The Lincoln Project

Host Reed Galen is joined by Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, the President and Executive Director of NextGen America, the nation’s largest youth voter organization. They discuss, the ever-changing political landscape of Texas, why Latino voters should never be looked at like a monolith, what motivates young voters, and why economic inequality is such a threat to democracy. If you’d like to connect with...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Alexander Theodoridis, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. They discuss the current state of polling in the U.S. and how it’s evolved from “the golden age”, why our nation finds itself so politically polarized, and what motivates Americans to show up on election day. Plus, Ron DeSantis is an uninteresting presidential ca...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Ron Insana (Senior Analyst and Commentator at CNBC) to discuss the current state of our nation’s economy, the Republican’s flirtation with the debt ceiling, why the GOP’s latest proposal for a flat tax would prove disastrous, and President Biden’s stewardship (both at home and overseas) during the first two years of his administration. Plus, just because someone is a b...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Author and Senior Book Editor at The Atlantic, Gal Beckerman. They discuss how radical ideas originate and the workings of the movements that form around them, how social media is not the catch all solution when it comes to messaging, and how in order for an idea to truly take hold…a crucial part of the process is rational dialog/strategy in a quiet, private (not publi...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Joshua Zeitz…historian, New York Times bestselling author, and contributing editor to Politico Magazine . They discuss the evolution of Abraham Lincoln’s faith starting from childhood, throughout his early political career, and throughout his presidency. Plus, how during his presidency he was successfully able to use his understanding of Christianity to mobilize the co...

Host Reed Galen is joined by David Rothkopf (Contributing Columnist for The Daily Beast and Host of Deep State Radio) to discuss where our nation stands two years into the Biden administration, how the rest of the world no longer has an American example to dissuade them from authoritarianism, and how the longer authoritarianism is embraced (in the United States or elsewhere) the greater the irreve...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Juliet Jeske, author of the “Decoding Fox News” newsletter. They discuss how Juliet got her start covering the far right media ecosystem, how she now watches every minute of Fox News and reports on it (all while maintaining her sanity), and the inner workings of Fox News and its personalities. Plus, what drives the bizarre obsessions that so many media personalities an...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Lincoln Project Senior Advisors Trygve Olson and Jeff Timmer to look back on where our nation was on January 6, 2021 and where we are today, exactly two years later. Will we have a Speaker of the House before the first week of the 118th Congress is over? Will members of the pro-democracy coalition finally start to play the game they're in rather than the game they know...

This episode was originally released on October 18, 2022. In this encore presentation, host Reed Galen is joined by former Metropolitan Police Department Officer Michael Fanone. They discuss Fanone’s path to service, his harrowing personal account of January 6, 2021, the aftermath of January 6th and his post-insurrection public appearances, and whether or not the case built by the House Select Com...

This episode was originally released on August 18, 2022. In this encore presentation, host Reed Galen is joined by author, journalist, and QAnon expert Mike Rothschild to discuss how the QAnon conspiracy theory grew to be in the forefront of American political discourse, why it resonated so fervently with such a large percentage of the population, and how it continues to infect our nation’s cultur...

Host Reed Galen is joined by multi-Emmy winning filmmaker, Melissa Jo Peltier to discuss her award-winning documentary, The Game Is Up: Disillusioned Trump Voters Tell Their Stories, which studies how hard-core Trump voters turned away from the MAGA cult in 2020. They talk about why it was important to make the film, the transformations experienced by the characters who were profiled, and how thos...

Host Reed Galen shares some year-end thoughts about where we are in the fight for our nation’s democracy, what exactly continues to be at stake, and how you all (the listeners of this podcast and members of the Lincoln Project community) can help. If you’d like to connect with The Lincoln Project, send an email to podcast@lincolnproject.us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch...

