Commentary Magazine Podcast

On this week's podcast, the COMMENTARY crew addresses the elephant in the room. That's all I'm going to say. It's an elephant. It's in a room. Give a listen.

On this week's final podcast, we (meaning Noah Rothman, Abe Greenwald, and I) discuss how the positive reception of the president's big speech was not undermined by him (for once) but rather by a series of leak-riddled articles trashing the Yemen raid, trashing Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and suggesting Obamans scattered bits of intelligence trouble through the executive branch to leave a breadcrumb trail like Hansel and Gretel. Give a listen.

On this week's first podcast, Abe and Noah and I discuss the crisis of competence suggested by the failure to hand a movie star the right envelope. Might seem silly, but it's never happened before and it's happened at a time when nobody seems to be able to do anything properly. Give a listen.

On the last of this week's podcast, the COMMENTARY crew discusses the problems with the new deportation policies, ventilates on the Democratic National Committee's race for chair, and wonders whether Trump is wooing the conservative movement or whether the conservative movement has already surrendered its purity to his seductions. Give a listen.

On the first of the week's podcast, the COMMENTARY gang (Noah, Abe, and I) discuss the appointment of H.R. McMaster as national security adviser, the rise in anti-Semitic threats and Donald Trump's eventual response to them, and the question of who actually makes policy in the new administration. It's hectic. It's passionate. It's a little incoherent. Give a listen.

On the second Commentary podcast of the week, we (Abe Greenwald, Noah Rothman, and I) dilate upon Donald Trump's seeming revolution in the U.S. posture toward the Israelis and the Palestinians while asking this question: Does the president actually know what the "one-state" or "two-state" solution is? We also point out that just as paranoids have enemies, Trump has reason to believe he is under attack from inside his own executive branch—but that his response may hurt him and not help. Also, like Jack Benny and Fred Allen's radio shows of old, we have a sponsor! Give a listen.

In this week's first podcast, we (Noah Rothman, Abe Greenwald, and I) discuss the attempted defenestration of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn—and whether we should all be scared by the clear line-crossing leaks of the intelligence community. Then we go on to discuss whether immigration hardliners have reason to be angry with the Trump White House for botching the executive order, and other fun stuff. Give a listen.

On the last podcast of the week, Abe Greenwald and I (Noah Rothman being away) attempt to steady ourselves despite the tsunami of news that threatens to drown us all. From executive orders to Ivanka's Nordstrom problem, America is in danger of drowning in the Trumpnami. We try to throw you a lifeline. Give a listen.

On today's podcast, the COMMENTARY team—Noah Rothman, Abe Greenwald, and I—point out that an uncommonly Trumpian audience watching the Super Bowl was subjected to ads attacking its views. Will that matter? Are these companies shooting themselves in the foot by virtue-signaling? And speaking of signaling, what signal was Donald Trump sending with his moral equivalence between the United States and Russia? How much of this can conservatives take because they know they're going to get some good policies out of it? Give a listen.

On this podcast, Noah Rothman, Abe Greenwald and I discuss the tumultuous three days since (remember this?) Neil Gorsuch was nominated to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court. We're fighting with Australia, we're putting Iran on notice, Russia is poisoning critics and fooling around in Ukraine, and people are throwing firebombs at a flamethrower in Berkeley. Give a listen. Really.

Our latest podcast features me and Abe Greenwald and Noah Rothman wondering at the trifecta of Trump's second weekend—an executive order that created a mass protest at airports for pity's sake, the horrifying deletion of the Jewish people from a Holocaust remembrance, and Steve Bannon's power grab at the National Security Council. Give a listen. If you dare.

Many of Donald Trump’s opponents have given up reason and circumspection and are indulging in hysteria, assured that standard operating procedure for a new administration is creeping fascism. Also, the hosts dig into Donald Trump’s executive orders on immigration and refugees and wonder if Team Trump is recognizing the unfeasibility of the president’s campaign trail pledges.

On the first podcast of the week, we discuss the opening days of the Trump administration and why they were, um, not so good really—and argue over the meaning of the Women's March and its possible ramifications for 2018. Give a listen.

Our final podcast of the week features our tear-bathed tribute to the departing Barack Obama and his commutation of the sentences of traitors and the pardon of terrorists. Also, a look ahead to liberal hypocrisy in the Trump era and a near-total meltdown by me on the subject of the supposedly "anti-intellectual" David Gelernter, the most intellectual person I've basically ever known. Give a listen.

In the new COMMENTARY podcast, John Podhoretz, Abe Greenwald, and Noah Rothman examine how President-elect Donald Trump has managed to drive his allies—both Republican and European—over a cliff with anxiety. Will having an American president who is skeptical toward institutions like the European Union and NATO shatter the Atlanticist consensus? Finally, the shuttering of the Barnum and Bailey Circus and what that says about American culture.