Politicology

Molly McKew is raising urgent funds for Ukrainian units that need help replacing critical equipment destroyed in a Russian strike and building a mobile rehabilitation hub for wounded soldiers near the front lines. Donate directly at:  PayPal.me/MollyKMcKew Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this mailbag episode of The Weekly, Ron Steslow and Mike Madrid sit  down to answer listener questions, on Latino dealignment, whether states should call a second constitutional convention, whether a hot war with China is coming, and whether a future administration could prosecute its predecessor without sliding into retribution.     In Politicology+, they dig into Pope Leo XIV's first encyclic...

What are the psychological forces driving that partisan animosity? What’s causing Americans to vote for anti-democracy candidates?  Are there any interventions that might actually work  to turn down the heat and save our democracy?  Robb Willer, professor of sociology, psychology, and organizational behavior at Stanford University talks with Ron Steslow about Stanford’s Strengthening Democracy Cha...

Ron Steslow talks to journalist Brady Dale about the U.S. government's unprecedented UFO/UAP disclosure: from the Pentagon's new PURSUE archive and President Trump's directive to declassify, to David Grusch's whistleblower testimony about crash retrieval programs, the bipartisan congressional fight over eminent domain and "non-human intelligence," the five observables, and how classified programs...

Brady Dale (Author of Front Stage Exit) joins Host Ron Steslow to examine the booming gray market for therapeutic peptides and what it reveals about medical freedom, institutional trust, and our resistance to the unfamiliar.  They begin with the market itself, which Brady compares to the early crypto era he covered: people eager to risk their own money against regulators in the way.  Next, they ex...

To unlock subscriber-only content, visit: https://politicology.com/plus How does murder during a robbery-gone-wrong become an international conspiracy theory? What even is a true crime story in the post-truth era? Andy Kroll (Investigative Reporter at ProPublica, former DC Bureau Chief for Rolling Stone) joins host Ron Steslow to discuss his new book, A Death on W Street: The Murder of Seth Rich a...

Molly McKew (writer and lecturer on Russian influence and information warfare) joins Host Ron Steslow to take stock of the war shifting beneath the surface. They begin with the state of the fighting: Putin’s nuclear theater around Victory Day and the quiet vibe shift on the battlefield as Ukrainian resilience compounds.  From there, they turn to Ukraine as a laboratory for the future of war: unman...

Not yet a Politicology+ member? Don’t miss all the extra episodes on the private, ad-free version of this podcast. Upgrade now at ⁠politicology.com/plus⁠. Ron Steslow and Mike Madrid discuss the redistricting wars, the Supreme Court case that could upend a central part of the Voting Rights Act, how Latinos becoming the largest minority group will make us rethink what being a “minority” even means,...

Nicholas Anthony (Research Fellow at the Cato Institute's Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives) joins Host Ron Steslow to examine how the stablecoin legislation moving through Congress is quietly remaking the financial system and expanding the surveillance state in the process. They dig into the Bank Secrecy Act and the third-party doctrine, the legal architecture that lets the governmen...

Mike Madrid and Susan Del Percio dig into why housing affordability has become the central economic and political problem heading into the midterms. They discuss how housing and cost of living concerns are driving the anxiety voters are feeling.  Then, they look at populism on both sides of the aisle, from Trump’s embrace of “no tax on tips” and credit card caps to Mamdani’s promises to freeze the...

Ron Steslow continues his discussion with Izabella Kaminska to unpack one of the biggest assumptions behind the AI boom: that it will generate enough growth to justify the enormous capital being poured into it. Also, how much does America’s enormous national debt really matter? And, what’s really going on with gold and the new efforts—by China and private corporations—to remonetize it? Learn more...

Mike Madrid (Author of The Latino Century) joins Host Ron Steslow to examine America’s growing crisis of purpose and how that crisis is showing up across politics, technology, corruption, religion, and war They begin with Justice Clarence Thomas’s recent speech on the Declaration of Independence, natural rights, progressivism, and the proper role of government. From there, they turn to Palantir CE...

