Kurt Andersen and Lawrence O’Donnell first met 46 years ago as undergraduates at Harvard, forming a friendship that’s flourished alongside their careers as two of their generation’s most incisive, insightful observers of American politics and culture. Andersen made his mark in the 1980s as co-founder of the iconic Spy magazine, then went on to serve as editor-in-chief of New York magazine, host of the Peabody Award-winning radio program “Studio 360,” and best-selling novelist and non-fiction aut...
Feb 07, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Ep 130•Transcript available on Metacast In which John Heilemann talks with Fiona Hill, the former national security official in Donald Trump's White House who made headlines with her testimony in the hearings over the Ukraine scandal that led to his first impeachment. Heilemann and Hill discuss her new memoir, There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century, including her reluctant decision to join the Trump administration, what she learned about his character, and his envious admiration for authoritaria...
Jan 31, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Ep 129•Transcript available on Metacast In which John Heilemann talks with documentarian Ken Burns, whose new four-part series, Muhammad Ali, premiered this week on PBS. Heilemann and Burns discuss Ali's life and legacy as the most important athlete of the 20th century, in particular how his story transcends sports, intersecting with the defining issues of his era (race, religion, politics, protest) and illuminating much about the American experience in the convulsive Sixties and Seventies; Burns's prodigious body of work, which has e...
Jan 24, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Ep 128•Transcript available on Metacast In which John Heilemann discusses the Russia invasion of Ukraine -- and its far-reaching implications for Europe, Joe Biden's presidency, Vladimir Putin's place in history, and the global security writ large -- with former US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul and Puck News correspondent Julia Ioffe. Heilemann, McFaul, and Ioffe talk about Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified assault on Ukraine; Putin’s miscalculations regarding the strength of the NATO alliance, internal Russian opposition to t...
Jan 17, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep 127•Transcript available on Metacast In which John Heilemann talks with Mike Bender, senior White House reporter for The Wall Street Journal and author of Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost, for a special two-part episode of the podcast. Heilemann and Bender discuss the latter's new book and its news-making account of Trump's cataclysmic final year in office and doomstruck reelection campaign; how the president mishandled the series of crises that beset the country in 2020, from Covid to the prote...
Jan 11, 2023•47 min•Ep 126•Transcript available on Metacast In which John Heilemann talks with Mike Bender, senior White House reporter for The Wall Street Journal and author of Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost, for a special two-part episode of the podcast. Heilemann and Bender discuss the latter's new book and its news-making account of Trump's cataclysmic final year in office and doomstruck reelection campaign; how the president mishandled the series of crises that beset the country in 2020, from Covid to the prote...
Jan 10, 2023•58 min•Ep 125•Transcript available on Metacast John Heilemann talks with two-time Peabody Award-winning comedian Hasan Minhaj, best known for hosting six seasons of the Netflix series Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj and his widely acclaimed Netflix special, Homecoming King. Heilemann and Minhaj discuss his early career as a comic and the centrality of his background as a first-generation Indian- and Muslim-American to his work; his breakout stint as a correspondent for The Daily Show and how it shaped his political and social commentary; his 2...
Jan 03, 2023•2 hr 43 min•Ep 124•Transcript available on Metacast In which John Heilemann talks with Kara Swisher, arguably the preeminent chronicler (and frequent critic) of the companies, personalities, and culture of Silicon Valley and the technology world writ large. Heilemann and Swisher, a protean reporter and pundit whose vast array of endeavors includes hosting the New York Times podcast Sway and serving as a contributing opinion writer at the paper, discuss Spotify’s handling of the Joe Rogan controversy, how the pandemic has shifted the tech landscap...
Dec 27, 2022•1 hr 19 min•Ep 123•Transcript available on Metacast In which John Heilemann talks with Stevie Van Zandt, a founding member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, co-star of The Sopranos, and author of a new memoir, Unrequited Infatuations. In this special two-part episode, Heilemann and Van Zandt discuss his early musical influences, the foundations of his best friendship with Springsteen, the extraordinary albums they made together in the 1970s—Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, The River—and th...
Dec 21, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep 122•Transcript available on Metacast In which John Heilemann talks with Stevie Van Zandt, a founding member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, co-star of The Sopranos, and author of a new memoir, Unrequited Infatuations. In this special two-part episode, Heilemann and Van Zandt discuss his early musical influences, the foundations of his best friendship with Springsteen, the extraordinary albums they made together in the 1970s—Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, The River—and th...
Dec 20, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep 121•Transcript available on Metacast When Jack Black and Kyle Gass formed the mock-rock band Tenacious D in 1994, they were just a pair of unknown members of The Actors' Gang in LA with a spiritual and satirical kinship with Spinal Tap, a penchant for R-rated lyrics about their sexual prowess and prodigious cannabis consumption, and surprisingly serious musical chops. Twenty-six years later, Tenacious D has accumulated a large and passionate following, released three platinum albums and a feature film, and won a Grammy Award — and ...
