Commentary Magazine Podcast

Some shocking (and confusing) good news today on both the economic and pandemic fronts: the nation’s staggeringly high jobless rate began to recovery in May and New York City, the epicenter of the outbreak in America, recorded zero deaths related to COVID-19 on Thursday. What are the political implications of all this? Also, it’s day two of the meltdown inside the New York Times over the placement of a sitting U.S. senator’s op-ed.

Bloomberg View columnist Eli Lake is back on the show to talk about why recently released transcripts from 2016 only support the conclusions his article on the railroading of Michael Flynn by the Justice Department. Also, the elite liberal revolt against the notion that law and order should be restored by all available means, and the political backlash that may be brewing among the law-abiding when it is clear that abiding by the law is a voluntary condition.

What are the animating philosophies at the heart of the protests that have rocked American cities for the better part of a week? Where does the pursuit and equality before the law run up against vogue academic theories that buttress social justice activism and more closely resemble ethnic determinism and stereotyping? The COMMENTARY podcast discusses and debates.

Amid another night of violence around the nation, it has become apparent that America’s elected officials—from the president on down—have either abdicated their duties or are unable to execute them.

The nation experienced a weekend of civil unrest, including COMMENTARY podcast host Christine Rosen whose home was on the frontlines of the violence. We discuss the conditions that have rocked the country to its foundations and the abdication of our political elites in a moment of chaos.

The COMMENTARY podcast debates the downstream political relevance of what increasingly looks to be a summer of urban unrest fueled by protests against the conduct of police toward racial minorities. Will Donald Trump’s efforts to frame himself as the champion of law and order reactivate his 2016 coalition? Or will these events simply compound a general sense of dissatisfaction with the status quo and, thus, the incumbent president?

Along with a reflection on the current state of discourse around the national move toward reopening society, the COMMENTARY podcast discusses the ongoing assaults on the old orders. Abroad, China has abandoned its traditional caution and is testing its parameters, aggressively, in every direction. At home, domestic violence has erupted over the arrest-related killing of George Floyd. Where does it all end?

The COMMENTARY podcast discusses how online arguments create incentives to make disproportionately high investments in the outcome of those engagements. Whether the stakes are low or high, the level of tension remains static. A dissection of recent controversies and how they take on a more intense dimension when they are rendered abstractions in the arena of the internet.

The single, all-consuming story of our time continues to dominate the press, but there appears to be an increasing hunger among news consumers for distractions from it. And, so, we discuss them. Trump’s aggressive behavior on Twitter. Viral videos. Joe Rogan and the backlash to his success. We discuss it all.

The COMMENTARY podcast dives into the debate over the bounds of liberty as every state in the Union moves in the direction of reopening their societies and economies. Meanwhile, China’s crackdown presents opportunities for the president to strike politically advantageous contrasts.

The COMMENTARY podcast performs some rank punditry, dissecting the polls that look rather abysmal for Donald Trump and the Senate Republican majority. Also, the hosts discuss how the pandemic’s models deceived policymakers, and how disinclined they and the press appear to be to confront that fact.

Bloomberg View columnist Eli Lake joins the podcast to talk about his latest article in the latest issue of COMMENTARY, “The Railroading of Michael Flynn.” How Trump’s former national security advisor was targeted and squeezed by the Justice Department, and what it means for the rule of law in the United States.

Hollywood veteran Rob Long joins the program to discuss his latest piece in the new issue of COMMENTARY, “How Right-Wing Characters Become Sitcom Sensations.” Also, a didactic discussion about the promise and peril of self-medicating with Hydroxychloroquine.

NBC News’ National Political Correspondent Steve Kornacki joins the COMMENTARY podcast for a discussion about the political fallout that will settle over the country ahead of the 2020 elections. Has the pandemic transformed our politics, or will the full impact of this event not be felt for years to come?

The scandalous allegations against Joe Biden are not going away, and his ability to defuse the issue is in doubt. But the big question is: Will anyone care about it in November? Also, the podcast debates wonder whether Americans ever really police conspiracy theories when those theories reinforce their preferred biases.