 24, 2024•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Vice President Kamala Harris officially accepted the Democratic nomination for President Thursday night on the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. On a star-studded night that included appearances from Kerry Washington, Reverend Al Sharpton, and NOT Beyoncé, the energy on the convention floor was electric as Democrats anticipate the general election, less than 75 days away. Harris’s speech included touching moments from her life story, remarks on the economy and the war i...
Aug 23, 2024•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Democratic National Convention continued Wednesday night as Tim Walz formally accepted the nomination for Vice President. He went full "coach mode," whipping supporters into a frenzy as Vice President Kamala Harris prepares to receive the nomination as the Democratic Presidential candidate on Thursday. Meanwhile, protestors outside the convention center continue to challenge Democrats from the left on issues like the war in Gaza, reproductive rights, and LGBTQ freedom. Chicago journalist Sha...
Aug 22, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Tuesday night’s DNC turned into a raucous celebration as delegates from each state showed off their local pride while casting their votes for Vice President Kamala Harris. Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama headlined the night’s speeches, capping an exciting night for the party. But to win in November, Democrats will need to mobilize voters while also combating a slate of new voter suppression policies enacted by Republicans since the 2020 election. Stacey Abrams,...
Aug 21, 2024•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast On Monday night, President Joe Biden kicked off the Democratic National Convention. In his speech, a political swan song, Biden looked back on his major accomplishments during his term as president. And, somewhat awkwardly, many people clapping and cheering on Monday were the same people who pressured Biden to drop his re-election bid. The party is moving on with Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket while Biden winds down his political career. Franklin Foer, a staff writer at Th...
Aug 20, 2024•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