You may know him from his dazzling dishes showcased on the hit Netflix TV series, “Chef’s Table,” but three-Star Michelin Chef Dan Barber (Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Blue Hill NYC) has a relationship with ingredients far deeper and more complex than pretty plates of food. In this episode, Chef Dan joins Ron Steslow to discuss the politics and future of food and the consequences of how America feeds...

Hagar Chemali (Fmr. spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the UN) is back in studio with Host Ron Steslow for a conversation about how artificial intelligence is reshaping power, conflict, and accountability in real time. They discuss Ukraine’s first successful capture of a Russian position using only unmanned ground robotic systems and aerial drones and the rapid integration of AI into warfare and...

In the second episode of this two part series, Øptimus co-founder and Data Science Director for Decision Desk HQ Scott Tranter joins Ron Steslow to talk about data science, polling, and modeling To unlock more episodes, visit: https://politicology.com/plus (00:59) The non-response bias and how data scientists must deal with it  (02:55) The decrease in response rates over time (10:47) Likely vs eli...

Journalist Izabella Kaminska (The Blind Spot, Financial Times, POLITICO Europe) joins Host Ron Steslow for a wide-ranging discussion about what the war with Iran will mean for the global economy, especially America, long after the shooting slows down. They begin with the immediate shockwaves of the temporary ceasefire and the partial reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping chokepoint...

In this two part series, Øptimus co-founder and Data Science Director for Decision Desk HQ Scott Tranter joins Ron Steslow to talk about data science, polling, and modeling To unlock more episodes, visit: https://politicology.com/plus (01:00) The role of a data scientist on a campaign  (04:20) What message testing is and how it’s used (11:15) Understanding voters you need to persuade and voters yo...

Susan Del Percio (Crisis Communications Expert) joins Host Ron Steslow for a wide-ranging conversation about one of the most fundamental questions in American life: who gets to be an American, and who gets to decide? They begin with the Supreme Court oral arguments over Donald Trump’s executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants and some temp...

Host Ron Steslow welcomes Mike Brock, CEO of TBD, a subsidiary of Block Inc. (formerly Square), the financial technology firm led by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey. The Internet is dominated by massive, corporate walled gardens like Google, Facebook, and Twitter (now X), where centralized control makes their users (us!) vulnerable to censorship and manipulation. In this episode, we explore how the mo...

Why are essays resonating again in this moment? And what does it mean when writers, not just journalists or politicians, start helping people make sense of America in real time? Guest Host Mike Madrid sits down with Robert Arnold (writer, speaker, and activist) for a wide-ranging conversation about the resurgence of the essay, the responsibility of artists and writers in a fractured political age,...

James Kirchick joins Ron Steslow to discuss his book Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington (01:55) Why he wrote the book (06:43) The interwoven political history and gay history in Washington (14:33) The melting pot of the gay community and why it was seen as a  threat (19:55) The trope that whatever is bad must be gay (31:51) The Lavender Scare  (35:53) The tension between the gay  lo...

Ron Steslow is joined by Hagar Chemali (Fmr. spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the UN) for a wide-ranging conversation on the war in Iran, the confusion surrounding the Trump administration’s goals, and its vision for the United States in the world. Then, in Politicology+, Marc Polymeropoulos joins to discuss the explosive new reporting about the CIA’s coverup of Anomalous Health Incidents—also...

Hagar Chemali and Marc Polymeropoulos join Ron Steslow to discuss the explosive new reporting about the CIA’s coverup of Anomalous Health Incidents—also known as Havana Syndrome—and the dangerous classified weapon that causes them. They break down what the latest investigations reveal: evidence that there's a device that could cause these symptoms, growing questions about whether the government tr...

Even after historic civil rights progress over the last sixty years, there’s no denying that certain groups of people still face real, serious, and even systemic discrimination. In pursuit of justice, many well-meaning activists have made identity central to their cause—arguing, for example, that in order to right wrongs, rules and laws must treat people differently, not equally, depending on the...

Even after historic civil rights progress over the last sixty years, there’s no denying that certain groups of people still face real, serious, and even systemic discrimination. In pursuit of justice, many well-meaning activists have made identity central to their cause—arguing, for example, that in order to right wrongs, rules and laws must treat people differently, not equally, depending on the...