Impolitic with John Heilemann

John is joined by Steven Brill — founder of The American Lawyer, Court TV, and NewsGuard, and author of the new book The Death Of Truth — for a deep dive into the morass of fake news online. Steve discusses how and why the major social media platforms have turned into toxic, conspiracy-theory-spreading cesspools, and what might be done to fix it. He also assesses the Supreme Court’s landmark decis...

John is joined by the renowned political strategists David Axelrod and Mike Murphy to discuss the fallout from Joe Biden’s debate disaster, starting with the movement among Democrats to persuade Biden to bow out and let his party choose a new nominee to face Donald Trump this fall. What would an open convention look like? If Biden bails, would Kamala Harris be his inevitable replacement? And if Bi...

John is joined by his colleagues Dylan Byers and Peter Hamby in the immediate aftermath of the first (and maybe only) 2024 presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. The three Puck political-media superfriends asses Biden's botched performance and the freakout among Democratic officials, strategists, and donors in reaction to it; analyze Trump’s calm and composed (by his standards) tu...

John is joined by the legendary guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer, arranger, and all around rock-and-roll legend Steve Van Zandt, equally famous for his roles as Bruce Springsteen’s longtime sidekick and as Silvio Dante in The Sopranos. In their freewheeling conversation, Stevie reflects on how his remarkable, up-and-down, 60-year career as a musician, actor, and activist has, time and again...

John is joined by Jen O’Malley Dillon—the legendary Democratic field organizer for Al Gore, Jon Edwards, and Barack Obama, manager of Joe Biden’s general-election campaign in 2020, and deputy chief of staff in Biden's White House from 2021 to 2023—in her first extended, on-the-record interview since taking over as chair of his reelection effort. The two discuss next week’s debate, the state of the...

John is joined by the legendary restaurateur Danny Meyer—whose Union Square Hospitality Group has built a fine-dining empire in New York City (Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, The Modern, Manhatta, Ci Siamo, and more) and spawned the multinational fast-casual juggernaut Shake Shack—to mourn the shocking, bewildering loss of a mutual friend, the fast-rising culinary superstar Jamal James Kent, a...

John is joined by Kara Swisher—celebrated chronicler of the titans of tech, host of the podcast On With Kara Swisher and cohost of the Pivot podcast with Scott Galloway, and author of the best-selling memoir Burn Book—to discuss Apple's embrace of A.I., Elon Musk's broadsides against the company, and Silicon Valley's newfound enthusiasm for Donald Trump. Then renowned political scribe and Primary...

John is joined by ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos—co-anchor of Good Morning America, host of This Week, and author of the recently published New York Times No. 1 best-seller, The Situation Room—to discuss their industry’s ongoing failure to cover Donald Trump, the GOP, and this political moment for what they are: radically abnormal. George also reflects on his time in the White House, the similar...

John is joined by Maggie Haberman, the heralded Times reporter and Trump scholar, to discuss the bubbling retribution fantasies of the former president and the wider MAGA-sphere. Maggie also reflects on her seven weeks covering the hush money trial, and the two dig into the Trump campaign's strategy and the potential electoral fallout from his 34-count felony conviction. To learn more about listen...

In the debut episode of Impolitic, John sits down with Andrew Weissmann, the former Enron prosecutor and Mueller lieutenant, for a candid and wide-ranging conversation across a number of pertinent topics: gaming out Trump's sentencing, the efficacy of his appeal, Mueller report reminiscences, and Alito's bewildering political moment. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visi...

Welcome to Impolitic with John Heilemann, in which Puck’s chief political columnist, national affairs analyst for MSNBC and NBC News, best-selling author of Game Change and Double Down, and host/creator of Showtime’s The Circus roams the corridors of power and influence in America on this twice-weekly interview show, taking you behind the scenes and beyond the headlines with the people who shape o...

In which John Heilemann talks with Cecile Richards, co-chair of the Democratic super PAC American Bridge 21st Century, co-founder of the women’s rights advocacy group Supermajority, and, from 2006 to 2018, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Heilemann and Richards discuss Roe v Wade's uncertain future in the wake of the recent Supreme Court arguments around restrictive abortion...

