Chasing Power: Politics. Campaigns. Conflict.

How does someone go from political unknown to national sensation—and then unravel in just 21 days? In this new episode of Chasing Power: The Reckoning , host Charles Denyer revisits one of the most dramatic vice-presidential rollouts in modern American politics. On September 3, 2008, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin delivered a Republican National Convention speech that electrified conservatives and in...

What happens when a 42-year-old state legislator nobody knew delivers a 17-minute speech that changes everything? In this electrifying episode of our new mini-series, Chasing Power: The Defining Moments, host Charles Denyer takes you inside the night of July 27, 2004, when Barack Obama, a little-known Illinois politician, stepped onto the stage at Boston's Fleet Center and delivered a keynote addr...

What happens when a president understands the system so well that he chooses not to fight it—but to operate within its limits? In this revealing fourth episode of our mini-series, Chasing Power: What the President Doesn't Know, host Charles Denyer turns to Gerald Ford—the only man to become president without being elected to either the presidency or the vice presidency. This chapter traces how...

What happens when a president distrusts the intelligence community so deeply that he builds his own secret parallel capability? In this gripping third episode of our mini-series, Chasing Power: What the President Doesn't Know, host Charles Denyer begins the presidential stories with Richard Nixon—a man who entered the Oval Office with a fully formed distrust of the CIA and spent five years try...

What happens when the President of the United States inherits a secret program that has already taken on a life of its own? In this revealing second episode of our mini-series, Chasing Power: What Presidents Don't Know, host Charles Denyer steps inside the actual architecture of presidential ignorance—not a conspiracy, but a system engineered to limit even the commander in chief. This episode...

What happens when the most powerful person in the world discovers he is still inside a system that was built to outlast him? In this landmark premiere episode of our new mini-series,  Chasing Power: What Presidents Don't Know , host Charles Denyer launches a 10-part investigation into one of the most persistent and consequential myths in American political life—that winning the presidency mean...

What happens when seven words on live television define an entire presidency's lowest moment? In this powerful episode of our new mini-series, Chasing Power: The Reckoning, host Charles Denyer revisits September 2, 2005—the night Kanye West looked into a camera during a hurricane telethon and accused a sitting president of racism on live television. This chapter traces how Hurricane Katrina be...

What happens when three words reshape global geopolitics and make diplomacy nearly impossible? In this compelling episode of our new mini-series, Chasing Power: The Rhetoric of War, host Charles Denyer dissects the January 29, 2002 State of the Union address where George W. Bush introduced a phrase that would define his presidency and justify a preemptive war. This episode moves from the hushed Ho...

What happens when a single moment of presidential resolve becomes a promise that echoes for two decades? In this powerful episode of our new mini-series,  Chasing Power: The Defining Moments , host Charles Denyer returns to Ground Zero on September 14, 2001—the day George W. Bush transformed from an embattled president into a wartime commander in chief. This episode moves from the smoke and twiste...

What happens when the President's social media account posts imagery that crosses a century-old racial line—and no one in the White House can explain how it got there? In this urgent episode of our new mini-series,  Chasing Power: The Digital Presidency , host Charles Denyer dissects the 16-minute window on a February night in 2026 when a single social media post detonated a national firestorm...

What happens when the President of the United States doesn't want to know the secrets meant to keep the country safe? In this gripping episode of our new mini-series,  Chasing Power: The Oval Office , host Charles Denyer investigates the unprecedented moment inside Trump Tower when a CIA veteran realized the incoming commander-in-chief was not reading the nation’s most classified intelligence....

What happens when one bad night ends a presidency? In this explosive episode of our new mini-series,  Chasing Power: The 2024 Unraveling , host Charles Denyer dissects the 90-minute debate collapse that forced Joe Biden to become the first incumbent in 56 years to quit a re-election race. This episode moves from the stunned silence in the CNN studio to the frantic, behind-the-scenes panic that fra...

What happens when a presidency ends not in resolution, but in cascading crisis? In Episode 8 of Chasing Power, host Charles Denyer concludes the definitive examination of George W. Bush’s presidency as it staggers under the weight of financial collapse, broken alliances, and the sobering legacy of power shared—and contested. This episode moves from the brink of economic annihilation and the contro...

What happens when conviction replaces certainty? In Episode 7 of Chasing Power, host Charles Denyer examines the presidency of George W. Bush at the moment where fear hardened into policy—and consequences spiraled beyond control. This episode moves from the smoke of September 11 into the invasion of Iraq, the collapse of intelligence credibility, and the unraveling of American authority both abroa...

What happens when legitimacy is forged in fire? In Episode 6 of Chasing Power, host Charles Denyer examines George W. Bush not as a caricature or a punchline, but as a study in contingency. A president born of dynasty, elevated by dispute, and transformed by catastrophe. This episode traces Bush’s unlikely ascent—from underestimated political heir to wartime commander in chief. From the razor-thin...

What happens when trust replaces hope? In Episode 5 of Chasing Power , host Charles Denyer examines Barack Obama’s second term not as a continuation of hope, but as a reckoning. A presidency no longer fueled by belief, but sustained by trust. No longer powered by transformation, but by endurance. This episode explores how Obama survived reelection in 2012 by redefining himself, not as a visionary,...

What happens after hope wins? In Episode 4 of Chasing Power , host Charles Denyer examines the presidency of Barack Obama not as a victory lap, but as a collision. A collision between optimism and resentment, precision and chaos, symbolism and backlash. This episode explores how Obama entered office as a symbol of national renewal, only to confront forces far older and more volatile than any campa...

What happens when a political outsider shaped by constant movement, cultural contradiction, and disciplined introspection builds one of the most formidable political machines of the modern era? What happens when a political outsider shaped by constant movement, cultural contradiction, and disciplined introspection builds one of the most formidable political machines of the modern era? In this epis...

What happens when a defeated president, buried under impeachment, scandal, and legal peril, refuses to stay buried? In this episode of Chasing Power, host Charles Denyer unpacks the extraordinary downfall and astonishing resurgence of Donald Trump. From the turmoil of the 2020 election to the chaos of January 6, from impeachments to indictments, Trump appeared politically finished—until he enginee...

What happens when a celebrity outsider takes on the political establishment, dismantles the GOP, and shocks the world by winning the presidency? In this episode of Chasing Power , host Charles Denyer investigates Donald Trump’s meteoric rise during the 2016 presidential campaign, exploring how a political outsider used spectacle, grievance, and unfiltered strategy to dominate the Republican primar...

Welcome to Chasing Power Podcast. Experience the drama behind the headlines, this is Chasing Power. 👉 Subscribe now on Youtube: @ChasingPowerPodcast⁠⁠⁠ 👉 Explore ⁠more politics: ⁠www.chasingpowerpodcast.com⁠ This podcast is for news reporting, commentary, and criticism. We use excerpts, clips, and quotations from political events and other copyrighted works under the fair use doctrine (17 U.S.C....