The New Liberal Podcast

Congressman Josh Harder joins the podcast to talk about the Build America Caucus's new agenda for more healthcare, housing, energy, infrastructure and scientific research.  Check out the agenda here - https://buildamericacaucus-harder.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/buildamericacaucus.house.gov/files/documents/BAC-Build-More-Agenda-DIGITAL.pdf Support the podcast and get involved with your local chap...

What's inside BAAJA, the Senate's new permitting reform bill? Marc Levitt of the Breakthrough Institute joins the podcast to discuss why we need permitting reform, how BAAJA would make building energy and transmission faster and more reliable, and the tradeoffs that come with advancing a big, bipartisan bill. Support the podcast and get involved with your local chapter by becoming a member of the...

On both the left and the right, in politics and in other forms of public life, the American public seems to have forgotten a simple idea - it's a terrible idea to associate yourself with scumbags. In this episode, Jeremiah walks through the various scumbags polluting our politics, explains why bad people make bad allies, and discusses how we can get these scumbags out of public life altogether.  S...

Matt Yglesias, Jerusalem Demsas, Nate Silver and Jeremiah Johnson sit down for a roundtable on the big questions facing the center left in American politics. Is the center left defined by moderation or liberalism? What's the difference between establishment and center-left? How can the center-left deal with an angry electorate? We tackle all these questions in this joint episode of the Argument Po...

Why has JD Vance been on a crusade against the economics profession recently? Phil Magness joins the podcast to discuss why JD Vance thinks the concept of GDP is fake, why he's skeptical that consumers having a lot of affordable goods is a good thing, and why the right is turning to 'post-liberal' economics. Further reading:   https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/hillbilly-economics Support the podcas...

Is America a force for good in the world? Shadi Hamid joins the podcast to talk about his book The Case for American Power, and why he thinks that the world is better off with a muscular, powerful American government than without America. Support the podcast and get involved with your local chapter by becoming a member of the Center for New Liberalism. Join at https://cnliberalism.org/become-a-mem...

Why did Keir Starmer get booted as Prime Minister of the UK? Former Starmer advisor Claire Ainsley joins the podcast to discuss what specifically went wrong for Starmer over the last two years, why the UK keeps cycling through prime ministers, and what this all means for the center left in the UK and around the world. Support the podcast and get involved with your local chapter by becoming a membe...

Education policy has been rocked by the 'Mississippi Miracle' - the sudden improvement of test scores in reading and math in southern states like Mississippi. Kelsey Piper joins the podcast to discuss how those states improved their scores, which teaching methods best help kids, why we fight so much about testing requirements for elite schools, and what reforms we actually need. Support the podcas...

It's the semi-annual books episode! Jeremiah breaks down the best books he's read so far in the first half of 2026. He discusses books about the Supreme Court, the history of cancer, criminal justice policy, the Civil War, influencer families, modern conspiracy movements, and much more! Referenced previous episodes:  Sarah Isgur's Last Branch Standing - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/is-the...

Why is liberalism in crisis? Jeremiah discusses why people seem to be turning away from liberal principles on both the left and the right. He also talks about the importance of being ruthless within your own party, the benefits of liberal nationalism, and why technocratic competence still matters - and how liberals can tell the stories that will inspire people like they used to. Support the podcas...

This week we're bringing you another joint episode of the podcast. I appeared on the Cato Institute's podcast to discuss a question for its libertarian audience - should libertarians and abundance liberals be political allies? I argue in favor, but also discuss the tricky political realities such an alliance would need to navigate. It's an interesting conversation, so we're also bringing it to you...

In this episode, Jeremiah joins Yascha Mounk to talk about liberal politics, organizing, and why Gen Z isn't actually doomed, even though so many on social media think they are. This episode originally aired on Yascha's podcast The Good Fight, but we're also sharing it here with you! Support the podcast and get involved with your local chapter by becoming a member of the Center for New Liberalism....

