Night Owls

In this episode of the Night Owls podcast, John Ellis and Joe Klein sit down with Rye Barcott, co-founder of With Honor, for a candid conversation about courage, service, and the collapse of civic trust in modern American politics. Drawing from his forthcoming book Courage Can Save Us , Barcott profiles a new generation of veterans-turned-public servants, including Mark Kelly, Wes Moore, Mikie She...

In this episode of Night Owls, Joe Klein and John Ellis talk with political economist Nicholas Eberstadt about his latest book: a collection of essays entitled America’s Human Arithmetic . One of those essays -- ' Our Miserable 21st Century ' -- remains the most read "article" in the long history of Commentary magazine. In the book, Eberstadt argues that while the U.S. is more...

In this episode of Night Owls, John Ellis and Joe Klein sit down with retired Lieutenant General Michael Fenzel for a discussion about war, from Desert Storm to Afghanistan and Iraq to what we now call Gulf War 3. Fenzel's career in the military was shaped by war’s evolution and its enduring unpredictability. The conversation addresses Iran’s military calculus, the growing dominance of proxy...

In episode 75 of Night Owls , John Ellis and Joe Klein pour a late-night double of geopolitics, economics, and technological dread. The conversation opens with President Trump’s latest press conference on Iran, where the rhetoric is hot, the implications hotter, and the margin for miscalculation somewhere between “razor-thin” and “catastrophic.” Ellis and Klein unpack the strange chessboard of Mid...

In the 2026 premier of Night Owls , John Ellis and Joe Klein recap Trump's first year of his second first term as president. The discussion begins with Trump's behavior at the recent Davos conference, which raised more concerns about the president's mental "capacity". They wonder when the "elite" news media is going to address the "mental capacity" issu...

In this episode of Night Owls, hosts John Ellis and Joe Klein discuss a range of political topics, focusing on Donald Trump's recent behavior, mental health, and the implications for the Republican Party. They explore the political landscape, including the dynamics of the upcoming elections, Trump's foreign policy regarding Ukraine, and the economic challenges facing the nation, such as...

In this episode of Night Owls, John Ellis and Joe Klein engage with Cade Metz, a technology correspondent for The New York Times, discussing the evolution and implications of artificial intelligence. They explore Metz's journey in AI journalism, the financial investments in AI development, the competition between the US and China in AI capabilities, and the philosophical questions surrounding...

In this episode of "Night Owls," hosts John Ellis and Joe Klein discuss the recent election results, highlighting the Democratic Party's significant victories across various states, including Georgia and Pennsylvania. They explore the implications of these results on the political landscape, particularly focusing on the impact of cultural and economic issues. The conversation delves...

In this episode, John Ellis and Joe Klein discuss the current political landscape, focusing on the endorsement of Andrew Cuomo for mayor of New York, the challenges facing the Democratic Party, and the implications of cultural issues on upcoming elections. They also delve into international topics such as Iran's political situation, the energy crisis related to AI, and the competitive edge of...

Podcasts like this one are sometimes called "wide-ranging discussions". Joe and John cover a lot of ground: genomics, AI, reckless leadership, tariffs, military service, freedom of speech, bags of money, private equity, woebegone Democrats, and China's seemingly endless property crisis. They even talk about Kamala Harris's new book.  Listen in. 

Today, on episode 68 of Night Owls , Joe Klein is joined by a very special guest: H.R. McMaster. A graduate of Westpoint, he served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and retains distinguished careers in military leadership, policy, and history. His book Dereliction of Duty , a critical account of the Vietnam war, has become required reading throughout the military. His new book, At War with...

With the return of Night Owls, John Ellis and Joe Klein get back into the swing of things with a sprawling discussion of a number of topics ; from the consequences of Israel's war with Hamas, to Russia entering Poland's airspace, to Jeffrey Epstein's money laundering, to the "Clankers" resistance rising up against AI, to public support for a third political party, to decli...

A conversation with Brown University’s Marc Dunkelman who has written an important book: Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress—and how to Bring it Back.” Dunkelman has written an alternative history of the Democratic Party, a 150 year struggle between top-down and bottom-up progressivism that has led to stagnation. 

We interviewed Daniela Rus, Director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT.  She talks about the marriage of robotics and AI; what she calls "physical intelligence." It's a fascinating hour.

The last part of our interview with the brilliant Wolgang Munchau

The 2nd in our series where we interview Wolfgang Munchau

Larry Summers on Team Trump's economic policies, the attack on academia and the future of artificial intelligence.

Capitulation Week  A major liberal law firm capitulates to Trump pressure. A major Ivy League University capitulates to Trump pressure. Zelensky capitulates to Trump pressure. In Israel, Bibi Netanyahu tries to replicate Trump pressure…and the Dems best response is yesterday’s Bernie singing yesterday’s song. John and Joe revisit last week. 

A conversation with Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, London.  We discuss his recent book --  The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism  -- and recent events.   

Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) talks about his new book -- "Seven Things You Can't Say About China" -- and says most of them. 

A world in disarray

Al From, the founder of the Democratic Leadership Council, talks about how to rebuild the Democratic Party—and how he did it last time.

Inauguration Week in Review! Joe and John on the ascendant Trump, the triumph of the Tech Bros, Dems in disarray, the Lars Anderson Bridge and the whereabouts of Philip K. Howard. 

Nobody knows the New York Post like Susan Mulcahy. She wrote the book. She talked about it with us.   

Episode Four: A dream assignment: David moves to Shanghai and begins covering China. He goes from "Sock City" to Apple, to the extraordinary changes in China's economy, politics and culture. The final episode covers everything from Wuhan to Taiwan, fentanyl to semiconductors, quantum computing to cyberhacking, to Xi's political standing and how much (and how many of) China&apos...