Commentary Magazine Podcast

On this week's first podcast, the COMMENTARY crew (Noah Rothman, Abe Greenwald, and I) discuss whether the mass shooting in Las Vegas speaks to the need for new policy or to a disease in the American body politic and the American spirit. Then we ask why on earth the president of the United States found it necessary to pick a fight about the recovery efforts in Puerto Rico, and why he went after his secretary of state on Twitter, and why some other stuff. Give a listen.

On the second COMMENTARY podcast of the week, Noah Rothman and Abe Greenwald seek to answer my deeply pointed queries about what the victory of Roy Moore in the Alabama runoff might mean for Senate Republicans, Mitch McConnell, and whether #MAGA has become a runaway train. Then we talk about tax cuts, and we make it interesting (I think). Give a listen.

The first COMMENTARY podcast of the week finds us (me, Abe Greenwald, and Noah Rothman) discussing the weekend of knee-taking and Trump-tweeting about patriotism and the NFL and blah blah blah while North Korea threatens hydrogen bomb-testing and Puerto Rico reverts to a state of nature. And we enjoy the decline and fall of Valerie Plame. Give a listen.

With Noah Rothman sadly out of commission for the day, Abe Greenwald and I discuss the president's speech at the UN (good!), the attacks on it (mostly bad!), why his polls have seen an uptick (less Trump!), who's crazier about health care (liberals!) and the evils of honey (yes, honey). Give a listen.

In John Podhoretz’s absence, Abe Greenwald and Noah Rothman take the helm in the first of the week’s podcasts devoted almost entirely the liberal anxiety at the Emmy Awards. Why are so many Americans tuning out of awards shows, movies, music, and sports programming? Could the answer be divorced from displays of liberal politics? The hosts discuss the self-deluded antipathy toward “normalizing” a president, which is now inexplicably being directed toward his former press secretary.

Yes, we told you so, and we say it again and again on the second of this week's COMMENTARY podcasts. Noah Rothman, Abe Greenwald, and I attempt to examine the political menage-a-trois between Trump, Schumer, and Pelosi, whom it helps, whom it hurts, and the pain and agony of people who took Donald Trump at his word. Give a listen.

After an hour of watching Steve Bannon expound on his worldview for CBS’ “60 Minutes,” the hosts of the COMMENTARY Podcast determine that very little was said. John Podhoretz, Abe Greenwald, and Noah Rothman break down the half-formed worldview of the Bannon-wing of the GOP and the implications if it successfully remakes the Republican Party. Speaking of victimized worldviews, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos earns and receives applause for going after the Kafkaesque world the Obama administration’s “Dear Colleague” letter yielded.

Donald Trump has taken the heel turn that so many anticipated he’d make, albeit not this early in his presidency, when he struck a deal with congressional Democrats and undermined his party’s leadership in Congress. The reactions from right, left, and center to Donald Trump’s erratic and non-committal behaviors, alienating just about everyone in the process, provide a rare window into how this presidency will adapt (or perish) under pressure.

The first post-Labor Day COMMENTARY podcast finds Abe Greenwald and Noah Rothman responding to my questions about the Trump decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy of the Obama administration. Is it good policy? Is it good politics? Will Republicans in Congress see the president's call for them to take up the issue legislatively as a trap? Is it a trap? Will Democrats overplay their hand? And what about North Korea? Give a listen.

In the last of the week’s COMMENTARY podcasts, Abe Greenwald and Noah Rothman (John Podhoretz returns on Monday) explore the rising radicalization of the liberal left and the Democratic Party’s efforts to rein in its more self-destructive impulses. Also, North Korea’s provocative missile launch leads to increasing resignation to the nuclearization of Japan, but few have considered the pitfalls associated with widespread proliferation.

With John Podhoretz out for the week, Noah Rothman and Abe Greenwald are holding down the COMMENTARY Podcast fort. Today, the gang dives into the political implications surrounding Hurricane Harvey as the president prepares to head to Texas. They also examine the implications of a GOP that is defined by racial resentment, as evidenced by Donald Trump’s pardoning of former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the one-sided spasm of left-wing Antifa violence in Berkeley.

The second COMMENTARY podcast of the week features me, Noah Rothman, and Abe Greenwald digging deep into new polls—including one issued by President Trump's own pollster showing Trump with shockingly low support among Republicans as they look ahead to the 2020 primaries—and exploring the question of whether the president actually wants a border wall or just wants to keep talking about one to keep his base riled up. Give a listen.

The first COMMENTARY podcast of the week finds us—me, Abe Greenwald, and Noah Rothman—wondering at the grandiose plans of Steve Bannon after the White House. A new news channel! War in the Republican party! Etc! All this leads into speculation about 2020, because why not, and why Joe Biden might be the guy to challenge Trump. And then we descend into more crushing morosity as we contemplate whether our divisions nationally are just too large to heal. Give a listen.

In the second of this week’s COMMENTARY podcasts, the hosts try to wrap their heads around a series of events that defy logic. Why would Donald Trump try to rehabilitate people who align themselves with torch-lit rally goers chanting racist slogans? Why would the left go to the mattresses to defend their own violent elements? And what the heck is Steve Bannon thinking in general? And does the country now share our crushing morosity? Give a listen and find out.

In the first COMMENTARY podcast of the week, I ask Noah Rothman and Abe Greenwald whether we are seeing a rise in extremist political violence in the United States and what it portends. And then we talk about what it means for the president to have chosen not to take the layup of denouncing Nazis when he had the chance. Give a listen.