Politics + Media 101

John and Justin sit down with Curt Mills, Executive Director of The American Conservative  magazine. Curt, a former college classmate of John's, is an influential voice in the conservative intelligentsia's restrainer camp, advocating against the use of US military force abroad. The group discuss whether Donald Trump fits into this camp and what his nominations and appointments signal abo...

On this episode, John and Justin discuss why Donald Trump won the election, Where VP Harris and Democrats went wrong, and how they can improve their messaging and approaches to campaigning to win back working class voters. Please subscribe and rate our podcast wherever you listen. Justin's X: https://x.com/Justin_Higgins2 Justin's BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/justinhiggins.bsky.soci...

John and Justin discuss the state of the presidential election, the racist comments at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally, how Puerto Rican voters will impact the election for the White House, and Trump's lies about his anti-war record. 

John and Justin host Mother Jones' Kat Abu to discuss political social media, the DNC, state of the Harris-Walz campaign and its approach to Israel-Palestine.

The 2024 Democratic National Convention came to Chicago amid a series of strange parallels to the 1968 convention in the same city: the incumbent president withdrew from his reelection campaign, the vice president was nominated without running in the primaries, students organized a national protest movement against a war, a major candidate was shot, someone named Robert F. Kennedy was running for...

Justin and John sit down with journalist David Corn, Washington Bureau Chief for Mother Jones and author of several books, most recently  American Psychosis . David is an expert on the history of the Republican Party and its relationship with right-wing populism. He assesses the choice of Ohio Senator JD Vance as Donald Trump's vice presidential running mate and what it means for the directio...

Justin and John discuss the state of the presidential campaign after an incredible month of news: the Republican convention, an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, JD Vance becoming Trump's running mate, Joe Biden's retirement, and Kamala Harris's ascension to the top of the Democratic ticket. In particular, they review the choice of Governor Tim Walz to run for vice president. H...

Justin sits down with Andrew Lawrence, Deputy Director of Rapid Response at Media Matters to discuss the state of the presidential election, and why labeling Trump Republicans as weird has been effective for Democrats. 

After watching the Thursday night debate, Justin and John tackle the difficult question of whether Joe Biden should withdraw as a candidate for the 2024 presidential election.

Justin and John sit down with Tara McGowen, a former political strategist, former journalist, and founder of Courier Newsroom. Tara is an expert on digital media strategy, and she assesses the strengths of Republicans and Democrats in the ever-evolving online information landscape.

John sits down Ken Moriyasu, Washington correspondent for Japan-based news magazine Nikkei Asia. A returning guest to PM101, Ken joins the program to discuss the U.S.-Japan alliance, a fitting topic after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's recent state visit to Washington. Ken describes the shifts in Japan's military strategy, Japanese policy towards Ukraine and Israel, how Japan is preparin...

Justin and John sit down with Dmitri Mehlhorn, an entrepreneur, financier and political strategist. Dmitri teamed with LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman to launch Investing in US, a fund that supports advocacy organizations dedicated to defeating the MAGA movement. The group discuss the campaign landscape and propose creative strategies for the coming election.

Justin and John sit down with political analyst Rachel Bitecofer. Rachel is the author of a new book titled Hit 'Em Where It Hurts, which offers advice for how Democrats can exploit negative partisanship to win in 2024. For more on the book, visit Rachel's website: https://www.hitemwhereithurts.com/

John sits down with journalist and author Joshua Green, author of The Rebels, a new book on left-wing American populism. Joshua previously wrote The Devil's Bargain, which profiled Steve Bannon and the populist movement in the Republican Party. John and Joshua discuss the overlap between these two populist camps, the differences among key leaders of the progressive movement, and whether a lef...

Justin & John sit down with Yaroslav Trofimov, chief foreign-affairs correspondent at The Wall Street Journal . Yaroslav has covered wars and terrorism in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq, and now reports on a war in his own home country, Ukraine. Yaroslav's new book  Our Enemies Will Vanish offers stories and lessons from the first year after Russia's massive escalation against the c...

To learn more about presidential impeachment, Justin and John sit down with Professor Michael J. Gerhardt, the leading scholar of American impeachment law. Gerhardt appeared as an expert witness in the impeachments of both President Trump and President Clinton, and he recently appeared as a witness in the impeachment inquiry of President Biden. Gerhardt is the author of many books on impeachment....

Journalist Aaron Rupar joins Justin and John to discuss President Biden's accomplishments, Trump's legal troubles and what to expect in 2024.  If this conversation interests you, please check out Aaron's newsletter Public Notice here: https://www.publicnotice.co/

On Sunday, December 10th, Argentina inaugurated a new president, the eccentric "anarcho-capitalist" Javier Milei. To learn about this new chapter in South American history, Justin and John sit down with Ariel González Levaggi, an academic at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina and senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Ariel describes A...

Justin and John sit down with  Astead Herdon, national politics reporter for The New York Times and host of the podcast “The Run-Up.” Astead recently published a major profile of Kamala Harris, including an exclusive interview he conducted with the vice president herself. With the PM101 team, he discusses his reporting on Harris, describing her difficulty building a national public persona despite...

In a special crossover episode, Justin and John sit down for a wide-ranging conversation with the hosts of Beyond Politics, Paul Hodes and Matt Robison.  Paul is a former U.S. Congressman who represented Justin and John's home district in New Hampshire. Matt is a senior political strategist who served as Paul's chief of staff. Together, the group talk about the changes to the American po...

A month into the devastating war between Israel and Hamas, Justin and John sit down with diplomat and analyst Aaron David Miller. An expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Aaron spent 25 years at the U.S. State Department advising Republican and Democratic secretaries of state on Middle East policy. Aaron describes how the horrific terror attacks on October 7th have affected Israel, how Israe...

India and Canada are engaged in a heated diplomatic dispute after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of planning the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, near Vancouver. Indian officials deny the allegation and accuse Canada of harboring terrorists affiliated with the secessionist Khalistan movement. To discuss these events, John sits down with Sad...

Justin and John discuss the efforts to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. The two countries have been moving steadily towards strategic convergence, but Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has requested major concessions from the United States before formally establishing ties. John explains the Saudi approach and the reasons that American political figures - including Joe Bid...

Justin and John discuss the drama on Capitol Hill over government funding, as Speaker Kevin McCarthy works to avoid a government shutdown. McCarthy faces intransigence from renegade members in his own Republican caucus, including media lightning rod Matt Gaetz. Justin Higgins, a veteran of GOP congressional offices, explains the dysfunction engulfing the Republican faction.

After recent health scares for Senator Mitch McConnell, Justin and John discuss the difficult issues of age and health in political leaders. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Grassley are often criticized for delaying retirement, as is President Joe Biden. Justin recalls his experiences working with the office of Senator Thad Cochran, a powerful Senator who handed his responsibilities to his sta...