A special two-part episode in which John Heilemann talks with international affairs and national security guru Tom Nichols, contributing writer at The Atlantic, longtime senior faculty member at the U.S. Naval War College, and author of eight books on foreign policy and politics, including, most recently, Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault from Within on Modern Democracy. Heilemann and Nichols asses...

A special two-part episode in which John Heilemann talks with international affairs and national security guru Tom Nichols, contributing writer at The Atlantic, longtime senior faculty member at the U.S. Naval War College, and author of eight books on foreign policy and politics, including, most recently, Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault from Within on Modern Democracy. Heilemann and Nichols asses...

Shannon Watts is the founder of Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America — a self-described “accidental activist” who, in less than a decade, went from being a stay-at-home mother in Indiana to the face of a national grassroots movement with more active members than the National Rifle Association. When Watts launched her advocacy group as a simple Facebook page in the wake of the Sandy Hook sch...

Kurt Andersen and Lawrence O’Donnell first met 46 years ago as undergraduates at Harvard, forming a friendship that’s flourished alongside their careers as two of their generation’s most incisive, insightful observers of American politics and culture. Andersen made his mark in the 1980s as co-founder of the iconic Spy magazine, then went on to serve as editor-in-chief of New York magazine, host of...

In which John Heilemann talks with Fiona Hill, the former national security official in Donald Trump's White House who made headlines with her testimony in the hearings over the Ukraine scandal that led to his first impeachment. Heilemann and Hill discuss her new memoir, There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century, including her reluctant decision to join the Tru...

In which John Heilemann talks with documentarian Ken Burns, whose new four-part series, Muhammad Ali, premiered this week on PBS. Heilemann and Burns discuss Ali's life and legacy as the most important athlete of the 20th century, in particular how his story transcends sports, intersecting with the defining issues of his era (race, religion, politics, protest) and illuminating much about the Ameri...

In which John Heilemann discusses the Russia invasion of Ukraine -- and its far-reaching implications for Europe, Joe Biden's presidency, Vladimir Putin's place in history, and the global security writ large -- with former US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul and Puck News correspondent Julia Ioffe. Heilemann, McFaul, and Ioffe talk about Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified assault on Ukraine; P...

In which John Heilemann talks with Mike Bender, senior White House reporter for The Wall Street Journal and author of Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost, for a special two-part episode of the podcast. Heilemann and Bender discuss the latter's new book and its news-making account of Trump's cataclysmic final year in office and doomstruck reelection campaign; how t...

In which John Heilemann talks with Mike Bender, senior White House reporter for The Wall Street Journal and author of Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost, for a special two-part episode of the podcast. Heilemann and Bender discuss the latter's new book and its news-making account of Trump's cataclysmic final year in office and doomstruck reelection campaign; how t...

John Heilemann talks with two-time Peabody Award-winning comedian Hasan Minhaj, best known for hosting six seasons of the Netflix series Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj and his widely acclaimed Netflix special, Homecoming King. Heilemann and Minhaj discuss his early career as a comic and the centrality of his background as a first-generation Indian- and Muslim-American to his work; his breakout stin...

In which John Heilemann talks with Kara Swisher, arguably the preeminent chronicler (and frequent critic) of the companies, personalities, and culture of Silicon Valley and the technology world writ large. Heilemann and Swisher, a protean reporter and pundit whose vast array of endeavors includes hosting the New York Times podcast Sway and serving as a contributing opinion writer at the paper, dis...

In which John Heilemann talks with Stevie Van Zandt, a founding member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, co-star of The Sopranos, and author of a new memoir, Unrequited Infatuations. In this special two-part episode, Heilemann and Van Zandt discuss his early musical influences, the foundations of his best friendship with Springsteen, the extraordinar...

In which John Heilemann talks with Stevie Van Zandt, a founding member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, co-star of The Sopranos, and author of a new memoir, Unrequited Infatuations. In this special two-part episode, Heilemann and Van Zandt discuss his early musical influences, the foundations of his best friendship with Springsteen, the extraordinar...