In this episode, Jeremiah discusses the many scandals swirling around Maine Senate Candidate Graham Platner, what they say about the state of the Democratic Party, and how we would ultimately vote if he lived in Maine. Support the podcast and get involved with your local chapter by becoming a member of the Center for New Liberalism. Join at  https://cnliberalism.org/become-a-member Got questions?...

The world spends an enormous amount on charity and foreign aid. Would that money be better spent if we just used it to directly give the world's poorest people cash? Nick Allardice is the CEO of GiveDirectly, a charity whose mission is to give people cash. We discuss whether cash is more effective than other forms of charity, the situations in which cash works and the situations where it might not...

People are losing faith in government, and there's anxiety everywhere about the state of society. How can we govern well in an era of institutional collapse? Michael Bennet joins the podcast to talk about polarization, the state of the economy, the cost of living crisis, what voters really care about beyond partisan bickering, and how state-level governance can be the first step towards finding ou...

The growth of the digital economy and of AI in particular means that there's incredible demand for new data centers. But if you listen to the popular discourse, you'll hear all sorts of scary stories - data centers are stealing our land, consuming our water, making people sick, and more. Andy Masley joins the podcast to break down what's real, what's fake news, why people fall for misinformation a...

Alex Bores is a state legislator in New York, and he's running for Congress in the 12th Congressional district that makes up midtown Manhattan. He's been the focus of a series of attacks from tech billionaires over his efforts to regulate AI, and he joins the podcast today to talk about how members of congress from deep blue districts can be the most effective, how he thinks about abundance and af...

Dean Spears is the author of the new book After the Spike about why the world's population will peak this century. We discuss why demographers are pretty certain that worldwide population will start to decline around 50 years from now, whether or not we should be concerned about it, and what we can do if we think it's not necessarily a good thing. Support the podcast and get involved with your loc...

Is the Supreme Court really as polarized as people believe? How has it changed over the last few decades? And what can we do if we want the Supreme Court to keep being a neutral, respected, and non-political institution? Sarah Isgur joins the podcast to discuss her new book, Last Branch Standing, about the history of the Court and why it matters. Support the podcast and get involved with your loca...

Jeremiah tackles the recent discourse on popular streamer and influencer Hasan Piker. As many within the Democratic party cozy up to Piker, should we be worried about his history of promoting violence and authoritarianism? Support the podcast and get involved with your local chapter by becoming a member of the Center for New Liberalism. Join at  https://cnliberalism.org/become-a-member Got questio...

The mailbag returns after a long hiatus! Jeremiah answers listener questions about the Iran War, social media discourses, populist anger, Joe Biden's legacy, and more! Support the podcast and get involved with your local chapter by becoming a member of the Center for New Liberalism. Join at  https://cnliberalism.org/become-a-member Got questions? Send us a note at  mailbag@cnliberalism.org . Follo...

Democratic senators are proposing plans that would drastically reduce taxes on the middle and upper middle class. Tax cuts are always popular with the people who receive them - but are they a good idea? Ben Ritz joins the podcast to discuss why Democrats keep proposing 'slopulism' ideas about the budget, why the budget math for huge tax cuts doesn't work, and why this approach is politically dange...

DC is facing a number of crises - interference from a hostile Congress, high levels of crime, and a local economy gutted by DOGE. Kenyan McDuffie is a former city councilman and candidate for mayor, and he joins the podcast to discuss how DC can recover and grow past its current challenges. Support the podcast and get involved with your local chapter by becoming a member of the Center for New Libe...

President Trump has started a war between the United States and Iran. Jeremiah walks through what we know so far, the historical and regional context for how this war started, what good and bad outcomes might look like, and what sorts of core values liberals should keep in mind as they analyze Trump's actions. Support the podcast and get involved with your local chapter by becoming a member of the...

Society has gotten radically more inclusive the last few generations. This has largely been a good thing, and prevented countless people from being discriminated against on the basis of their gender, race, or sexuality. But is there an upper limit to inclusivity? Can it go too far? And can we become so 'inclusive' that we end up alienating, harming, and excluding people? Support the podcast and ge...