In the final hearing, the committee concludes 18 months of work by summarizing their findings and releasing their final report. Also, the committee recommends the Department of Justice considers criminal charges against Donald Trump to hold him to account for January 6th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Reed Galen gives his reaction and analysis to the final public hearing from the House Select Committee on January 6th. He discusses how it was important that the committee’s report and recommendations to the Department of Justice were delivered publicly, how Chairman Bennie Thompson, Vice-Chair Liz Cheney, and the rest of the panel worked in a bipartisan manner to make these hearings appointm...

Host Reed Galen is joined by fellow Lincoln Project Co-Founder Rick Wilson to discuss the early days of the Lincoln Project and how the organization got started in the first place, the lesson that have been learned along the way, and where the Lincoln Project goes from here as they set their sights on 2024 and beyond. If you’d like to connect with The Lincoln Project, send an email to podcast@linc...

Host Reed Galen is joined by former U.S. Congressman, Presidential Candidate, and Radio Host Joe Walsh. They discuss the state of the GOP and its complete unwillingness to acknowledge Donald Trump for the threat he is, how it's just about impossible for a Republican not named Trump to win the presidency in 2024, and why although the midterms were mostly a success for Democrats…American democracy c...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Matt Bennett, Co-Founder and Executive Vice President for Public Affairs at Third Way, as well as Co-Founder of Shield PAC. They discuss the ever-growing instability of the GOP and how it’s going to look in Washington in the coming year, how Trump’s 2024 presidential run is starting to look like 2016 all over again, and how Ron Desantis poses an often-overlooked threat...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Maya May (Comedian and Host of LPTV’s “We're Speaking”) to answer questions asked by YOU, the members of the Lincoln Project community. Listeners ask about the upcoming Georgia runoff, Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential run and his ongoing legal probes, and how will the selection of the next Speaker of the House play out? Plus, could Trump actually be afraid to fully com...

Host Reed Galen is joined by award-winning journalist David Enrich, the Business Investigations Editor at The New York Times. They discuss the world of “Big Law” and its often unchecked influence through the lens of Jones Day, how Jones Day came to represent Donald Trump and argue many of the lawsuits in Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election, why the idea that “everyone is entitled to repr...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Tara McGowan, the Founder & Publisher of Courier Newsroom, a pro-democracy digital news organization. They discuss the dynamics of why there are more Americans distrustful of the media than ever, how Gen-Z utilizes social media compared to other prior generations, and how positive reporting is one of the keys to restoring trust in our government. Plus, how "for-pro...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Jacqueline Westman and Angus Durocher, the extraordinary individuals who are the engine behind The Union, a pro-democracy coalition of volunteers and organizations dedicated to saving American democracy from the authoritarian attacks it currently faces. They discuss the work The Union did leading up to the midterms, how that work is continuing in Georgia as the runoff...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Hugo Lowell, Political Enterprise Reporter for The Guardian . They discuss what to expect in a Republican controlled House, Donald Trump’s decision to announce his 2024 presidential run and the resulting response, and what the appointment of the DOJ's special counsel means for not only Trump’s campaign…but the campaigns of the other GOP presidential hopefuls. Plus, for...

Host Reed Galen is joined by John Della Volpe (Author and Director of Polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics) to discuss the impact Gen Z had on the midterm elections, what role Gen Z will play in the political landscape moving forward, and why now generations (instead of geography) is now the new key to political predictions. Plus, why has political polling been so inaccurate...

Host Reed Galen answers questions asked by the members of the Lincoln Project community about the upcoming Georgia runoffs, how to combat junk polling, the fate of the January 6th Committee, and so much more. Plus, what to expect from a Republican controlled U.S. House of Representatives and what have we learned for 2024? If you’d like to connect with The Lincoln Project, send an email to podcast@...

Host Reed Galen is joined by fellow Lincoln Project Co-Founder Rick Wilson to recap election night 2022. They give their takeaways, discuss the red wave that never came, and break down how the Lincoln Project’s messaging and on-the-ground-efforts led to an all-things-considered win for the pro-democracy coalition. Plus, the panel sets their sights to 2024 and lay out the stakes of an inevitable Tr...