Commentary Magazine Podcast

John Podhoretz is out today. In his absence, the remaining COMMENTARY Magazine hosts untangle the complicated policy and politics behind a short-lived government shutdown. Who benefits, who doesn’t, and what was at stake? Did this brief cessation of non-essential government activity change the political landscape ahead of 2018? Give a listen.

So Trump pays off a porn star and it isn't even the biggest story of the day. On the second COMMENTARY podcast of the week, we explore all angles of this peculiar state of affairs. What does it say about us politically? What does it say about us morally? And what does it tell us about the condition of the American soul? Give a listen.

Donald Trump can't decide which person he is on immigration—the one with love or the one who prefers Nordics to Nigerians. Meanwhile, Hawaii tells its people a ballistic missile is on its way but surprise! It isn't. And everybody blames Trump anyway. It's our first podcast of the week. Give a listen.

Trump has a meeting and everybody cheers, then he decides to oppose his own administration's policies and everybody gets depressed again. Meanwhile, Right and Left are going bonkers over Russia, collusion, and the testimony of the oppo-research firm Fusion GPS. With these topics, we give you an hour of hot podcast content featuring me and Noah Rothman and Abe Greenwald and Sohrab Ahmari. Give a listen.

On the first COMMENTARY podcast of this week, the hosts note that the groundwork is being laid to declare Donald Trump mentally unfit and that he should be stripped of authority under the Constitution’s 25th Amendment. Also, Donald Trump and Republicans have come up with a border security ask in exchange for passing DACA into law. Is it a gambit or a capitulation? Finally, Oprah-mania sweeps the country, but does she have what it takes to win the presidency?

In the second COMMENTARY Magazine podcast of the week, the hosts discuss Steve Bannon by the avatar of his movement: Donald Trump. Clearly, the damaging quotes Bannon provided to the journalist Michael Wolff are worth taking seriously, even if the rest of the book is dubious. Finally, the hosts dive into the evolution of the Trump administration from populism to conventional Republicanism, and how that impacts the immediate future. Due to technical difficulties, the audio of this podcast is slightly muffled. Please be forgiving when listening. Thank you.

The first COMMENTARY podcast of 2018 finds me, Noah Rothman, Sohrab Ahmari, and Abe Greenwald discussing the remarkable uprisings in Iran, the ways in which they discredit the Obama administration's nuclear deal with the mullahs—and the ways the Obamans are shamefully trying to defend themselves. Give a listen.

The last COMMENTARY podcast of 2017 not only takes up the tax bill and the hysterical response to it but, in a stunning new development, features Abe Greenwald, Noah Rothman, Sohrab Ahmari, and me listing the best and worst things that happened in 2017, the thing we thought would happen that didn't, and some predictions for 2018. Give an end-of-year listen!

What’s in the tax bill? How will it impact the economy and, thus, the 2018 midterms? The COMMENTARY Magazine podcast hosts answer those questions are more. Also, both pro- and anti-Trump partisans have some strange preconceptions about what Robert Mueller’s probe is doing and what conclusions it is going to reach with regard to the president. Finally, a remarkable story in Politico reveals the extent to which the Obama administration was willing to sacrifice American national security in service to the Iran nuclear deal.

The stunning result in the Alabama special election offers the crew at the COMMENTARY podcast (me, Noah Rothman, Abe Greenwald, and Sohrab Ahmari) a chance to reflect on how we got here, what this says about Donald Trump and Steve Bannon, and whether hatches can be sufficiently battened down to withstand the tidal wave coming for the Republican Party in 2018. Give a listen.

On the first podcast of the week, the COMMENTARY crew takes up the failed terrorist attack in the New York City subway station and points out just how blase it appears we have gotten in response to these events 16 years after 9/11. And then we ask: What are the media's obligations after they report falsely on highly sensitive events? Give a listen.

The second COMMENTARY podcast of the week takes up the recognition of Jerusalem, the downfall of Al Franken, and shoes dropping all over the place in the Trump-Russia investigation. Give a listen.

On the first COMMENTARY podcast of the week,  we ask whether the Michael Flynn plea indicates huge trouble for the Trump White House or will prove to be much ado about nothing. But in the "much ado about something" category, we place the astonishing report that Saudi honcho Muhammad bin Sultan has effectively endorsed an Israeli peace proposal and sought to impose it on recalcitrant Palestinian boss Mahmoud Abbas. Could be the biggest news of the young century. Give a listen.

On the second COMMENTARY podcast of the week, we ask whether the constant swirl of dust around the president might actually be helping the Senate Republicans convince members to vote for tax reform because they are not constantly center stage as they were during the repeal-Obamacare debate. And we wonder whether Nancy Pelosi has brought a Democratic Tea Party down on her own head. Give a listen.

On the first COMMENTARY podcast of the week, we take up the long-term threat to Democratic interests—and the truth, and fairness, and everything Democrats have said they stand for when it comes to women and sexual abuse—that arises from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's decision to provide cover for accused harasser John Conyers. Give a listen.