Commentary Magazine Podcast

There appear to have been good reasons to fire FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, and good reasons for both Republicans and Democrats to believe he was a malign force in the 2016 elections. So why did Donald Trump and his lawyer decide to make it seem as though he had only been fired for crass political reasons? And why is everybody going insane over the clearly preposterous idea that a political marketing firm used Facebook to control the 2016 election? Why is everybody going bananas? It's a podcast. Give a listen.

On the last COMMENTARY Podcast of the week, the gang (minus Noah Rothman) delve into the ramifications of Vladimir Putin's increasingly reckless campaign of terror and assess the Trump administration's response. We also reflect on Conor Lamb's special-election victory and what it means for the GOP. Check it out.

A possible summit with North Korea and a possible bellwether election in Pennsylvania take up our time on the first COMMENTARY podcast of the week. Give a listen.

The president and the porn star (and why are all porn actresses "stars"), not to mention whether you can have a wave election if the Senate doesn't follow the wave, along with false "boom" news items about Trump and Russia, and California defying federal law and yelling at Jeff Sessions, and a lot of anti-Semitism. It's a podcast. Give a listen.

The first COMMENTARY Podcast of the week explores the political philosophy behind Donald Trump’s preferred trade policies. Does the European consensus on the value of liberal internationalist trade differ from America’s? Do the benefits associated with the liberal consensus around global commerce sacrifice national identity and cultural cohesion? If so, can the balance even be restored? Listen and find out.

So a crazy Wednesday at the White House occasions kind of a crazy Tuesday podcast in which we go through a) Trump and gun control and what might be too much for his base, b) the agony of working in a White House under investigation, thus requiring the hiring of a lot of lawyers at a high billable rate, and c) so can it really be the case that Jared Kushner gets to have meetings with hedge funds in the White House that then invest in his family business without consequence? Give a listen.

The annual Conservative Political Action Conference had its share of controversies this year, as it usually does. In the context of a maturing Trump era, however, they merit renewed scrutiny. What does this conference and say about the movement it seeks to represent? The COMMENTARY podcast’s hosts break it down. Also, new information about how the Broward County Sheriff’s Office failed its constituents. Does that mean the gun control debate is off track?

The events of the past week following the mass shooting in Florida have only increased the divide in this country on the issue of guns—and pretty much everything else. This is what we talk about on the final podcast of the week. And we talk about whether Sheldon Adelson should pay for the U.S. embassy in Israel. Give a listen.

Robert Mueller’s special counsel’s office issues a series of indictments that establish the facts of Russia’s efforts to influence the political process in 2016, which are incontrovertible and disturbing but also objectively underwhelming. The COMMENTARY Podcast hosts explore the renewed debate over Russian meddling and the ongoing campaign to secure new gun laws in the wake of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.

For those who want radical changes in the way the United States handles guns and shooters, what else can be done but amending the Constitution to supplant the Second Amendment? That's the question I ask Noah Rothman and Abe Greenwald on this edition of the COMMENTARY Magazine podcast, which also addresses rising Republican fortunes in national polling. Give a listen.

The bizarre celebration of North Korea's regime—through its representative, Kim Jong Yo, and its cheerleading squad—leads the COMMENTARY podcast crew to wonder at the degradation of the U.S. media and the continuing foolishness of the very idea of the "Olympic spirit." We also consider the White House domestic-abuse mess and the dangers of conflict between Israel and Iran. Give a listen.

We agree, on the COMMENTARY podcast, that the memo alleging inappropriate handling of a warrant into a Trump campaign official, is not a nothingburger. Rather, we think it is a somethingburger. It speaks of important matters and needs to be considered seriously. But we also debate the extent to which the heated support for the idea that the memo invalidates any investigation into the president is disingenuous and politicized. Give a listen.

The successful State of the Union, combined with good economic news and a politically clever immigration proposal, might be heralding a significant change in Donald Trump's political fortunes. We talk about that, and the latest in the Russia-memo mess, on this week's final podcast. Give a listen.

Grammys. Mueller. Trump. Rosenstein. Memo. Nunes. Midterms. Polls. You know, the usual stuff. Podcast. Podhoretz. Rothman. Ahmari. Greenwald. Give a listen.

Text-gate. FISA-gate. Mueller-gate. FBI-gate. Unmasking-gate. What's real? What's nutso conspiracy theory? What's to be concerned about? What deserves a fuller investigation? We try to sort this out on the second COMMENTARY podcast of the week. Give a listen.