Dec 13, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep 120•Transcript available on Metacast Over the past three decades, Aaron Sorkin has staked a claim as America’s most renowned film and television writer. With a list of credits that runs from "A Few Good Men," "The American President, "The Social Network," and "Moneyball" on the big screen to "Sports Night," "The Newsroom," and his crowning achievement, "The West Wing," on TV, Sorkin's work has achieved vast popular success, critical acclaim, and cultural resonance. On this week’s episode, Hell & High Water continues its year-end re...
Dec 06, 2022•55 min•Ep 119•Transcript available on Metacast Michael Santiago Render, aka Killer Mike, is one of the most vital figures in the worlds of both hip hop and progressive activism. Best known as one half of the acclaimed rap duo Run The Jewels, Render gained notoriety in the political realm as a prominent backer of Bernie Sanders and a fierce advocate for Black economic empowerment. In the wake of George Floyd’s killing, Render delivered a tearful televised plea to protestors not to torch his beloved home city of Atlanta; the video went viral a...
Nov 30, 2022•46 min•Ep 118•Transcript available on Metacast Michael Santiago Render, aka Killer Mike, is one of the most vital figures in the worlds of both hip hop and progressive activism. Best known as one half of the acclaimed rap duo Run The Jewels, Render gained notoriety in the political realm as a prominent backer of Bernie Sanders and a fierce advocate for Black economic empowerment. In the wake of George Floyd’s killing, Render delivered a tearful televised plea to protestors not to torch his beloved home city of Atlanta; the video went viral a...
Nov 29, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep 117•Transcript available on Metacast In which John Heilemann talks with actor Adam Scott, best known for his roles in beloved sitcoms including Parks and Recreation and The Good Place. Heilemann and Scott discuss his latest role in Severance, the new Apple TV+ sci-fi series directed by Ben Stiller; why the comedy veteran was eager to take part in the psychological drama; and how the backdrop of Covid-19 and the Trump presidency contributed to the dystopian nature of the show. They also reflect on Scott’s career – from his decade-pl...
Nov 22, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep 116•Transcript available on Metacast In the aftermath of the Democratic Party's successful showing in last week's midterm elections, John Heilemann welcomes Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham, author of the recent presidential biography, And Then There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle. Heilemann and Meacham, a friend of President Joe Biden, discuss Biden's buoyant mood after the midterms and how he'll determine whether he'll run again in 2024; Meacham's belief that Americans voted to support Democrats ...
Nov 15, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Ep 115•Transcript available on Metacast With Election Day upon us, John Heilemann welcomes Joe Scarborough, co-host of MSNBC's Morning Joe, to talk through the big themes, large lessons, and lasting takeaways from the 2022 midterm campaign. Heilemann and Scarborough discuss the high degree of uncertainty around the outcome of the contests for control of Congress and 36 governships across the country, and why these midterms might not produce the kind of resounding wave favoring one party or the other; the importance of the Hispanic vot...
Nov 08, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Ep 114•Transcript available on Metacast John Heilemann welcomes The Daily Show's Jordan Klepper on the eve of his new election special, Jordan Klepper Fingers the Midterms -- America Unfollows Democracy, which premieres on November 1, and on the heels of of his turn as a guest host on Heilemann's Showtime series The Circus. Heilemann and Klepper dig into the all-important Pennsylvania Senate race and the eagerly awaited, much-discussed debate last week between John Fetterman and Dr. Oz; Klepper's comedy heroes, from British icons such...
Nov 01, 2022•2 hr 35 min•Ep 113•Transcript available on Metacast With just two weeks to go before Election Day, John Heilemann welcomes former Obama strategic and message maestro (and bff of the podcast) David Axelrod back to #HHW for his third time in the fire pit/splash zone. Axelrod — director of the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics, host of The Axe Files podcast and co-host of Hacks on Tap, and senior political commentator for CNN — discusses the state of the midterm battlefield across the country, along with detailed analyses of key Senate r...
Oct 25, 2022•2 hr 40 min•Ep 112•Transcript available on Metacast Three weeks out from Election Day, John Heilemann kicks off the Hell & High Water Midterm Homestretch Scramble with Matthew Dowd, chief strategist on George W. Bush's 2004 and Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2006 reelection campaigns (and now a prominent #NeverTrumper), and Jennifer Palmieri, communications director for Barack Obama's White House from 2013 to 2015 and Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign (and now co-host of Showtime's The Circus alongside Heilemann). Heilemann, Dowd, and Palmier...
Oct 18, 2022•2 hr 33 min•Ep 111•Transcript available on Metacast John Heilemann sits down with the New York Times's Maggie Haberman — the dominant/defining reporter on the Donald Trump beat for the past decade and the author of the instant best-seller Confidence Man — for an epic, two-part episode of the podcast. Haberman discusses her most recent scoop that the Justice Department believes the Former Guy still has classified documents in his possession and how it might increase his degree of legal peril; her long history of covering Trump and what it's taught...
Oct 12, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep 110•Transcript available on Metacast John Heilemann sits down with the New York Times's Maggie Haberman — the dominant/defining reporter on the Donald Trump beat for the past decade and the author of the instant best-seller Confidence Man — for an epic, two-part episode of the podcast. Haberman discusses her most recent scoop that the Justice Department believes the Former Guy still has classified documents in his possession and how it might increase his degree of legal peril; her long history of covering Trump and what it's taught...
Oct 11, 2022•2 hr 30 min•Ep 110•Transcript available on Metacast John Heilemann sits down with President Biden's first White House press secretary, Jennifer Psaki, who recently left the administration to join MSNBC as a political analyst and host of a new show that will launch next year on Peacock. Psaki discusses how it feels to be free of the burdens of discussing current events from the podium in the White House briefing room, with the eyes of the world scrutinizing every word; her take on the biggest stories of last week, from Hurricane Ian to Iranian wom...
Oct 04, 2022•1 hr 23 min•Ep 109•Transcript available on Metacast Six weeks out from midterm Election Day and on the eve of what may be the January 6 committee's final public hearing, John Heilemann sits down with Rick Wilson and Stuart Stevens, co-founder and senior adviser (respectively) at The Lincoln Project and two of the savviest and most savage #NeverTrump ex-Republican strategists in the political universe. Wilson and Stevens discuss the myriad legal threats Trump is facing and whether, at long last, accountability may be at hand for him; how and why T...
Sep 27, 2022•2 hr 36 min•Ep 108•Transcript available on Metacast New York Times chief White House correspondent Peter Baker and New Yorker staff writer Susan Glasser join Heilemann for a discussion of their new book The Divider: Trump in The White 2017-2021, which aims to be the first soup-to-nuts account of the 45th president's tenure in the Oval Office. Baker and Glasser — both long-time, much-admired Washington reporters, spouses, and co-authors of previous books on Vladimir Putin's Russia and the life of James A. Baker III — discuss their thesis that Trum...
Sep 20, 2022•2 hr 31 min•Ep 107•Transcript available on Metacast Eight weeks out from Election Day, John Heilemann welcomes The Cook Political Report's publisher and editor-in-chief, Amy Walter, and its senior editor, House of Representatives, Dave Wasserman, for a preview of what may be the most consequential midterm election of our lifetime. Walter and Wasserman assess the prospects of both parties at the House, Senate, and gubernatorial levels; the marked shift in the national political environment that has given Democrats an outside chance of retaining co...
Sep 13, 2022•2 hr 36 min•Ep 106•Transcript available on Metacast In a special two-part episode, John Heilemann talks with visionary film and television director Allen Hughes about Dear Mama — the sprawling, spellbinding documentary series about the lives and times of hip hop icon Tupac Shakur and his mother, Afeni, a prominent member of the Black Panther Party in the Sixties and Seventies — that Hughes has been working on for much of the past three years. The first episode of Dear Mama premieres on September 15 at the Toronto International Film Festival, with...
Sep 07, 2022•58 min•Ep 105•Transcript available on Metacast In a special two-part episode, John Heilemann talks with visionary film and television director Allen Hughes about Dear Mama — the sprawling, spellbinding documentary series about the lives and times of hip hop icon Tupac Shakur and his mother, Afeni, a prominent member of the Black Panther Party in the Sixties and Seventies — that Hughes has been working on for much of the past three years. The first episode of Dear Mama premieres on September 15 at the Toronto International Film Festival, with...
Sep 06, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Ep 104•Transcript available on Metacast John Heilemann goes all-in on The Bear — the FX series set in the fictional sandwich shop The Original Beef of Chicagoland that came out of nowhere (Yes, chef) to become the breakout show of the summer (Heard, chef), the source of a jillion Internet memes (Hands!), and a full-blown cultural phenomenon (all day) — with its star, Jeremy Allen White, and creator, Chris Storer. White and Storer discuss the show's surprising runaway success; their passion for and commitment to creating the first scri...
Aug 31, 2022•2 hr 53 min•Ep 103•Transcript available on Metacast John Heilemann welcomes former Obama campaign and White House communications guru and Pod Save America co-host Dan Pfeiffer back to the podcast just two months after his last visit — when the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v Wade preempted a proper discussion of Pfeiffer’s new book, Battling the Big Lie: How Fox, Facebook, and the MAGA Media Are Destroying America. This time, John and Dan go deep on that subject: the right-wing disinformation and propaganda machine, how it works, why it's ...
Aug 23, 2022•2 hr 31 min•Ep 102•Transcript available on Metacast 
